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Hiren Boot CD bir bilgisayar teknisyeni yada en az orta seviye bir kullanıcının acil durumlarda imdadına koşan bir CD. içerisinde program olarak yok yok.
 Bir açılış CD si olan Hiren in içinde 100 ü aşkın sistem tamir ve bakım programı var. Hepsi dos modda çalışan kendini kanıtlamış programlar. Hiren adında bir hintli tarafından oluşturulan ve sürekli yenilenen Hiren boot CD ile tamir, bakım vb. işler için gerekli olabilecek programlar bir menü sistemi ile ulaşılabilen başlatılabilir bir CD imajında bir araya getiriliyor.
 CDde yer alan ve birçoğuna zaten aşina olduğumuz programların listesini kendi sitesinde bulabilirsiniz. Hirens Boot CD yi sürücünüze takıp biligisayarınızı CD sürücüden başlatarak kullanıyorsunuz. Bir programi kullandıktan sonra kendinizi komut satırında bulursanız m yazıp enter tuşuna basın bu sizi CD deki tüm programların listelendiği bir menüye götürecektir.
 
 Bu ünlü boot cd ile bilgisayarızda sorun olduğu zaman bilgisayarınızı bu cd ile boot edebilir, sorun giderebilirsiniz. İçerdiği birçok programı kurmadan direkt olarak kullanmanıza olanak tanıyan, her bilgisayar kullanıcısında olması gereken bir boot Cd!
 
 —Bu Boot CD ile yapabileceğiniz bazı işlemler :
 ¤ Dosya sistemi oluşturma,biçimlendirme,yeniden boyutlandırma
 (Tüm popüler formatlar Ext2/3,NTFS,FAT16,FAT32).
 ¤ Disk bölümü yedekleme ve disk yedekleme.
 ¤ F-Prot ve McAfee ile virüs taraması yapabiliyor.
 ¤ Windows yönetici şifresini sıfırlama (NT/2K/XP).
 ¤ Dosya kurtarma (Silinen ve formatlanmış diskler için)
 ¤ Donanım testi (Tüm PC donanım bileşenlerini test eder)
 ¤ Donanım performans testi (Benchmarking).
 ¤ Disk arızalarını tespit eder ve onarır
 (HDDRegenerator ile fiziksel hasarları düzeltme).
 ¤ Dosya yöneticileri.
 ¤ Bilgisayarlar arası bağlantı kurabilme
 (LPT, Serial ve ETH üzerinden)
 ¤ Dos modda NTFS bölüme erişebilme.
 ¤ Boot yöneticileri.
 ¤ Dos modda USB desteği.
 ¤ Tüm MSDOS harici komutları.
 ¤ Windows için dos modda otomatik program başlatma yönetimi.
 ¤ Windows için Tweaker ve Ad-aware taraması.
 ¤ Farklı DOS modlarında başlatabilme.
 ¤ Windows sürücülerinin yedeklenmesi ve yedekten geri alınması.
 Hirens BootCD 8.9 – All in one Dos Bootable CD which has all these utilities.
 
 Partition Tools:
 - Partition Magic Pro 8.05 – Best software to partition hard drive
 - Acronis Disk Director Suite 9.0.554 – Popular disk management functions in a single suite
 - Paragon Partition Manager 7.0.1274 – Universal tool for partitions
 - Partition Commander 9.01 – The safe way to partition your hard drive,with undo feature
 - Ranish Partition Manager 2.44 – a boot manager and hard disk partitioner.
 - The Partition Resizer v1.3.4 – move and resize your partitions in one step and more.
 - Smart Fdisk 2.05 – a simple harddisk partition manager
 - SPecial Fdisk 2000 – SPFDISK a partition tool.
 - eXtended Fdisk 0.9.3 – XFDISK allows easy partition creation and edition
 - GDisk 1.1.1 – Complete replacement for the DOS FDISK utility and more.
 - Super Fdisk 1.0 – Create, delete, format partitions drives without destroying data
 
 Disk Clone Tools:
 - ImageCenter 5.6 (Drive Image 2002) – Best software to clone hard drive
 - Norton Ghost 11.0 – Similar to Drive Image (with usb/scsi support)
 - Acronis True Image 8.1.945 – Create an exact disk image for complete system backup and disk cloning.
 - Partition Saver 3.30 – A tool to backup/restore partitions.
 - COPYR.DMA Build013 – A Tool for making copies of hard disks with bad sectors
 
