1737 restored to factory state software, now cant use shadow backup Disk

Nigel,

Did you try Take Ownership using the safe mode?

Rick

Hi Rick,

Thanks for the reply

No I didn't, the only procedure I could find was in the 'Studio setup guide'

Everything went fine until I tried to use restore.

Can I still recover if I use 'Safe Mode' ??

Regards

Nige

Nigel,

You said that you could see the files. If that the case, then they're there. Safe mode should possibably work. If not, then you may have to use a program like Recuva or something similar and see if you can recover your files that way.

I always try to tell people always make copies of files and folders that you cannot afford to lose. If My hard driver failed today, I still have my files and folders on disks.

Rick

Hi Rick

The final result is that 'safe mode' told me that restore was not supported.

Recuva found 6000+ files and presented me with zero.

i did do a document backup using Roxio but it wasn't as good as I thought.

I finally managed to get my documents by opening each backup file down to its individual folders and then copied and pasted.:emotion-2:

Thanks for your help.

I'm now going thro' Dell support how to correctly do it, should there be a Next time, heaven forbid

Regards

NIgel

.

Nigel,

This information should help you.

Restoring Your Computer´s Software to the Factory Settings and How To Restore or Reinstall Microsoft® Windows® on a Dell™ Computer

Rick

You state: I tell people always make copies of files and folders that you can't afford to lose.

I though that was exactly the purpose of Shadowing.

What am I missing?

Herb

Herb,

Always make copies of files and folders that you can't afford to lose.

I usually have these files and folders on an external hard drive, flash drive or burn to cd/dvd's

If you hard drive failed today, do you have these files in another location?

Rick

Thankyou for your reply:pudgyone. You ask:

"If your hard drive failed today, do you have these files in another location?

I _think_ I have each and every file in another location.

I have two hard drives. One is a mirror image of the other, using RAID3 functionality which I am thinking is another word for Disk shadowing.

Am I missing something?

Herb

Herb,

I'm not sure about the raid3 question.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID

The two hard drives you have, one is external, correct? Or did you install another hard drive inside the Studio 1737? I remember a discussion on this.

Hown did you reinstall the operationg system? Restoring Your Computer´s Software to the Factory Settings or How To Restore or Reinstall Microsoft® Windows® on a Dell™ Computer

Rick

Pudgyone writes:

2) "Or did you install another hard drive inside the Studio 1737?" .

I didn't install the second drive under Studio 1737. When my drive crashed,

the system was reinstalled (somehow) with the two identical drives and RAID3 was

"turned on" by an external hardware shop.

the RAID3 controller was already there

Other question:

1)"The two hard drives you have, one is external, correct?"

Well, no. And as I understand it Raid3 technology makes an external drive superfluous. But your earlier

comments have raised doubts in my mind.  

There are two precisely identical drives as I understand, and I paid for two drives. These two drives are

"under the control" of the RAID3 controller. With RAID3 technology, as I understand, one drive is always

the physical mirror image of the other drive.

Does the user have separate access to this drive? Not as far as I know.

I have been working under the (mis?)understanding, that in the event of disk failure, it is simply necessary

to swap-in the "redundant" disk drive, and, presumably, add another new drive to regain full redundancy.

At that point the system would then boot from the "swapped in" disk, and everything would go on it's merry way

with the new disk drive as the redundant one.

If this is NOT how things work, then I don't understand what the benefit of RAID3 technology is. And I didn't

understand most of what WIKIPEDIA had to say

I hope my answer isn't too long, and I hope it advances the discussion.

An addendum, the crashed disk was totally recovered by the disk manufacturer onto an "external drive" and then copied to the new drive. (with automatic mirroring enabled)

hubherby,

I didn't install the second drive under Studio 1737. When my drive crashed, the system was reinstalled (somehow) with the two identical drives and RAID3 was "turned on" by an external hardware shop.

Since this was done by an external hardware shop, then you should contact them to find out why it's not working properly. I have helped other members and the ones that were trying to use images for a compltet reinstallation, the drivers failed to install properly. They them made their images with the basic Windows image, then installed the drivers in order. How to Download and Install Drivers in the Correct Order

I'm almost positive the recovery partition is no longer there. Restoring Your Computer´s Software to the Factory Settings

The method to use when installing a new hard drive is How To Restore or Reinstall Microsoft® Windows® on a Dell™ Computer

I'm just a Dell user, just like you. It you make a new thread asking about the raid issues, there are some members that can help with that, but since the subject is different, some members will skip over this thread.

Rick

2nd addendum.

I just rebooted and looked during the boot process via cntl i

There is One "logical volume" with the name HNVOL001

The "level" is "RAID1(MIRROR)"

There are two physical disks

port0 Hitachi HDS72101 931.5GB

port1 Hitachi HDS72101 931.5GB

Wikipedia says the following about RAID1

In RAID 1 (mirroring without parity or striping), data is written identically to multiple disks

(a "mirrored set"). While any number of disks may be used, many implementations deal

with only 2. Array provides fault tolerance from disk errors or failures and

continues to operate as long as at least one drive in the mirrored set is functioning. With

appropriate operating system support there can be increased read performance, and only a

minimal write performance reduction. Using RAID 1 with a separate controller for each

disk is sometimes called duplexing.

(I'm afraid I may be overstaying my welcome)

I'm (effectively) brand new to this forum process.

Is there a "more appropriate" DELL forum to address this matter of data redundancy (via RAID technology)?

.

hubherby,

I used to run for a volunteer fire company. I actually saw this one person sit behind the computer and he did some type on command. He explained he was backing up the computer. If the power failed, it would only loose about 10 seconds of data. NOT exactly sure what he did because I didn't know much about computers back then.

I have had a few computers in my home fail. I used a Live KNOPPIX 5.1.1 CD to start the system and connected my external cd/dvd burner to it. I then used K3b to burn the files and folders to the external cd/dvd. Children never learn to make copies of files and folders that they cannot afford to lose.

Rick

Rick:

1st: thank you very much for attempting to answer my (poorly worded) question!

2nd

You said: you should contact them to find out why it's not working properly

and said: I'm almost positive the recovery partition is no longer there

I didn't mean to state that my system is malfunctioning or that the recovery partition is no longer there.

The recovery process I mentioned was about a year

ago and since then my system has been running fine, as far as I can tell.

I had a more narrow question which was triggered by an earlier comment by you

which was, in effect: "I always copy (important) files to an external drive."

That is clearly an important thing to do.

I am thinking that RAID1 (not RAID3) does this for me automatically by CONSTANTLY ensuring that there is an

ABSOLUTE duplicate (hidden) to C drive. It isn't a partition it is a physical (but transparent) drive.

thnx for your attempt to help.

It looks like I should pursue this further by looking for (or initiating)  a discussion about RAID1 as implemented

by DELL.