A CMD Prompt Error Has Ravaged My System. Advice?

[Mulsiphix]

Was having some issues emptying the Recycle Bin. I found this article which tells you how to empty it via the command prompt. I rebooted into Safe Mode with Command Prompt and attempted to type in "rd /s c:\%systemdrive\$Recycle.bin" but something went wrong.

A comment on that same article says:

"Note that if someone mistypes this by putting a space after either the colon or backslash, most of the drive will be deleted, ending with lots of applications crashing then either a BSOD or reboot, followed by “NTLDR is missing”."

I must have typed something wrong because it started to delete files from the Windows directory immediately. I recently deleted a copy of Windows XP for my drive so I assumed this was what it was targeting. About a minute later I figured it out and immediately rebooted the computer. Booting into Windows in Safe or Normal mode yields a BSOD.

Windows Version: Windows 7 Home Premium w/ SP1 (all updates installed)
BSOD ERROR: PROCESS1_INITIALIZATION_FAILED
STOP: 0x0000006B (0x00000000, 0x00000000, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)

Obviously Windows has lost a lot of core files. Is there any reason I should attempt to try and recover the system or will so much damage be done to other programs (who store files in the Windows directory) and Windows that a fresh install is my only real option?

 

[MilesAhead]

This is the type of thing where a backup image such as made by Macrium Reflect or another program would bail you out(for future reference.)

You might try a portable undelete such as Puran File Recovery if you can get hold of a boot image and put the image and Puran on a USB. Don't install on HD as that may overwrite deleted files. Puran is supposed to have folder recovery. It may be worth a shot if you can get someone to help with the USB stick prep.

If you recover many files then you might try sfc /scannow if the system boots or from repair disc.

 

[Mulsiphix]

I have a second Windows 7 PC here. At one time I made a drive image (from the now inoperable PC) and cloned it onto this PC. Using Windows Backup, would a System Work? if not, is there anyway to clone the Windows (though not the registry) files from the computer and overwrite the files in the drive on the crippled PC?

I tried using a Windows 7 System Repair Disc but it says it cannot automatically fix the installation.

 

[MilesAhead]

Perhaps someone familiar with Windows Backup will advise you. I've always used Macrium or Paragon or EaseUS imaging programs. If you have broadband and download Macrium Reflect Free you can use it to make a WinPE boot USB or CD. The WinPE download runs about 370 MB though.

Just for chuckles I'd boot it and try that Puran folder restore. You haven't much to lose.

 

[cmmtch]

Files from system image

Here's a tutorial on extracting files from a system image when you don't want or need the entire system image recovery

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...tract-files-using-disk-management.html?filter[2]=Backup Restore

I have used the Windows recovery and system image with no problems, some use other 3rd party programs but if you've already got that capability existing in Win7 for what you need why use something else. Good luck

 

[Ztruker]

You used "rd /s c:\%systemdrive\$Recycle.bin"
Should have been "rd /s %systemdrive%\$Recycle.bin" (no C:\ and need second %)

%systemdrive% == your boot drive, normally C:

 

[Mulsiphix]

I used Macrium today to create a rescue disk, used YUMI to put it on a USB stick, added the portable version of Puran to it, and was then unable to run Puran because it needed a dll that wasn't available. Any other ideas? Are there other ways or programs to create bootable images that can also undelete files?

 

[MilesAhead]

What Dll?


See this thread:
http://www.sevenforums.com/software/319952-data-recovery-puran-works-great.html

 

[Mulsiphix]

The Dll is oledlg.dll. I downloaded it from a website, added it to the puran folder, and now it is working. I just started a scan so we'll soon know if anything can be salvaged. Thank you very much for all of your help so far MilesAhead.

 

[MilesAhead]

Glad you are making progress. I just noticed this Puran program(I used their defragger for some time.) If it works well for you I'll experiment with it.

 

[Mulsiphix]

I finally finished selecting the files I wished to restore and when I hit the Recover -> Recover With Folder Structure button, absolutely nothing happens. There is no hd activity and no reaction by the program. It appears Puran doesn't work or has serious issues with my limited environment. Any chance you know of another Undelete utility that would work in this environment?

 

[MilesAhead]

Any chance you know of another Undelete utility that would work in this environment?

I have rarely used undelete programs. Perhaps someone with more experience with them will chime in. You might also see if there is a forum for the Puran program. Someone may know the trick to get it to kick in.

 

[Mulsiphix]

Alright, thank you very much for your help MilesAhead ^_^

 

[King Arthur]

The way an "undelete" program works has to do with the way files are deleted. When a file is deleted, the actual data comprising the file is not deleted. What is deleted is information pertaining to where data for that file is located on the disk, with this reference information deleted from the file system on the HDD the remaining actual data is flagged as "free space" so it can be overwritten with new data. An "undelete" program works by directly reading the data in spaces flagged as free and salvaging the orphaned files to be written out to a new location (preferably on a different storage media from the HDD being salvaged).

Of course, all of this means that there are some caveats when it comes to "undeleting" files that you need to understand:

• Keep any and all writes to the HDD to a bare minimum, ideally none at all. As mentioned, writing any new data to an HDD can result in data remaining in "free" space to be overwritten, which will make salvaging via undelete programs impossible.
• "Undeleting" as a concept was never actually intended, it's merely a side-effect of the way deletion of data is handled, so the entire process is dubious in its reliabilty. Even under ideal conditions it might not be able to recover some files.
• "Undeleting" is not the same as restoring data. Given that you are dealing with a damaged Windows installation, simply undeleting the required system files might not be adequate to restore the system to a working condition. I would strongly suggest a clean reinstall of the operating system after you have recovered any personal data you wish to save.

Whatever you decide on doing, good luck in fixing that system, and next time keep good backups and make absolutely sure you know exactly what you're doing in the command-line; do adequate research and don't just blindly follow tutorials.

 

[Mulsiphix]

A while back a rather old HD started throwing out corrupted sectors. So I moved all the data that I could salvage to existing drives. Since Windows had been up for three years with zero problems I decided I could do without the backups until I got a new drive. That drive never came.

I've ordered a new drive to ensure this doesn't happen again. Regular drive imaging will resume. I want to do a clean install but my biggest worry is backing up the existing configurations of several programs. Since I cannot run these programs I cannot gain visual access to their configurations, much less use the program to export its configuration.

I don't really need to restore Windows. I just need to figure out a way to save this data. Otherwise, it will add weeks onto the reinstallation process. This is the big bad I'm trying to overcome

 

[MilesAhead]

This may help you save some registry settings for the applications:
Recovering the Windows Registry from the File System - Web Design & SEO Company

 

[Mulsiphix]

That is an extremely helpful article. Thank you MilesAhead!

All right folks, I think I'm going to just bite the bullet and start working on the reinstallation. I sincerely appreciate the help you've given me. I feel much better about starting this process knowing I've tried all the options for resurrecting my system. You guys are awesome

 

[MilesAhead]

Thanks for the kind words. Good luck with your efforts.

 

[Mulsiphix]

MilesAhead I have had some luck. I received some advice from computergeekguy to try out another WinPE undelete solution and it worked. I copied the recovered files back over to my windows drive and am now in Safe Mode. I've run SFC with success! I have a few questions remaining about Windows but I'll put those in a new thread. Thank you again for all of your help. I made it!!

 

[MilesAhead]

Glad you hung with it. It's nice to see a good result like that.