 Antivirus Tools:
 - F-Prot Antivirus 3.16f (1003) – Very good virus scanner (with ntfs support and easy to use menu)
 - McAfee Antivirus 4.40 (1003) – a virus scanner (with ntfs support and easy to use menu)
 
 Recovery Tools:
 - Active Partition Recovery 3.0 – To Recover a Deleted partition.
 - Active Uneraser 3.0 – To recover deleted files and folders on FAT and NTFS systems.
 - Ontrack Easy Recovery Pro 6.10 – To Recover data that has been deleted/virus attack
 - Winternals Disk Commander 1.1 – more than just a standard deleted-file recovery utility
 - TestDisk 6.7b – Tool to check and undelete partition.
 - Lost & Found 1.06 – a good old data recovery software.
 - DiyDataRecovery Diskpatch 2.1.100 – An excellent data recovery software.
 - Prosoft Media Tools 5.0 v1.1.2.64 – Another excellent data recovery software with many other options.
 - PhotoRec 6.7b – File and pictures recovery Tool.
 
 Testing Tools:
 - System Speed Test 4.78 – it tests CPU, harddrive, ect.
 - PC-Check 6.0 – Easy to use hardware tests
 - Ontrack Data Advisor 5.0 – Powerful diagnostic tool for assessing the condition of your computer
 - The Troubleshooter 7.02 – all kind of hardware testing tool
 - PC Doctor 3.0 – a benchmarking and information tool
 - Test Cpu/Video/Disk 5.6 – a tool to test cpu, video, and disk
 - Test Hard Disk Drive 1.0 – a tool to test Hard Disk Drive
 
 RAM (Memory) Testing Tools:
 - DocMemory 3.1b – RAM Test utility
 - GoldMemory 5.07 – RAM Test utility
 - Memtest86+ 1.70 – PC Memory Test
 
 Hard Disk Tools:
 - Hard Disk Diagnostic Utilities
 - Seagate Seatools Desktop Edition 3.02
 - Western Digital Data Lifeguard Tools
 - Western Digital Diagnostics (DLGDIAG) 5.04f
 - Maxtor PowerMax 4.23
 - Maxtor amset utility 4.0
 - Maxtor(or any Hdd) Low Level Formatter 1.1
 - Fujitsu HDD Diagnostic Tool 6.61
 - Fujitsu IDE Low Level Format 1.0
 - Samsung HDD Utility(HUTIL) 2.02
 - Samsung Disk Diagnose (SHDIAG) 1.28
 - IBM/Hitachi Drive Fitness Test 4.08
 - IBM/Hitachi Feature Tool 2.03
 - Gateway GwScan 3.15
 - ExcelStors ESTest 3.80
 - MHDD 4.6
 - WDClear 1.30
 - Toshiba Hard Disk Diagnostic 2.00b
 - SeaTools for Dos 1.08
 - HDD Regenerator 1.51 – to recover a bad hard drive
 - Ontrack Disk Manager 9.57 – Disk Test/Format/Maintenance tool.
 - Norton Disk Doctor 2002 – a tool to repair a damaged disk, or to diagnose your hard drive.
 - Norton Disk Editor 2002 – a powerful disk editing, manual data recovery tool.
 - Active Kill Disk 3.1 – Securely overwrites and destroys all data on physical drive.
 - HDAT2 4.5.2 – main function is testing and repair (regenerates) bad sectors for devices
 - SmartUDM 2.00 – Hard Disk Drive S.M.A.R.T. Viewer.
 - Victoria 3.33 – a freeware program for low-level HDD diagnostics
 
 System Information Tools:
 - Aida16 2.14 – a system information tool, extracts details of all components of the PC
 - PCI and AGP info Tool (1003) – The PCI System information & Exploration tool.
 - System Analyser version 5.3p – View extensive information about your hardware
 - Navratil Software System Information 0.59.14 – High-end professional system information tool
 - Astra 5.31 – Advanced System info Tool and Reporting Assistant
 - HwInfo 5.0.5 – a powerful system information utility
 - PC-Config 9.33 – Complete hardware detection of your computer
 - SysChk 2.46- Find out exactly what is under the hood of your PC
 - CPU Identification utility v1.12 – Detailed information on CPU
 - CTIA CPU Information – another CPU information tool
 
