[Cialug] Dying commputer question

[kristau]

I'm guessing from context that this vital data did not have a backup?
If so, here's how I would proceed in this situation (it is pretty much
the same plan as you've proposed):

1) Use dd to attempt a bit-by-bit copy of the drive's partitions to a
known working drive.  This may take a long time and some of the data
may not be recoverable from this image.  Call this image the
"original" copy.
2) Run SpinRite use mode '2' (recovery mode) against the dying drive.
For what SpinRite does, it really isn't that expensive of an option.
If you are really strapped for cash, ask someone who owns a copy to
help you out.
3) Use dd to create a second bit-by-bit copy of the drive's partitions
to a known working drive.  This will be your "recovery" copy.  With
luck, SpinRite may have been able to recover some or all of the data.
4) Use the recovered data to get the system running again.  Depending
on how well the recovery went, this may be as simple as slapping the
partitions back on a new hard drive, or as difficult as re-installing
the OS and then copying files from the images to the new hard drive.
5) IMPLEMENT AN AUTOMATED BACKUP!  Once the dust settles and you are
sure you've got everything restored (hell even before you are sure)
implement an automated backup to an external device that is easy for
your father to use on a daily basis.  This may actually cost more than
SpinRite, as you will need to purchase an external storage solution
several times larger than the system drive and possibly software that
is easy to use for both backups and restores.  If this data really and
truly is vital you should be backing it up frequently.

At work, the first thing I do to a drive I suspect is dying is take an
image using dd.  You want to image each partition so you can mount
those directly under a Linux box.  If you image the whole drive, it
will not be as easy to mount (you'll have to restore the whole thing
to a drive).  Once I have an "original" copy, I then start using tools
like SpinRite to see if I can recover anything.  Sometimes SpinRite
can recover everything, sometimes it cannot.  That just depends on how
far gone the drive is.  For drive mounting, imaging and partition
resizing, I have been use System Rescue CD.  It has GParted and dd --
the essential tools needed.

I don't mean to pour salt into the wound when I mention your lack of
backups -- I just want to reinforce that you should use this
experience as proof that backups are necessary.  You may have already
warned your father that backing up is important.  Hopefully, this
experience will make him see the real value.

Hope that helps,
kristau
-- 
Tired programmer
Coding late into the night
The core dump follows

My GNUPG public key is available at http://www.kristau.net/public_key.asc