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Blitz3D Forums/Blitz3D Programming/ahhgh
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| just lost my whole c drive to a corrupt boot sector or similar I was just backing up my work when bam . lost about 3 months work plus my blitz install. my cd burner had just packed in a while ago and i was just tracking down the problem when this happens I am gutted. bye bye pearman demo etc |
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| That's very bad. I feel for you! Really do. Hope you manage to re-create some of your stuff again :) |
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| There is a Norwegian company specializing in harddisk salvage. Apparently they can recover anything, but... It will cost you your left arm and a kick in the groin! Sorry to hear! Best advice ever: Buy an external harddisk for backup, or a cheap used PC! |
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| I am quite annoyed( to say the least), mainly because the of the 60 new textures I created. I could recreate the village , but it seems a bit pointless as it was esentially a graphics demo. I did have some work on my other pc, but none of the last 4 weeks worth. do you think I can redownload blitz? |
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| Sure you can, check the contact tab in the top menu on this site and email support. Are you sure you cannot salvage any data from the harddisk? If you do not touch it, but install Windows on another drive you may be able to access the drive. I have been lucky like that once. |
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| Ruz, Don't despair just yet! I have two ideas... I'll e-mail you right now. IPete2. |
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| Ruz, I have e-mailed you but it just dawned on me that you may have been posting from another PC! Post again if I can reach you via a different e-mail address. IPete2. |
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| emails down just now pete.is there any good data recovery software. i am pretty sure the data is still there. I just tried a few demos, but they seem a bit useless I got the corrpt HD plugged in to my other pc right now, still can't access it, but the demo revoery software found some jpegs, so there is hope still. |
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| Lost and Found saved me once Tiramisu worked with my family's machine another time |
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| its the same address pete. i have the same email setup on both pcs. but damn ntl email is down again right now. |
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| Ruz, Hold on I'll post my e-mail publically here. IPete2. |
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| HI Mike Here are two suggestions, hopefully one may be of help to you. I don't know if the damage on your drive is too great but here are two methods I have used in the past to get out of similar situations. (1) Install another drive as your primary boot drive (£100 from PC world at most for an emergency), Move your current drive to the other EIDE cable (ie secondary). Put the new drive in the place of your old one, so it will become the new boot drive C:. Install Windows from CD installation as normal onto this new drive. Boot windows and access the data on the other drive. OR (2) Boot the machine and get it to a DOS prompt. Rename the Windows directory as OLDWINDOWS. Install Windows as normal. You'll end up with two WINDOWS installations the old one which doesn;'t work and your new one which does. You can rescue any data and put them onto another EIDE drive (hang it off the Secondary IDE bus) and get all your downloads, drivers, e-mails, data etc. I hope some of this helps... IPete2. |
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| R-Studio iRecover Hard Drive Mechanic Don't know any of them, but it seemed like they were the ones people refer the most to! |
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| cheers pete. i tried that and it has worked on previous occasions,but this one is a bit more awkward.I think the data recovery softare is the way to go and I am pretty sure I will get most if not all of it back. just recovered about 200 jpegs. he he this computer has xp installed in windows1 directory fredborg , thanks for that i will try them all |
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| Ruz, Excellent - hope all goes well m8! I would hate to think that you'd lost all that work - eek! I always now have two drives with Windows installed on each, I just re-boot and enter the bios to swap the drive to boot from, it gives me peace of mind and an emergency installation to recover stuff from in most cases! Also I can continue to work if one drive dies. I have also recently instigated another safety backup, an external firewire drive (160GB) very fast very easy to move data from pc to pc (office at Golborne to office at Birchwood!). This also great for when you want to work on a laptop. IPete2. |
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| That happened to me once come to think of it. Try this as a last resort tho. Stick in the xp disc and choose r for the repair console. Then choose to write a new MBR, see if that works. Done the trick for me. Only as a last resort tho! |
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| yeah a lot of my recent hardware problems stem for the fact that i bought my stuff from second hand computer fairs in london. bloke i knew runs a compnay in brixton lost six months web design work , aghh |
