Data Lost

[Noodles]

Hello

I was just in the middle of writing some photos to

a cd on my laptop. I have used this disc before which

holds alot of important data on it.

It went through the usual motions....this may take afew

seconds...then a message appeared saying, files could not be

written to this disc, this disc may be corrupt.

I checked the disc no scratches etc, put it back in and now the disc

is empty, everything has gone.

Can anyone explain what might have happened here. Or where to look

to retreive the data?

Thanks for your help.

[taxexile]

dont know what happened , but you can go to

and download (its a very small download) restoration.exe

its an undelete utility and if the files are still on your cd or hard disk it should find them and restore then.

[Noodles]

Thanks for your reply, I have just checked the cd and

it says there is 376mb of free space, so i persume the data

is still on the disc...somewhere.

I will download this software.

Thanks

[Noodles]

Taxexile

I tried this URL but I have a message saying incorrect URL?

[IamMaiC]

have you tried cleaning your disk or the drive?? if the disk is corrupted it may be bad for your computer and the drive Use another disk. Is the drive separate from your computer or it's installed in the tower??

[Noodles]

Yes I have cleaned the disc a number of times, and i'm

now cleaning the drive which is built into the laptop.

I think the data is still on the disc but just not accessable.

[IamMaiC]

Did you get the data from the internet or personal photos?? Usually alot of the time if gotten from the internet bigger possiblities of data corruption.

[Noodles]

A mixture of both....I'm now downloading restoration from

Snapfiles.com to see if that works.

[IamMaiC]

good luck

[Noodles]

This bit of software only search's A and C drives.

If anyone else can help me with this problem it would

be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Noodles

[francois]

hi´

did you make a scandisk of it?

if yes and no problem ... follow the instruction given by taxexile

good luck

francois

ps; check that the driver is well working for this disk ...

also check the format of the disk ... any change from lba to large?

[rss]

Which CD writer software did you use?

I use Roxio and it comes with a utility which fixes a CD like the one you describe - one that goes bad while you are writing to it.

If you try to fix the CD with anything other than the writer itself, you will most probably lose the data that is already there.

I haven't found a program that can read raw CD data, yet. And I have been looking for the last year and half for one.

[Noodles]

Thanks for your replies.

I created it in roxio so I will try to repair it using that

and will let you know the outcome.

I will try to copy the lost data to C drive then back to cd and

make duplicate copies.

Thanks

[Butterfly]

This bit of software only search's A and C drives.

If anyone else can help me with this problem it would

be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Noodles

Were you trying to write to a multi-session CD ? very very bad idea. If you crash the last session, the CD is lost. If you absolutely need to use multi-session CD, make sure to backup everything from the CD first. You have been very "unwise" to use a CD with "critical" data and just think you could add a few more files with another session. This is exactly what you should never do.

I don't think there are "effective" recovery tools for CDROM, they simply don't exist. If the session has crashed, then the CD tracks are incomplete and simply not recoverable. Maybe using some complex Linux Toolbox like iso-utilities could do but I am not even sure.

I am also amazed how people can confuse a CDROM drive with a hard drive and think that a recovery utility for hard drives could be used on a CDROM

[waldwolf]

Butterfly is correct. I have never been fully successful in recovering a Multi-Session CD write error. IMHO, the Roxio repair tool is basically useless.

After many such write-error occurances (coasters), finally learned to put data in a folder on the HDD, before burning same to the MSCD. Then, if a write fault occurs, you still have your original data, to do a re-burn.

When the MSCD is full, permanently closed and tested, I then write the HDD folder again to a new CD-R as a "single session" (read single track) session. After testing the new disc, contents of folder can be deleted, in preparation for your next session.

MSCD's and ReWritables (-RW's) are very unreliable. Far better to have a duplicate of your original MSCD, than to spend hours/days trying to put "Humpty-Dumpty back together again".

Remember.....backup, backup, BACKUP!

Hope you are able to recover all your data.

[taxexile]

I am also amazed how people can confuse a CDROM drive with a hard drive and think that a recovery utility for hard drives could be used on a CDROM 

to people who know little about the workings of computers, one drive is much the same as another, and if an undelete utility can work on a c drive then it follows (to the layman at least ) that it would work on a cd.

it is very difficult to find information about the ins and outs of computers written in non- technical jargon and every day more products and systems are on the market with yet another batch of unfathonable acronyms for us to decipher.

i have used the restoration utility many times to find stuff that has been inadvertantly deleted and i had no hesitation in recommending it to noodles.

thank you for pointing out the error of my ways but spare yourself the amazement , the instructions and help that comes with computers and their programmes leaves much to be desired from those of us (the majority)who just want to switch the fcking thing on and get busy and are not particularly interested or cannot understand how the damm things work.