 MBR (Master Boot Record) Tools:
 - MBR Work 1.07b – a utility to perform some common and uncommon MBR functions
 - MBR Tool 2.2.100 – backup, verify, restore, edit, *******, remove, display, re-write…
 - DiskMan4 – all in one tool for cmos, bios, bootrecord and more
 - BootFix Utility – Run this utility if you get Invalid system disk
 - MBR SAVE / RESTORE 2.1 – BootSave and BootRest tools to save / restore MBR
 - Boot Partition 2.60 – add Partition in the Windows NT/2000/XP Multi-boot loader
 - Partition Table Doctor 3.0 – a tool to repair/modify mbr, bootsector, partition table
 - Smart Boot Manager 3.7.1 – a multi boot manager
 - Bootmagic 8.0 – This tool is for multi boot operating systems
 - MBRWizard 2.0b – Directly update and modify the MBR (Master Boot Record)
 
 BIOS / CMOS Tools:
 - CMOS 0.93 – CMOS Save / Restore Tool
 - BIOS Cracker 4.8 – BIOS password remover (cmospwd)
 - BIOS Cracker 1.4 – BIOS password remover (cmospwc)
 - BIOS Utility 1.35.0 – BIOS Informations, password, beep codes and more.
 - !BIOS 3.20 – a powerfull utility for bios and cmos
 - DISKMAN4 – a powerful all in one utility
 - UniFlash 1.40 – bios flash utility
 - Kill CMOS – a tiny utility to wipe cmos
 - Award DMI Configuration Utility 2.43 – DMI Configuration utility for modifying/viewing the MIDF contents.
 
 MultiMedia Tools:
 - Picture Viewer 1.94 – Picture viewer for dos, supports more then 40 filetypes.
 - QuickView Pro 2.57 – movie viewer for dos, supports many format including divx.
 - MpxPlay 1.54 – a small Music Player for dos
 
 Password Tools:
 - Active Password Changer 3.0.420 – To Reset User Password on windows NT/2000/XP/2003 (FAT/NTFS)
 - Offline NT/2K/XP Password Changer – utility to reset windows nt/2000/xp administrator/user password.
 - Registry Viewer 4.2 – Registry Viewer/Editor for Win9x/Me/NT/2K/XP
 - Registry Reanimator v1.02 – check and restore structure of the damaged registry files of NT/2K/XP
 - NTPWD – utility to reset windows nt/2000/xp administrator/user password.
 - ATAPWD 1.2 – Hard Disk Password Utility
 
 NTFS Ext2FS, Ext3FS (FileSystems) Tools :
 - NTFS Dos Pro 5.0 – To access ntfs partitions from Dos
 - NTFS 4 Dos 1.4 – To access ntfs partitions from Dos
 - Paragon Mount Everything 3.0 – To access NTFS, Ext2FS, Ext3FS partitions from dos
 - NTFS Dos 3.02 – To access ntfs partitions from Dos
 - EditBINI 1.01 – to Edit boot.ini on NTFS Partition
 
 Dos File Managers:
 - Volkov Commander 4.99 – Dos File Manager with LongFileName/ntfs support (Similar to Norton Commander)
 - Dos Command Center 5.1 – Classic dos-based file manager.
 - File Wizard 1.35 – a file manager – colored files, drag and drop copy, move, delete etc.
 - File Maven 3.5 – an advanced Dos file manager with high speed PC-to-PC file transfers via serial or parallel cable
 - FastLynx 2.0 – Dos file manager with Pc to Pc file transfer capability
 - LapLink 5.0 – the smart way to transfer files and directories between PCs.
 - Dos Navigator 6.4.0 – Dos File Manager, Norton Commander clone but has much more features.
 - Mini Windows 98 – Can run from Ram Drive, with ntfs support, Added 7-Zip which supports .7z .zip .cab .rar .arj .gzip, .bzip2 .z .tar .cpio .rpm and .deb, Disk Defragmenter, Notepad / RichText Editor, Image Viewer, .avi .mpg .divx .xvid Movie Player, etc…
 
 Other Tools:
 - Ghost Walker 2003.793 – utility that changes the security ID (SID) for Windows NT, 2000 and XP
 - DosCDroast beta 2 – Dos CD Burning Tools
 - Universal TCP/IP Network 5.9.3 – MSDOS Network Client to connect via TCP/IP to a Microsoft based network. The network can either be a peer-to-peer or a server based network, it contains 85 different network card drivers
 
