Installing Windows from an ISO file

[lunatic59]

I would suspect that in the process of copying files that Ubuntu has encountered a disk error, which would lend credence to the idea you have a failing hard drive.

 

[bylerj1]

Maybe, but I get errors or anything such as "bad sector" or "corrupted drive," it simply goes to that screen, and then it freezes there. If the HD is failing, will chkdsk help? Also if it is failing, is it still possible for me to get my data off of it?

 

[lunatic59]

If you have some bad or corrupted sectors, chkdsk can retrieve data sometimes. If the drive mechanism itself is failing then it's imperative to get as much data off as fast as you can, because at one point it's going to completely fail and that's all she wrote, beyond sending it to a very expensive data recovery service.

If you can't get a Windows CD working, you could also pull the drive from the PC and connect it as a secondary drive to a PC with a good Windows install and then run chkdsk on it from there. If it's an SATA drive, it's pretty much plug and play. If its and IDE interface you might have to play with jumpers on the drive. If that's the case make sure you get the documentation from the drive manufacturer, because incorrect jumper settings can (sometimes) mess up your data even more.

 

[bylerj1]

I have refrained from transferring a drive to another computer because I am still worried that it could possibly be a virus causing the problem. I am going to try and make the Windows CD tonight, and get the data off the drive.

 

[argedion]

I have refrained from transferring a drive to another computer because I am still worried that it could possibly be a virus causing the problem. I am going to try and make the Windows CD tonight, and get the data off the drive.

A windows virus should not have any affect in a Linux environment. Not that it's impossible but the probability is extremely low of it happening. So I doubt a virus is causing your Ubuntu to freeze up.

 

[lunatic59]

There are almost no true computer viruses left in the wild. A true virus would be self-replicating and could infect a machine simply by mounting a volume where it exists. The vast majority of all computer malware today is in the form of a trojan or worm. These require user interaction to infect any system, so simply by performing disk/file integrity checks, there is no chance to infect the good system, if one exists. Still, the Windows Live CD is the way to go, if it can be repaired.

 

[bylerj1]

I will try to make the "live" USB tonight. What will the USB give me access to that I can use to recover data or fix the disc, and how do I access these tools? (I am under the impression that it will not be a full version of windows when booted)

 

[johnlgalt]

A thought. Does Ubuntu have some sort of timeout for USB Ports like Windows does? It would explain the screen.....

Or else a timeout built into the BIOS? Though I don't recall having seen that before....

Oh, another thought what if it is running out of system memory b/c 1) it's a live CD,, and 2) it's performing a large copy operation? Breaking up the copy operation into smaller chunks would fix that...

 

[lunatic59]

A thought. Does Ubuntu have some sort of timeout for USB Ports like Windows does? It would explain the screen.....

Our else a timeout built into the BIOS? Though I don't recall having seen that before....

Not while there is activity. I clone disk partitions through the USB bus taking upwards of a couple of hours sometimes and while the screen may sleep, the background processes continue until finished.

 

[bylerj1]

Could breaking up the transfer process still help though? I might try this also.

 

[lunatic59]

Could breaking up the transfer process still help though? I might try this also.

The only thing it might help you with is to identify the compromised files by narrowing down the file/directory where the transfer fails.

 

[argedion]

It will make the actual process of transfering longer as you are breaking it down to see where the issue is however not a bad start but what are you trying to back up anyways? Don't remember if you were Windows XP or Window 7 but really all you should need are

XP
My Documents and Sub Folders
This usually has all your personal documents, pictures, videos, and other media, in it, Most other folders at the root of the disk are Program / Windows Folders and not needed by the user However a good check never hurts folders you will not need are

Programs and Settings
Windows

7
Windows Seven tries to be a bit more POSIX
Folders are in user/username
there are a bunch of temp folders and useless folders in here that can cause problems trying to restore in a new windows installation so the ones you will want are the ones you have you own documents and media in
Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures, Videos, Any folders You Created You can CTRL + Click the individual folders and copy past to other drive.

Again you wont need program folders and window folders

I don't remember if Ubuntu has Disk Utility or Not it has a Check File System Button in it that may be helpful to you however it wont be near as good as check disk but if it can at least get you booted into safemode then you could go into the command prompt and type chkdsk c: /f /r at this point I would check for bad spots. Depending on the size of the disk this can take quite a while so don't be in any hurry for it. My first priority would be getting MY Data off the Disk

 

[lunatic59]

bylerj1 is trying to recover and XP machine.