[Sunny Valentine]

There is one fine program on the Internet that has previously helped me in similar situations: ISOBUSTER.

Check it out here!

Sunny

[rss]

There is one fine program on the Internet that has previously helped me in similar situations: ISOBUSTER.

Check it out here!

Sunny

Thanks, Sunny, been looking for one of these for a while. The closest I came was with a small program called ddump which was aptly named - a dump.

Do you know what features you get when you pay for it? Or is the free version good enough for most day to day jobs?

If it's as good as they claim, it might even be worth paying for the darn thing. I have a lot of currently useless CDs that I would like to fix.

Thanks again.

P.S. And thanks for posting a very helpful reply without the need to express your "amazement" at the other replies just to stroke your own ego.

[Butterfly]

P.S. And thanks for posting a very helpful reply without the need to express your "amazement" at the other replies just to stroke your own ego.

I am even more amazed when people are trying to be cute and humble while being totally clueless when they are confronted with their "misconception", must help their ego too

I am also amazed how my ego is still in check when I see so many clueless users and I know so much about IT

But confusing a hd with a cdrom is like confusing a mouse with a monitor. If users are that clueless, they should stay away from computers.

Actually, I think users should have a "driving" license before buying or using a computer, would save a lot of time in technical support. If users are too lazy to learn or incurious about PC, they should stay away from them. And no, this has nothing to do with my ego

[rss]

And no, this has nothing to do with my ego

You sound like you were sitting right next to Al Gore when he invented the Internet.

[IamMaiC]

Butterfly is correct. I have never been fully successful in recovering a Multi-Session CD write error. IMHO, the Roxio repair tool is basically useless.

After many such write-error occurances (coasters), finally learned to put data in a folder on the HDD, before burning same to the MSCD. Then, if a write fault occurs, you still have your original data, to do a re-burn.

When the MSCD is full, permanently closed and tested, I then write the HDD folder again to a new CD-R as a "single session" (read single track) session. After testing the new disc, contents of folder can be deleted, in preparation for your next session.

MSCD's and ReWritables (-RW's) are very unreliable. Far better to have a duplicate of your original MSCD, than to spend hours/days trying to put "Humpty-Dumpty back together again".

Remember.....backup, backup, BACKUP!

Hope you are able to recover all your data.

should buy an external hard drive then you don't have to burn CD's and have a large collection of them and then you can keep your internal hard drive clean as a whistle.

[taxexile]

butterfly

Actually, I think users should have a "driving" license before buying or using a computer, would save a lot of time in technical support. If users are too lazy to learn or incurious about PC, they should stay away from them. And no, this has nothing to do with my ego 

in that case anybody who gets behind the wheel of a car should be able to take apart and put together a car engine,the fuel injection system and the brakes and anyone who buys a camera or music system or washing machine or microwave should have a similar amount of knowledge.

why should i have any interest in how the damm thing works , if i knew how they worked i would go out there and build my own , but someone else has done the research and development and has been paid well by the purchasers for doing so.

if they thought a bit more about the people who buy them, (and they know very well that most people who use them only want to turn them on like a tv and get going) then they should provide decent instructions.

i'm afraid what you are saying is complete and utter nonsense and perhaps you should go and format your ego.

computers are specifically marketed for home users.

the problem is with the instructions provided and with the lack of help provided for when glitches occur, which can be often with all the software out there conflicting with each other.

if instructions and advice were presented in an easy to follow non-technical way the glitches and conflicts could be sorted out easily by the purchasers and then the technical support people would only be having to deal with true failures and breakdowns.

[Butterfly]

And no, this has nothing to do with my ego 

You sound like you were sitting right next to Al Gore when he invented the Internet.

Internet ? what's that

I am still amazed how you could find the keyboard to type those words

[Butterfly]

butterfly

Actually, I think users should have a "driving" license before buying or using a computer, would save a lot of time in technical support. If users are too lazy to learn or incurious about PC, they should stay away from them. And no, this has nothing to do with my ego 

in that case anybody who gets behind the wheel of a car should be able to take apart and put together a car engine,the fuel injection system and the brakes and anyone who buys a camera or music system or washing machine or microwave should have a similar amount of knowledge.

why should i have any interest in how the damm thing works , if i knew how they worked i would go out there and build my own , but someone else has done the research and development and has been paid well by the purchasers for doing so.

if they thought a bit more about the people who buy them, (and they know very well that most people who use them only want to turn them on like a tv and get going) then they should provide decent instructions.

i'm afraid what you are saying is complete and utter nonsense and perhaps you should go and format your ego.

computers are specifically marketed for home users.

the problem is with the instructions provided and with the lack of help provided for when glitches occur, which can be often with all the software out there conflicting with each other.

if instructions and advice were presented in an easy to follow non-technical way the glitches and conflicts could be sorted out easily by the purchasers and then the technical support people would only be having to deal with true failures and breakdowns.