 Dos Tools:
 - USB CD-Rom Driver 1 – Standard usb_cd.sys driver for cd drive
 - Universal USB Driver 2 – Panasonic v2.20 ASPI Manager for USB mass storage
 - SCSI Support – SCSI Drivers for Dos
 - SATA Support – SATA Driver (gcdrom.sys) and JMicron JMB361 (xcdrom.sys) for Dos
 - 1394 Firewire Support – 1394 Firewire Drivers for Dos
 - Interlnk support at COM1 To access another computer from COM port
 - Interlnk support at LPT1 – To access another computer from LPT port
 
 Windows Tools:
 - SpaceMonger 1.4 – keeping track of the free space on your computer
 - Drive Temperature 1.0 – Hard Disk Drive temperature meter
 - Disk Speed 1.0 – Hard Disk Drive Speed Testing Tool
 - MemTest 1.0 – a Memory Testing Tool
 - PageDfrg 2.32 – System file Defragmenter For NT/2k/XP
 - WhitSoft File Splitter 4.5a – a Small File Split-Join Tool
 - Ghost Image Explorer 11.0 – to add/remove/extract files from Ghost image file
 - DriveImage Explorer 5.0 – to add/remove/extract files from Drive image file
 - Drive SnapShot 1.37 – creates an exact Disk Image of your system into a file while windows is running.
 - Active Undelete 5.1.010 – a tool to recover deleted files
 - Restoration 2.5.14 – a tool to recover deleted files
 - GetDataBack for FAT 2.31 – Data recovery software for FAT file systems
 - GetDataBack for NTFS 2.31 – Data recovery software for NTFS file systems
 - Unstoppable Copier 2.28 – Allows you to copy files from disks with problems such as bad sectors, scratches or that just give errors when reading data.
 - Startup Control Panel 2.8 – a tool to edit startup programs
 - Startup Monitor 1.02 – it notifies you when any program registers itself to run at system startup
 - IB Process Manager 1.04 – a little process manager for 9x/2k, shows dll info etc.
 - Pocket KillBox 2.0 – can be used to get rid of files that stubbornly refuse to allow you to delete them
 - Unlocker 1.8.5 – This tool can delete file/folder when you get this message – Cannot delete file: Access is denied, The file is in use by another program etc.
 - HijackThis 1.99 – a general homepage hijackers detector and remover and more
 - RootkitRevealer 1.7 – Rootkit Revealer is an advanced patent-pending root kit detection utility.
 - Silent Runners Revision 50 – A free script that helps detect spyware, malware and adware in the startup process
 - Autoruns 8.61 – Displays All the entries from startup folder, Run, RunOnce, and other Registry keys, Explorer shell extensions,toolbars, browser helper objects, Winlogon notifications, auto-start services, Scheduled Tasks, Winsock, LSA Providers, Remove Drivers and much more which helps to remove nasty spyware/adware and viruses.
 - Dial a Fix 0.60.0.24 – Fix errors and problems with COM/ActiveX object errors and missing registry entries, Automatic Updates, SSL, HTTPS, and Cryptography service (signing/verification) issues, Reinstall internet explorer etc. comes with the policy scanner
 - CurrPort 1.07 – displays the list of all currently opened TCP and UDP ports on your computer
 - Unknown Devices 1.2 (1003) – helps you find what those unknown devices in Device Manager really are
 - PCI 32 Sniffer 1.1 (1003) – device information tool (similar to unknown devices)
 - NewSID 4.10 – utility that changes the security ID (SID) for Windows NT, 2000 and XP
 - Double Driver 1.0 – Driver Backup and Restore tool
 - DriverBackup! 1.0 – Another handy tool to backup drivers
 - CPU-Z 1.39 -It gathers information on some of the main devices of your system
 - CWShredder 2.19 – Popular CoolWebSearch Trojan Remover tool
 - Winsock 2 Fix for 9x – to fix corrupted Winsock2 information by poorly written Internet programs
 - XP TCP/IP Repair 1.0 – Repair your Windows XP Winsock and TCP/IP registry errors
 - CCleaner 1.38.485 – Crap Cleaner is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool
 - EzPcFix 1.0.0.16 – Helpful tool when trying to remove viruses, spyware, and malware
 - Content Advisor Password Remover 1.0 – It Removes Content Advisor Password from Internet Explorer
 - WinKeyFinder 1.0 – Allows you to View and Change Xp, Windows 2003 and .NET Product Keys
 - Spybot – Search & Destroy 1.4 (1003) – Application to scan for spyware, adware, hijackers and other malicious software.
 - SpywareBlaster 3.5.1 (1003) – Prevent the installation of spyware and other potentially unwanted software.
 - Ad-Aware SE Personal 1.06 (1003) – find and remove spyware, adware, dialers etc. (a must have tool)
 
