Methods to recover data from a Hard Drive

There are many different reasons you would need to recover data from a hard drive. Sometimes you computer will not boot because of an error during startup. Sometimes errors during startup are recoverable through troubleshooting. But when a reload of windows or reinstall from the restore disk is neccessary you will want to backup your data. Even worse sometimes you will get an error where the hard drive is undreadable or unrecognizable, you will want to backup you data.

A gadget that comes in handy in the process of recovering data from an unbootable or unreadable hard drive is an external hard drive enclosure. The bad hard drive fits inside the external hard drive enclosure. The external hard drive enclosure connects to a usb port and will show up on that computer as an extra hard drive. You can then copy and backup your data from that problematic hard drive. For Desktop hard drives they are considered 3.5″ hard drives while notebook hard drives are considered 2.5″ drives. Here are a couple of examples from Compusa:

CompUSA USB 2.0 3.5 inch External Hard Drive Enclosure

Norwood Micro 2.5 inch USB 2.0 External Hard Drive Enclosure

Sometimes a drive will still be unreadable once it is connected to a computer so additional software will be neccessary to help find data on the hard drive. A good program that I use is a program called GetDataBack.

Reference to software http://www.runtime.org/gdb.htm

GetDataBack will recover your data if the hard drive’s partition table, boot record, FAT/MFT or root directory are lost or damaged, data was lost due to a virus attack, the drive was formatted, fdisk has been run, a power failure has caused a system crash, files were lost due to a software failure, files were accidentally deleted…

Recover even when Windows doesn’t recognize the drive-

GetDataBack can even recover your data when the drive is no longer recognized by Windows. It can likewise be used even if all directory information – not just the root directory- is missing.

Get everything back-
Advanced algorithms will make sure that all directories and sub directories are put together as they were, and that long file names are reconstructed correctly.

GetDataBack is easy to use-
The software enables the regular user to conduct his own data recovery by guiding him through three easy to understand steps, thus gives the advanced user the possibility to interfere with the recovery and improve the results, by examining the scan log, the file system details, file and directory information, by selecting the sector range to be scanned, by choosing excessive search for file systems or search for lost files, by calling Runtime’s DiskExplorer.

Program to use: http://www.runtime.org/gdbnt.zip

Monthly Hard drive maintenance

This should be done periodically so that your computer data is optimized on the hard drive, which leads to faster performance.

Defragmet Disk: This will organize the data on the hard drive so that your computer can access data quicker and more efficiently. This can be run for any of your hard drives. Defragmenting the primary drive will make the most impact on speed of your computer

Select Programs – Accessories – System Tools – Disk Defragmenter

Disk Cleanup: This will clean up the temporary data that can sometime clutter the computer hard drive. Internet activity will also create temporary files that can cause your Internet activity to slow.

Select Programs – Accessories – System Tools – Disk Cleanup

Getting Rid of Pop-Ups in internet explorer.

Most of the time this means that you have a browser hijacking program on your computer.

You can run spybot and adaware programs to find any programs that should not be running on your computer. View this section for sites to download this type of software.

http://kevinsadvice.wordpress.com/computer-maintenance-advice/

If this does not take away your problem you can go to www.google.com and search for the keywords of browser hijack and the site names that are poping up, to find a way to clean up the program manually.

Laptop and Dual Monitor advice

I got my new lap top today and also a monitor stand – should I bother with docking it each day into this stand and use my old monitor or just use the dock the lap top into the network and use it – what do you think?

Definitely keep your monitor and utilize your your notebook monitor to run your system in dual monitor mode. This typically works with windows xp and xp professional. Getting used to spanning your screen across 2 monitors is an adjustment but will ultimately lead to higher productivity.
For example leaving your email up on one screen, while working on another. Or you can bring up 2 spreadsheets on each monitor to review much easier.

Here is a link to a blog that talks about the benefits and also shows you how to setup dual monitors.

http://www.technologychief.com/?p=17

Internet Explorer is not opening, it freezes

When I try to open internet explorer or windows media player, the program never fully loads or connects to the internet. I can get connected to the internet with Firefox.