I think you are confusing users, developers and admin

I am asking for a "driving license" for users. The problem is that 99% of PC owners don't know how to use their computers, and that's the problem. They think they know, but they don't. We are not asking them to design a PC, or develop an OS, or build a PC from parts, but have at least "real" users skills.

Someone who is confusing a CDROM with a hard drive has obviously NO KNOWLEDGE or SKILLS for using a PC. It's like confusing the parking brake with the brakes when driving. Not exactly deep knowledge of a car, but basic skills you should have when driving a car.

Computers are a complex technology, there is no "simple" way to use them or learn how to use them. Do you also believe in Santa Clauss ? or those Microsoft deceptive ads ?

Your arguments is a sorry excuse for not learning how to use computers. How can documentation be understood or simplified when 99% of the users don't even have the basic PC concepts to understand those documentation (yes some are badly written too but that does not take away the argument). Yes it's difficult, I don't deny it, but driving a car is also difficult. It's not like there are no PC books for beginners out there, so where is the real excuse ? lazyness or lack of interests ? probably a little bit of both

[taxexile]

not wanting to make a mountain out of a molehill , but nevertheless wanting to make my point.

nowhere with the instructions /readme file for the undelete utility restoration does it say you cant use it with a cd.

it will search floppys,memory sticks and compact flash cards, so i, and probably most others would assume it was capable of searching the data on a cd,

they are all storage media.

if the instructions were thorough,then we wouldnt be discussing it now.

most people these days dont even have time to fart, let alone delve into the workings of something so intricate and unfathomable as a computer.

like i said, we should be able to turn them on and get going, that was the whole purpose of windows xp , if bill gates thought like you he would have retired after giving us dos.

[Noodles]

Thanks for all the replies

Sorry to cause such problems!!

Still trying with roxio....not much luck

Thanks again

[Butterfly]

not wanting to make a mountain out of a molehill , but nevertheless wanting to make my point.

nowhere with the instructions /readme file for the undelete utility restoration does it say you cant use it with a cd.

it will search floppys,memory sticks and compact flash cards, so i, and probably most others would assume it was capable of searching the data on a cd,

they are all storage media.

if the instructions were thorough,then we wouldnt be discussing it now.

most people these days dont even have time to fart, let alone delve into the workings of something so intricate and unfathomable as a computer.

like i said, we should be able to turn them on and get going, that was the whole purpose of windows xp , if bill gates thought like you he would have retired after giving us dos.

I understand your points. Yes I agree, it's difficult for people to keep up with technology and I understand that people don't want to spare time for using a PC. But I don't agree with them, I understand their point though. But then, this is the same for driving a car or all kind of "skillfull" activities (flying a plane). I don't want to learn driving because I don't have time, but I need to drive a car to do my shopping, why can't I drive a car ? Does this make sense ? no it doesn't

Not all storage media are the same, and if you were taught about storage media in your basic computer class, you will know that CDR are Read Only media and can't be written in Random Access mode, even when they are burnt. A car is a vehicule, like a truck, or even the space shuttle, does this mean they are all the same ?

Re: Bill Gates

There is nothing you couldn't do with DOS, you can't do today. Bill Gates and the whole IT industry for that matter creates needs that don't really exist in order to finance and maintain their growth so that grow up boys like them can have their latest toys to play with. The only technology breakthrough of the last decade has been the Internet, and it uses a protocol used in the 70s (IP) mixed with a protocol developed in the late 80s (HTTP)

[Butterfly]

Thanks for all the replies

Sorry to cause such problems!!

Still trying with roxio....not much luck

Thanks again

Someone posted a link with an "obscure" little program that seems to do what you want, that is dumping the CDROM contents. Not sure if it works though. At that stage, you have no choice but try that package. Check the linux iso-utilities, I seem to remember they had some kind of ISOFS dump tools in it.

[taxexile]

ip,http,random access mode,burnt,isofs and dump.

only dump makes any sense to me i'm afraid.

i guess we will have to agree to disagree whilst poor old noodles figures out how to take a dump.

[simon43]

Check the linux iso-utilities, I seem to remember they had some kind of ISOFS dump tools in it.

Butterfly, do you really think that your comment is helpful to Noodles, let alone understood by him??

I'm a guru with computers, but I've got enough good sense to understand that the vast majority of people are NOT gurus, and maybe appreciate some good old plain-English, step-by-step advice