 Homepage – http://www.hiren.info/pages/bootcd
 Size: 70 MB
 
 Download Full (Hiren Boot CD v8.8 + Keyboard Patch)
 Patch İşlemi: – İndirdiğiniz dosyalardan keyboard patch içindeki 3 dosyayıda masaüstünüze çıkarın.(KEYB.DAT, KEYB.SYS, PATCH.BAT)
 - Hirens.BootCD.8.8.iso dosyasını masaüstünüze kopyalayın.
 - Masaüstünüze çıkartmış olduğunuz dosyalardan patch.bat a çift tıklayın.
 - Açılan dos penceresinde önce Y ye, sonra klavyenizde herhangi bir tuşa basın.
 - İşlem tamamlandı. Masaüstünüzde US Patched Hirens.BootCD.8.9 adında bir dosya oluştu. Bunu dilerseniz tıklayıp kullanmaya başlayabilir yada direk Cd ye yazdırarak kendinize bir bootable cd oluşturabilirsiniz. Keyifle kullanın.
 ALINTIDIR

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Brien M. Posey, MCSE

In Part 1 of this article series, I explained some techniques that you could use to combat hard disk problems if the problem in question was related to a physical breakdown of the hard disk itself. However, the vast majority of hard disk failures are software related. In a software related failure situation, the techniques that I shared with you in Part 1 wouldn’t apply.  You must apply a different set of techniques when attempting to recover from a  software related (or logical) hard disk failure. In this article, I’ll explain some new techniques that you can use for doing so.

Before We Begin

Before I get started, I need to explain that the technique that you would use to recover from a logical hard disk problem is highly dependant on the nature of the problem. For example, if a virus were to destroy your master boot record, then you’d use a different repair technique than you’d use if you were trying to recover a lost file. Therefore, in the sections that follow, I’ll explain some techniques that you can use to recover from various types of problems.

Master Boot Record Failure

Before I can really explain how to go about fixing a master boot record failure, you need to know what the Master Boot Record does. The Master Boot Record is a specific location on the hard disk that your system’s hardware automatically reads when you boot the system. The Master Boot Record contains a pointer that directs the system to the boot sector. The reason that your system has to have a Master Boot Record is that depending on the size of your hard drive, the partition structure, and which partition is flagged as active, the boot sector can exist in a variety of places. Therefore, the system needs code that will always exist in the same place (the master boot record) to point the way to the boot sector.

There are a variety of things that can cause the Master Boot Record to fail. One of the most common causes of a Master Boot Record failure is performing a full restore on your hard disk. Some backup programs will restore the contents of the individual partitions, but won’t update the master boot record to point to the active partition. If this (or any other type of Master Boot Record failure) happens to you, there are a couple of things that you can do to recover.

Keep in mind that with the Master Boot Record out of commission, the system won’t be bootable. Therefore, you’ll have to use a boot disk to accomplish the repair. If your system is running Windows 9x, then you can use the boot disk that I showed you how to make in Part 1. Simply boot the system off of the boot disk and use the FDISK /MBR command. If on the other hand, you’re working with a Windows 2000 based system, boot the system from the Windows 2000 boot disks and enter the Recovery Console. When the Recovery Console loads, use the FIXMBR command to make the repair.

Boot Sector Failure

Another common type of failure is a boot sector failure. The boot sector is the file that tells the system which file to begin loading during the boot process. For example, in a Windows 9x environment, the boot sector tells the system to begin loading the IO.SYS file.

The most common cause of a boot sector failure is an infection from a boot sector virus. A boot sector virus replaces your normal boot sector with viral code. Some viruses make a backup copy of the original boot sector at the time of the initial infection. With such viruses, all you have to do to repair the damage is to disinfect the system using a product such as the Norton Anti Virus. Because such products know the behavior of specific viruses they know where the original boot sector was backed up to and can remove the viral code and replace it with your original boot sector (assuming that the original boot sector hasn’t been overwritten.

Of course not all virus authors are kind enough to develop viruses that backup your original boot sector before infecting the machine. With some viral infections, the original Master Boot Record is gone forever. Likewise, boot sector failures aren’t always virus related. In either case, you must reconstruct the boot sector manually, to return the system to its previous state.