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| oh man, thats not nice! my blitz programming is pretty much all i do on this PC, if it went, id be upset! do what i do! upload your LATEST work to your website in a zip, or email it to your self (if you suspect bad days ahead!) also, might be wise to invest in a EPRrom (smart media) |
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| I'm gonna back up right now :) |
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| ruz, sounds pricey, but ALWAYS (when doing SERIOUS work) use A-Grade stuff!, the cheaper stuff is better for games or something |
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| well the recovery demo showed me the files are mostly all there. i even managed to rescue my main bb file that i was working on. Hmm i have to buy the dam software now to get the rest of the files. Necromancer I agree, no more cheapo crap for me |
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| Ruz i need to email you, I have something that could help, (not a recovery program tho, something else) |
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| cool, if you can help , tnhat would be great |
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| thanks for the advice guys. Luckily I saved just about all of the data. So all I have lost is a days of work really. Pain in the arse though |
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| Hard drive Crash tips.... Get Knoppix (bootable Linux Distruib on CD), show you if there is still Data on your old Hard Drive... If you know Linux you can map a drive (or USB Disk) and copy Files... Next, if you see data from Knoppix but don't know Linux that well, load the drive up as a Slave to a Windows Box and see if you can copy the data... Finally, if you HD is really trashed... If the Hard Drive isn't spinning (or you are getting noises) try the Freezer trick. Toss your hard drive in the icebox for a couple of hours. Last time I had a Crash, I got 20 min of data access between Freezer Sessions. And Always backup :P |
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| "If the Hard Drive isn't spinning (or you are getting noises) try the Freezer trick. Toss your hard drive in the icebox for a couple of hours. Last time I had a Crash, I got 20 min of data access between Freezer Sessions. " wish i'd known that when my harddrive when down! |
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| Ruz, condolences. Has happened to me twice now (no known explanation). But as you you say, it matters now - too far into months of blitz work to be cavalier about it. My methods are: a) C: drive only contains Windows. b) D: (second physical drive) for all data and tools. When (yes I mean when) Windows XP goes down it will take most of what's on drive C:, and so far D: has been safe. c) Batch files. Quick copy the whole of my project to another backup folder, still on the hard drive (at least two copies on the HD at any one time). d) If poss (I'm lucky) be network-linked to another PC then batch file copy all project data across to that as well. e) Buy writeable CDs in batches of 50, then WASTE 'em! - backup to these as often as possible. (I do all my project data at least once a week). Steps (c) and (d) are done every day. Hope you recover all your data. Cheers. |
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| cheers'for the tips.I will use c drive just for playing games and d for project stuff it is good that virtually all fo my data is intact. I am going to get a new cd burner today also. |
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| Hmm, must try the freezer trick -- my main HD died a few weeks back, losing tons of stuff. Still haven't learned my lesson though, as I haven't backed up since. Let my lack of lesson-learning be a lesson to others! It will happen to you eventually, whoever you are. Think about what you'll lose when it does happen (without any significant warning)... then put off backing up until "some time soon"... :) |
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| Ruz, Very glad to hear you got most of your data back. I try very hard to have stuff in 3 places (off site if possible) when I'm working on larger projects, it just makes sense when working on a paying job. On other stuff i usually try it on other machines to see how it works so most of it is on CD in some form or other. Even I lose stuff occasionally! Ah well that's the life of a software creator I guess! Regards, IPete2. IPete2. |
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| BTW Never trust a single CD-R, no matter how well stored -- most of mine were a real struggle to get what (relatively) little I did have backed-up... |
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| hehe, Freezer, Wow, i thought that was a bad idea' well they you learn something new every day! Since the amiga day i have NEVER trust a harddrive completly, im supprised people trust them EVEN with Windowz OS! Linux is good for self recovery, but it too is pointless if theres nothing to boot from! an explanation of why some harddrive start to fail! its has to do with people leaving there system ON too long (3 or 4 days straght) I since invested in a harddrive cooler, and has never risen in temp! good little purchase, 12.99 and your harddrive has extended life! anyway, as you know that if you HEAT magnetic surfaces, they can loose there polarity! YOUR HARDDRIVE IS MAGNETIC platters! so having a harddrive getting too hot, magnetting sectors will start to loose this "polarity" (this info i learn from college) |