How can I use internet explorer or windows media again?

Response:

There is information in the temporary internet files folder that are protected and locked. The files could not be deleted or read, and it was keeping internet explorer from accesses this location and freezing anything that reading that directory.

The files could not be deleted via Windows explorer or by deleting offline files from the internet options tools.

Using DOS under the accessory folders, I was able to delete the problem files.
1. Went to the folder \documents and settings\”user”\temporary internet files\
2. del *.* /ah to delete all of the hidden files.

Once all of the files were gone, I was then allowed the ability to open and connect to the internet using internet explorer and windows media without any problems.

Browser defaults to About:Blank

When trying to login to internet explorer or browser the first page it goes to is ABOUT:BLANK.

When i reset my default home page, and restart browser it still goes back to about:blank as the start page.

Response:

How To Remove About:Blank Homepage Hijackers

This web page was set up to help computer users remove About:Blank Homepage Hijackers from their systems. About:Blank Hijackers are currently the most insidious browser hijackers on the Internet. They can stealth install onto your PC and can evade the detection algorithms of most anti-spyware programs.

The About:Blank Hijacker installs a Browser Helper Object in Internet Explorer. This BHO consumes excessive system resources and slows down your internet connection. An infected computer will display a false directory webpage whenever the browser is opened, with ‘about:blank’ displayed in its title and address window. The directory will include a search prompt or page heading with the text ‘Quick Web Search’, ‘Search for…’, ‘Search The Web:’ or similar. It won’t permit you to change the browser’s default homepage or if you can it will change it back later. It may also hijack your search settings to route your search queries through its paid listings. It may add new websites to your IE favorites, install an adware toolbar and hit you with loads of popup ads.
about:blank
Example about:blank homepage displaying ‘Quick Web Search’ fake search engine.

The publishers and affiliates of About:Blank Hijackers earn income from the paid advertisements displayed on the infected PC. Whenever you click the links on its directory and search results pages you’re earning money for them. Browser hijackers often pilfer paid search listings from syndicated search engines or display advertising from affiliate networks. This means reputable businesses are getting their paid advertisements displayed by browser hijackers without their knowledge and earning income for the makers and affiliates of those hijackers.

About:Blank Hijackers use various means to avoid detection and removal:

* It can restore itself after its file directory is deleted.
* It can restore its registry settings after they have been deleted.
* It is difficult to remove from memory.
* Uses random file names to avoid detection by anti-spyware.
* It starts up whenever the operating system is started.
* If it’s removed from the auto-start settings, it can restore itself there.
* Multiple DLLs that replace each other if one is deleted by the user or an anti-spyware program.
* It can change its executable code to avoid detection by anti-spyware.
* It may store executable code in the temporary internet files.

The most notorious and problematic of the About:Blank Hijackers is variant of a program known as CoolWWWSearch. This problem can also be caused by many other adware and spyware programs, computer worms and trojans. An example is the widely known “I Love You” worm which may set the browser homepage to about:blank, but displays a blank page instead of a “fake” search engine portal. Worms are self-replicating programs similar to viruses that replace files on your PC with their own and just like viruses may be highly distructive. Most anti-virus programs should be able to remove the “I Love You” worm.
Removal Procedure

To permanently remove CoolWWWSearch and other About:Blank Hijackers it’s important to thoroughly clean your system of all spyware, including any hidden installer components that may be able restore the pest later on:

1. First close all your browser windows and clear your internet temporary files by selecting Start > Run, type ‘cleanmgr’ and click OK.
2. Then scan your system with XoftSpy and remove all the infections it finds.

http://paretologic.com/?id=bonobo&p=2&g=69

3. Reboot your PC.
4. Immediately scan your system a second time with XoftSpy removing any remaining infections.

XoftSpy will remove a wide range of hard-to-remove spyware, adware, browser hijackers, worms and trojans that cause the about:blank problem. This program is reputable and safe to use [learn more].

The hijacker should now be completely removed, your system will operate normally and you should have full control to set the browser homepage to the address of any website (click Tools > Internet Options).