There are a couple of different methods that you can use to repair the boot sector. One of the most reliable methods is to completely reinstall the operating system. Of course doing so takes some time and can get a little hairy. Therefore, I recommend trying a couple of shortcuts before you go through the trouble of reinstalling the operating system.

If you’re using a Windows 9x environment, boot the system from the floppy disk that you created in Part 1 of this article series. When the system boots, enter the command SYS C:. In many cases, entering this command will repair the problem and make your system bootable once again. If you’re using Windows 2000, boot the system to the Recovery Console and then enter the FIXBOOT command.

Accidentally Deleted Data

Another common hard disk problem is that needed files may have been accidentally deleted. Normally, when this happens, you’d simply go into the Recycle Bin and get them back. However, if the files were deleted by an application (through an automated script), or if they were deleted through the command prompt, then the files won’t be in the Recycle Bin.

What happens when files are deleted is that the file isn’t actually removed. Instead, the first character of the file name is replaced with a question mark. The question mark tells the operating system not to display the file. Unfortunately, the question mark also gives the operating system permission to use the disk space currently used by the deleted file, to store other files. Therefore, if you want to recover a deleted file that isn’t in the recycle bin, you’ll have to do so quickly, before the operating system overwrites the file.

Older operating systems, such as DOS 6.22 contained a command called UNDELETE w3hich you could use to recover lost files at the command prompt level. The utility simply asks you what the first character of the file name is supposed to be, and then recovers the file. Unfortunately, UNDELETE isn’t included with Windows 9x. However, if you have an old copy of DOS laying around, I have been able to use an old copy of UNDELETE on a DOS 6.22 boot disk to recover deleted files off of a Windows 9x machine. As I’ll explain later, there are also utilities out there that will do this for you.

Cross Linked Files and Bad Sectors

Perhaps the most common hard disk problems are also the most minor. These include things like cross linked files, lost chains, and bad sectors. Any time that you encounter such problems, they can usually be repaired through SCANDISK, assuming that you’re using a Windows 9x environment.

If you’re running Windows 2000 and have a hard disk that’s formatted as NTFS, then you’re not supposed to have these problems. NTFS uses a transaction logging system that keeps common hard disk problems to an absolute minimum. However, even NTFS isn’t perfect. It’s still possible to have hard disk problems, even in an NTFS environment. If you do have hard disk problems in Windows 2000, try using the CHKDSK command to fix the problem. CHKDSK will ask you to reboot your machine and will then correct the problem during the reboot. This process may take some time to complete though, as CHKDSK is very thorough. There’s also a less sophisticated version of CHKDSK that’s included with Windows 9x, but you’re usually better off using SCANDISK.

Of course SCANDISK and CHKDSK aren’t your only repair options. There are a plethora of third party hard disk repair tools out there. When it comes to repairing the more common hard disk problems, I prefer to use Norton’s Disk Doctor. Disk Doctor is included in Symantec’s Norton System Works 2001. In my own personal experience, Disk Doctor tends to do a little bit better of a job repairing common problems than Scan Disk does. It also offers some recovery options for bigger disasters.

The Total Recovery Solution

So far, everything that I’ve talked about has been directed at repairing minor and fairly common hard disk problems. However, you may be wondering what course of action that you should take when the big one hits. For example, what do you do if someone accidentally uses FDISK and deletes a critical partition, or formats a drive full of data.

In the past, your options in such situations have been very limited. There weren’t many tools out there that were up to tackling the task at hand. In a major hard disk crash, or accidental formatting or FDISKing, you were basically at the mercy of the few available tools and your own individual skills. I’ve personally recovered lost data the hard way, but doing so takes several hours and you usually end up losing some of the data any way.

Because of these hellish past experiences, I was very excited to discover a new tool from Winternals software (www.winternals.com). This new tool is called Disk Commander. Disk Commander is designed to help you to recover from all of the really bad types of hard disk crashes and data loss situations.

I normally shy away from whole heartedly recommending a product to my readers. However, like just about everything else that the people at Winternals Software have developed, Disk Commander is worth its weight in gold. Disk Commander does more than just salvage deleted files, it allows you to recover from many different data loss situations that you would normally not be able to recover from. What makes this utility even better is that it works on FAT 16, FAT 32, and NTFS partitions, and will recover data regardless of why it was lost.