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| Hehe… Just as a reminder, the freezer trick is a ‘Last Resort’ and should only be used when you have tried everything else. You do get condensation on the drive as it heats up. The reason why it works (from what I have always heard) is cooling the drive shrinks the bearings, allowing it to spin freely (until it heats up again… ) As for the Linux being pointless if there is nothing to boot from…. Knoppix is a Self contained bootable CD (free) that loads your current hard drive as ‘Read Only’. This will allow you to create a Network Connection (SMB) to copy your good data to. (or USB Drive, tho you have to change the rights…) Cheers |
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| cool.. Wheres the address of this Knoppix, could proof to be quite handy for when my drive fails (not yet tho) |
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| http://www.knoppix.net It's good to check out even if you just want to learn Linux... |
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| i have a linux box, but guilty as charged i dont know alot about it, the way it works is totally alien, but then So is windows! (compared to an Amiga ;o) |
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| yeahh i am back, all my important stuff saved and ..pheew that was a stressful couple of days. tnanks to all who gave advice |
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| Every one in the BlitzWorld Care for each other ;O) |
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| I just saw this thread. sorry to hear this Ruz. The same happended to me about one year ago. But I was not sucessful in the Data recovery. I make a lot of CD backups, store them at several locations, so even when my house burns down I can continue my .BB Project immediately. The freezer is what I use for Inkjet Cartridges, since I have lost about 300$ with dried halffull Inkjet Cartridges. I just started this experiment, not shure if it's gonna work. |
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| Some people may want to look at www.ibackup.com - internet backup on a completely remote site. It's pretty cheap peace of mind and has a scheduler application to automate daily backups (or whatever frequency you like). I have to admit to being paranoid about such things - but I've never lost anything yet despite having had total HD failures on a couple of occasions. Dave |
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| I think i was getting a bit complacent. Since getting winxp pro, It has been very stable, so backing up seemed not as important. i have learned my lesson now. Even though I saved my data, it was still a monumental pain to recover it. My cd burner is truly burned. I'ts back to ebay for me I feel bit uneasy now , in case it happens again between now and getting my new burner. I will have to dig my old zip drive out for now.Not much use , but it looks nice JFK, i am not sure if putting your cartridge in the fridge will help. worth a try though |
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| Glad to hear you got your data back Ruz, Pearman lives once more ;) |
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| he he,caff, its 'stitch' man at the moment. pearman was looking a bit rough, so i put stitch back in. I am just about finished that demo now. The framerate issue is still bugging me. i got it to a steady 38fps at 1024x768 now. I would like it higher though I am going to do a realistic tron demo next, using the yori model I made a while ago. |
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| lol, you'll prolly find that Win XP was what caused the Massive data loss! win 98 or win95 would prolly just stop windows from booting, XP and 2000 (nt) use NTLDR.sys (or something) if thats bust, thats it! i wont touch XP, i have win2000 for 2 years stright and LOST nothing, its stable because i dont abuse the os. altho, using Microsoft windows is pretty much abusing your PC! ;o) haha.. (just kidding) |
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| yeah thats exactly what happened NTLDR.sys error, tried to fix it, then the corruption happened. I never had this happen with nt4 though, just had to reinstall nt. I wish i ahd bought win2000 ,actually we used it at work and it was nice to work on. Xp is ok though. |
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| well remember WinXP is just windows 2000 with the frilly knickers on and a bit more brains. windows 2000 has a recovery disk for that. i dont understand why NTldr.sys is so unreliable tho.. but thats what you get if you want server-style system |
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| I just wanted a more stable sytem than win 98, that was terrible . i got sooo sick of reinstalling that. I used to have a dual boot, winnt ,win 98 |
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| i had win98 for years! i had to abandon it, because im a programmer and resources in 98 just kept dissapearing! and i couldn't things like run big programs with out win98 saying run out of system memory. Win2k took care of that, and as a result, im happy with it. I had to sacrifice dos to it tho ;o( my star-trek A final Unity was laid to sleep :O(( |
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