NOTE: There is a trojan known as CoolWWWSearch.Smartkiller that can block access to anti-spyware sites and prevent anti-spyware programs from running. If you’re unable to download or run XoftSpy run this specialized removal tool first

http://www.aboutblank.com.au/delcwssk.zip

Computer is Slowing Down IEXPLORER.EXE’sCPU is 99%

Computer is running very slow, and when the computer boots up a internet explorer window pops up and the computer gets very slow.

This is on Windows 2000 professional.

When hitting ctrl-alt-del to see the task manager the iexplorer.exe process is runnng at 99% cpu utilization. I am unable to do anything else on the computer when this is running.

Response:
Here is a snippet of what I send out to folks with computer issues. One thing particular for jimmy’s situation is the bogging down of internet explorer. This to me seems to be an indicator of a potential browser hijacker. I would download the below software and burn it to CD, so that you can install it without having to get on to the internet. I think particularly the Spybot and Adaware programs may identify programs that are running illegally on the computer.

The other steps is to determine the programs that startup automatically and make sure that only a one or two critical apps are loading. A lot of times a computer will get bogged downed by lots of programs being loaded into memory on startup. In particular programs that try to hijack your internet connection will slow everything down tremendously. I am a bit hesitant to suggest digging into this error, because it can be tricky and risky.

Sorry I can not provide a solid answer, but these issues are always tough to diagnos without being on the computer.

Kevin

SOFTWARE TO DOWNLOAD:

Virus Software: This can setup a schedule for regular virus scans of the computer
http://free.grisoft.com/softw/70free/setup/avg70free_338a597.exe

Spybot and Adaware should clear up any virus’s or browser hijackers you have on your system. These programs must be run by the user and should be done periodically.

Spybot:
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/mirrors/index.html

Adaware:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloadget.php?id=506&file=11&evp=8dbaff7daca8f4b55bf695220993fc0f

Create a PDF file for free!

Download this program and install it.
http://www.primopdf.com/

The way that pdf files are created is like printing a document. When you are ready to create a file, you print the file you want to create. You select “primopdf” from the list of printers and it will create the file, instead of printing.

50″ LCD or Plasma recommendation

We are looking @ some plasma 50” HDTV’s. Do you know anything about these? I assume we can hook this up just like our current tv (to our direct tv tivo receiver) and then ask the satellite company to come out (IF they need to) to set up the HDTV so we can get it on the channels that have it available. Is that correct?

We have this narrowed down to circuit city that has this tv for $1799 and free delivery and Sams that has one for $1688.

Response:
Bottom line I think you should get a Plasma if your looking for a flat screen of that size. You may get a better value in the projection tv sets. The price range you mentioned for a 50″ is good. My opinion is to have them deliver it so that they are liable on for any damage getting it delivered and setup. And I think an extended warranty is a good thing to have on this type of product, because it is very expensive to get repairs. With those points in mind, I would lean to circuit city because they offer delivery and extended warranties.

From a document on cnet.com: http://www.cnet.com.au/tvs/0,239035250,240036500,00.htm#3
“If you’re in the market for a big screen television — and we’re talking 42-inches and above — then we’d suggest plasma as a safe bet. Plasmas give you more bang for your buck at the big end of town, and while LCDs can give you better resolution, the price difference is currently too wide. However, if money’s not an issue and you want the sharpest image in town, then a large LCD is for you. At the smaller end of things (15″ to 36″ TVs), LCD is the only way to go if you want something slim and tasteful. And the best thing is that LCDs are getting cheaper all the time.”

As far as a the DirectTV setup. You need to contact Directv and get a HD Reciever from them, so that you can see the HD Channels. With Directv I dont think they will provide the local HD channels (At least the last I knew), so you might have to get an anetenna and hook it into the HD Reciever to get your local high definition channels.

AVG Virus Software – Reason for a Vault

The vault isolates the virus so it cannot harm your system. I would tend to empty the vault which will delete the file from your computer.

If the virus still appears after moving it to the vault, and AVG can not get rid of it. Do a Google search of the virus name should give you links to a site where you can download a patch to solve the problem.