Unlike other data recovery tools, the system doesn’t even have to acknowledge a partition’s existence for the software to work. You can literally salvage data from volumes that the operating system can’t access, even if the operating system doesn’t recognize the volume as a valid partition or can’t assign a drive letter to it. The utility also repairs volumes that have been damaged by a virus, or that have been accidentally deleted by FDISK or by the Windows 2000 / NT Disk Administrator. Of course this utility also allows you to recover deleted files that don’t appear in the Recycle Bin, and allows you to unformat a partition to recover from an accidental format. Disk Commander will work even if the system is unbootable. The only situation that Disk Commander is unequipped to deal with is hard drives that contain physical damage (such as would occur from being dropped).

Disk Commander is an absolutely amazing product. License prices start at about three hundred dollars. You can acquire Disk Commander at www.winternals.com

Conclusion

In this article, I’ve explained that the technique that you’d use to recover from a logical hard disk failure is totally dependant on the nature of the failure. I then went on to explain several different techniques that you can use to recover from various types of hard disk problems.

1 Comment »

Problem

My desktop PC sometimes reboots of its own accord. Recently, at startup, dire warnings appeared asking me to run Chkdsk with a surface scan. It has quality components – a 350W power supply from http://www.quietpc.com/, an Asus A7NX8 Deluxe motherboard, and an AMD Athlon XP 3200+ processor. It seems to be getting worse with time. I have tested the AC mains power cable with a continuity meter, and removed and reseated the memory modules, the hard-disk-drive power connector and connection to the motherboard. The hard drive is a Samsung SP1213N, so I tested it with Samsungs hard-drive diagnostic utility, which reported no problems. The surface scan performed by Chkdsk was successful. I have also removed and replaced the silicone heatsink compound between the processor and the cooling unit.

Answer

It is advisable to begin by removing all of the removable components connected to the motherboard (memory modules, modem, video, sound, network cards, etc.) so that you can clean their contact points and then reseat them. You should also inspect the motherboards capacitors, which are the large cylindrical objects wired to it, for any signs of bulging or leakage. The capacitors regulate the power supply to components such as the memory modules. If one or more of them are failing or failed, voltage drops can occur that make the computer reboot.

Spontaneous reboots can also be caused by software, such as a corrupt or bad device driver. To make sure that this is not the case, try booting the system from a CD/DVD with its own bootable operating system. To boot the system from a CD means having the CD/DVD drive set as the first boot device in the BIOS. You cold try using the free Knoppix Linux from http://www.knoppix.com/. It would be best to buy a cheap, ready-made bootable CD, because the download of the ISO file that you download and burn to a CD/DVD using the “Burn a disc image” option of CD/DVD burning software, such as Nero, is a huge 697MB download.

Many brand-name PCs, including most Dell PCs, come with built-in diagnostics that bypass Windows. A particular brand-name PCs diagnostic software can also be provided on a CD.

The Ultimate Boot CD from http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ contains several diagnostic programs and is self-booting.

It could be difficult to determine the cause of the rebooting if the computer only reboots once a day. In any case, if you have the Ultimate Boot CD, run its memory tester. You might have to leave it running all day or longer to find out if the reboots were caused by hardware. Just remember to set the CD/DVD drive to the first boot device in the BIOS so that the system boots from the CD that you created. If necessary, visit the BIOS section of this site for information on how to do that.

If your computer reboots while running any of these options, you then know that the problem is hardware-related, not software-related. If the computer runs utilities without rebooting, then the problem is being caused in Windows by software, such as a bad device driver. If the cause is a bad driver, it could be fixed by downloading an installing the latest drivers for all of computers devices from their manufacturers sites. Some computers provide live driver updates. For example, laptop or desktop computers that are made by MSI, or which have an MSI motherboard, have the MSI Live Update feature that scans the system for updates and allows you to choose which drivers to install. You run the utility while online. It shows the version that is installed and the online version. If the online version has a higher number, an update is available that you should install. You can also make use of Microsoft Update, which provides Windows updates and third-party drivers, and and the free Belarc Advisor, which can be used to identify the hardware (and software) installed on a computer.

How to download updates and drivers from the Windows Update Catalog – http://support.microsoft.com/kb/323166

Many of the methods of recovering Windows XP dealt with on the Recovering Windows XP section of this site, including System Restore, a repair installation of XP, and the Recovery Console, can be used to fix software-related problems.