Also don't forget the c:\documents and settings\<user account>\Desktop folder. If you are like me, you keep a lot of work in progress in folders on the desktop.

One other thing you might consider it to burn a live PartEd Magic CD and make a clone of the drive onto a removable. Of course if the file system has errors it will prompt you to fix them prior to being able to clone the drive. And Ubuntu (Linux) has disk utilities, but I've never seen one that is successful with NT partitions. Windows is still your best bet for checking the integrity of the boot partition.

 

[johnlgalt]

Actually, most of the folders under /documents and settings/Appdata/local, and roaming will be useful in restoring program settings street reinstallation of settings, so those should be considered as well. Just about any folder named temp should be avoided.

 

[argedion]

I havent run windows in a while if you can tell keep us posted on what's going on. Hopefully you can get things backup and running.

 

[bylerj1]

I have found one file that I know is corrupt, I was able to transfer it to my drive but couldn't open it anywhere else. I am attempting to make "live-ish" windows usb now, but it will probably have to wait until I get some more time later this weak for me to do much more with it.

 

[argedion]

big thing at this point is to concentrate on data recovery.

A Couple of tools I live by both of which you should be able to download into the ubuntu repository and that is Testdisk and PhotoRec they are very powerful recovery/phsical disk test structure programs. I do recommend that you save as much data a you can before needing to use PhotoRec as it does not always preserve file names.

testdisk can repair broken / corrupt partition errors however you should be familiar with the type of disk and its file system this can be a bit more advanced stuff but not overly intimidating. just remember at this point you want really only the usb your using and the questionable drive being noticed all others should be disconnected by the time you go to use this program or others.

you still need to run chkdsk c: /f at the very least after this and look for bad spots

 

[bylerj1]

Alright, so I burned the Win XP ISO file to a disc using the generic Win 7 disc image burner. How do I boot off of this disc? When I told it to boot from this disc, it went to a blue "Windows setup screen." Is this what I want? How do I make sure that I am just booting from the disc and not changing anything on the computer itself?

 

[bylerj1]

Keep in mind I only want to boot long enough to get the data off of the HD, and then I will decide where to go from there.

 

[lunatic59]

Alright, so I burned the Win XP ISO file to a disc using the generic Win 7 disc image burner. How do I boot off of this disc? When I told it to boot from this disc, it went to a blue "Windows setup screen." Is this what I want? How do I make sure that I am just booting from the disc and not changing anything on the computer itself?

That's right. And one of the options is the recovery console (which is where you'd run chkdsk) and one would be repair. The repair option should recognize the windows partition on your C: drive.

The Installation options should be pretty obvious. Do not confirm any installations or partition changes, this will wipe your drive.

This is the technote on the recovery console. The first link is how you can boot safely to recovery or repair from the CD.

 

[bylerj1]

Using this CD, is it possible to recover my data from the C drive?

 

[lunatic59]

You can certainly copy files manually using the recovery console and the "copy" command, but there is no GUI for the console. It a command line interface. My guess is, that if the disk has got some bad sectors, it's going to choke when it gets to them, just like the Ubuntu Live CD did.

If it were me, I'd copy as much as I could off with the Ubuntu disk and then run chkdsk C: /f from the recover console. If it finds and fixes anything, then go back to the Ubuntu disk and see if you can copy more. If it doesn't fail this time, then once you've got as much of your data copied as possible, then use the repair option from the XP CD and see if you can get back into Windows. If the disk is truly failing, you may want to consider replacing it anyway.

 

[bylerj1]

I tried to copy the main folders while in Ubuntu, but it just shut down and gave me that loading screen again. If I run chkdsk will that delete any of the data on the disk?

Wait a minute...When prompted for the admin password I just pressed enter (there is no password) and after a few seconds of loading I got a purple screen with text saying "A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer." Then is says
REGISTRY_ERROR
Then it goes on about if this is the first time I have seen this message restart. What does this mean?

 

[lunatic59]

It's been a while since I used this part of the XP disks, but I think what happens when you don't supply an admin password, it tries to boot into the windows installation on the hard disk. At least you know what file got borked. The good news is it might not be any of your data. The bad news is, you may not be able to repair if you don't have a backup of the registry. I know XP restore points will save a copy, but I don't recall how to get them manually.

As for chksdk, if it encounters bad sectors, it will attempt to recover files. If it can't then the files are damaged beyond repair and it wouldn't matter anyway. It will, however repair the file table and mark those sectors so they won't be written to in the future.

 

[bylerj1]

Can I get a copy of the registry somehow? And if I did have a backup how would I replace the bad one with the good one?