If one or more reboots occurs while the alternative operating system is running, you have to look for a hardware cause. If the power cable that connects the computer to the mains supply is old, replacing it may fix the problem. The connector that fits into the back of the computer can often be loose-fitting and not make good contact. Moreover, the fuse holder that holder a fuse in the 13A plugs used in the UK can be the source of another improper connection.

Since Windows was insisting on performing a surface scan on the hard disk drive, it could not read or write to a particular area or areas of the drive. During the scan, it marks any unusable clusters as bad so that the system wont use them. It also attempts to move data from them. The Event Viewer logs should provide useful details. You can bring it up by entering eventvwr.msc in the Start => Run box.

You can use the MHDD utility on the Ultimate Boot CD to check the hard drive for intermittent lockups that Chkdsk or the drive manufacturers diagnostic utility didnt detect. (You can also download MHDD as a free diagnostic utility from http://hddguru.com/.)

However, note that it is possible but rare for a hard-drive problem to cause a computer to reboot; such a problem is far more likely to cause a computer to lock up. It is far more likely that faulty memory or a faulty motherboard or processor has created a corrupt command that has been sent to the hard disk drive, thereby creating an apparent but not actual disk error that is causing the computer to reboot.

The computer is getting into its old age, so a hardware problem of some sort is not unlikely. If the problem is being caused by a faulty power supply, motherboard, processor, or memory, the only way for a home user to find out which component is responsible is to take the computers base unit to a reputable computer repair shop, or swap those components with known good ones until the culprit is discovered.

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Problem

I cloned the system on my old IDE hard drive on to my new SATA hard drive that runs from a PCI SATA adapter card. I jumpered and installed the old drive as a slave drive. Unfortunately, when I boot the system, a message comes up saying that there is no operating system (Windows XP).

Answer

The old hard drive might not be attached to the correct connector on the ribbon 80-conductor IDE ribbon cable. A slave drive has to be connected to the middle connector on the cable, not the end connector. Click here! to read an illustrated article on installing an IDE hard drive on this site.

When you boot the computer, enter the BIOS (press the key that the first window says enters Setup). Under the menu item that is usually called Advanced BIOS Features, there is a setting called Boot Sequence or Boot Order. Look for an option to boot from an external controller. If there isnt such a option there should be one called Boot from an SCSI controller. An SCSI controller for SCSI drives works in a similar way to an IDE adapter card. Enable it. Doing that should enable the system to boot from the SATA drive instead of from the motherboards IDE controller. You should also use your partitioning utility (PartitionMagic, etc) to make sure that the primary partition on the new SATA drive is set as Active. You can use Disk Management in Windows XP to make it active. Enter diskmgmt.msc in the Start => Run box to open Disk Management. Right-click on the drive to bring up the menu options.

Note that it can be tricky connecting both IDE drives and SATA drives to the motherboard. If, say, you install a SATA drive and then install an IDE drive, unless the BIOS is programed to know the difference, the system will usually try to boot from an IDE drive first. If a BIOS update isnt available that allows the two types of drive on the motherboard to be installed so that the system can boot from the SATA drive, youll have to buy a PCI SATA adapter card and set the BIOS as instructed above.

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Problem

My hard drive is recognised properly by the BIOS at start-up, shows up properly in the Device Manager and appears in My Computer, but I can only create four partitions with FDISK [used in Windows 98 and Windows Me. Alternatives are the partition programs that can be used from within Windows XP or from the Windows XP CD, PartitionMagic]. There is still plenty of drive space that I cant partition and format.

Answer

You have created four primary partitions; the maximum number of primary partitions that Windows can create. To create more partitions, you have to create an extended partition and then create logical drives (partitions) within the extended partition. Each logical drive will have its own drive letter assigned to it by Windows (E: – F: – G: – etc.).

You should be able to find an option to create an extended partition. Its immediately apparent in FDISK, but youll have to find out how to do it with other partitioning utilities. When it has been created, youll have the option to create logical drives within that partition. Windows XP allows you to partition hard drives from its CD, or from Start => All Programs => Administrative Tools => Computer Management => Disk Management. The hard drive partitions are represented graphically by rectangular spaces under headings for each drive (Disk 0, Disk 1, etc.). To create an extended partition, right-click on any empty space (unpartitioned space), and select the option to create an extended partition. There has to be an existing partition on the boot drive because Windows XP is operating from one. Alternatively, use the free QTParted. See the next item for information on it. It can create new partitions or resize existing partitions very easily.

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