Emergency Kit - save your files from a dead OS

How to Create and Use a Linux Mint Mate USB Flash Drive to Recover your Files​

   Note

If you are in a hurry and don't want to read the whole saga, skip to point #2 and watch the videos. That will give you enough information to do the job.
The method proposed here is really extremely easy. Even someone with little computer experience should be able to deal with it.

   Information

I am now getting suggestions for additional use of Mint Mate on the USB flash drive. I will list those in random order as they come in. Feel free to make suggestions on the thread and I will include them.

• It is a very safe environment to operate on the internet. Malware infections are quasi impossible and should they really happen you can recreate the flash drive very easily.
• Very often it is difficult or impossible to delete files under Windows. With Mint Mate on the flash drive you have an easy tool to accomplish those deletions.

1. Introduction


A total OS crash is not uncommon and then the last resort is very often to reinstall the operating system. The users who made provisions for that case by separating their user data into a data partition, or making frequent images, can easily recover. However, there are many that did not take any precautions and are desperately trying to recover their user data which is sitting on the OS partition that is no more accessible.

The traditional advice is to salvage the data with a live Linux CD from Knoppix, Puppy, DSL or alike. That works fine if you are familiar with any of those programs or take the time to understand them. But they all have one thing in common - they are very Linux and somewhat alien for a Windows user.

One Linux distro which feels comfortable for a Windows user is Mint Mate. There is quasi no learning requirement because things work in a very similar way as they work in Windows. You can judge for yourself by watching the second video.

The emergency kit I propose consists of a persistent Mint Mate OS on a USB flash drive. That means that any setup or modification you make to Mint Mate on the flash drive will be preserved and you don't have to redo it the next time you boot from the flash drive. The setup of such a drive is extremely simple as you will see in the first video.



2. Preparation and Requirements

We will use Mint Mate 14 which is the latest version and can be download from here. The download will take some time because it is 966MB large. And if you want the latest Mint Mate 17, it can be downloaded from here. The characteristics are the same as for Mint Mate 14.

Note: I haven noticed that not all download sites give you the same edition. In fact the downloads from some sites don't work as described. I suggest you use the James Madison Univerity site because that one I know works correctly.

We will also download and save the Universal USB Installer from here. With this program we can create the Mint Mate flash drive very, very easily.

As last component we need an empty flash drive formatted in Fat32 of at least 2GB but bigger is better. I use a 16GB USB2 flash drive which works very well. A USB3 flash drive would be even better. My USB2 flash drive has a data transfer rate of 30MB/sec and an access time of 0.8ms as measured with HD Tune.



3. Installation of Mint Mate on the Flash Drive

I will explain the extremely easy installation process of Mint Mate with the Universal USB Installer in a short video. Depending on the speed of your USB flash drive, that should take between 10 and 20 minutes.






4. Recover files with the Mint Mate flash drive

Here again a short video is the easiest way to explain the recovery procedure. This video was taken with a program installed and running on the flash drive.

The Mint Mate on the flash drive is a fully operational operating system. Due to the persistent nature of the installation it can be setup, tuned, and tweaked like an operating system on a system disk and the settings will remain. I often use this Mint Mate flash drive to run a PC. It is a very safe and fast method to navigate on the internet. Another safe method is to run Mint Mate in a virtual partition.

In the next chapter you find tutorials that explain how to setup Mint Mate and how to install it in a virtual partition.





5. Setup of Mint Mate




These tutorials explain how to setup Mint Mate. The first 7 videos cover the following subjects

• Basic setup after installation
• Refining the Theme and Skin
• Start Menu and Taskbar settings
• Terminal window setup
• Installing and uninstalling Programs
• Screen Recording
• Screenshots and snips

In addition, there is a link to a PDF with the topic : Installation of Mint Mate in VMware Player. This section contains a written tutorial and three videos.

If you are interested in the subject, download the control sheet (a PDF) from my Skydrive

Related Tutorials

---

• http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...ate-live-cd-dvd-usb-use-emergency-backup.html
• How to Copy & Paste in Recovery Console on Windows 7 or Vista

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Yep well two tries in now and I have tried the superuser panel to say who I am and then it calls my machine john- L550 Satellite then wants me to put in a name???? and then the password I used 1234 as Wolfgang suggested and then it is telling me it is crashed. It wants to send an error report too what good that is I have no idea and am coming to the end of my patience.

I even used another SSD a newer one set as unallocated. I have some older SATA 5400 spinners I could try in case the SSD system will not work but will be left a with a snail pace machine

I am going to try once more only using auto login maybe I can change that later.

I am using MATE 17.3 and wondering if I should go back and use the 32bit version but it seems a shame as I have 8GB RAM on board.

I just really dislike things beating me like this

 

[ThrashZone]

I've used a ssd for Mint Mate 17.1 since the beginning it works fine

Zorin OS - Home

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Ok Mike I have got it going though on a 5400 spinner from the same stick I was using for the SSD.

I have downloaded the 14 version to see if I can install that to a SSD at least the system seems to be working reasonably fast though the SSD would be good.

Just a matter of curiousity did you use an unallocated SSD or one formatted FAT32?? The last two I tried were again unallocated after a clean all on the SanDisk (120GB) and a straight clean on the Samsung 840 EVO (240GB)

 

[ThrashZone]

Unallocated however it came from crucial I did nothing to it prior to loading linux on it
The flash media was the only thing fat32 or device defaults and linux universal usb installer did the rest with the linux iso.

 

[Night Hawk]

I have the LM 17.3 64bit here as well but went with the LM Debian 17.2 Cinnamon 64bit and didn't have any problems. I also split up while I still have some San Disk sticks here I have been staying with the Kingston Data Travelers and even use key chain size 8gb flash drives for Recovery Drives for W10 as well as seeing a small 13gb partition for LM Debian at the back end of the 128gb size flash drive. Have another Kingston 32gb I picked up about 4-5yrs. back I carry as well with a distro physically installed as well to see a live data recovery stick made up.

Since the SSDs seem to be flopping on you if it hasn't been from a corrupt download you might want to give that a try. Later you simply hit the F key for the boot device menu to select the USB HHD option in order to boot live from the flash drive. Remember however Windows can not see a second partition on anything usb where the distro is custom installed to and seen as the "mount point /", You have to edit the partition information once LM is on to make sure that is designated to the Linux volume in order to point Grub in the right direction. That could be part of the problem being seen with the SSD attempts since all Linux distro have that one commonality as far as getting that correct.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Ok Night Hawk mate I bought a brand new Maxell stick and have finally got it to stick to a Samsung 850 EVO but I had to use the automatic login because every time I have used a password apart form the spinner it just doesn't recognised the password I set.

Now all I need to do is set the login for a password as I see it asks for a password for software etc. I would like to be able to do that because my email opens without wanting a password. But at least I haven't got to go looking for a 7200 spinner which was going to be my next move after burning bootable ISO DVD with ImgBurn - unless I give that a try with with one of the other SSD's - it would be an interesting exercise I suppose as I am not really a fan of booting from sticks to be honest.

Hey but thanks for yours and everyone else's patience it has been a bit of a test to say the least \.
John

 

[ThrashZone]

Every once in a while I enter a password when linux is actually asking for a user name
I blame the login window for that plus me not noticing what linux is asking to be entered
Really my bad I get used to just entering a password on a login window in windows

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Yes That is what got me entering your name then the john and my machine brand came up auto and then there wa a third john there and the two passwords underneath. So having set the login passwords all day I picked the auto login and I just want to get the login screen back with the password. Primarily so I can boot up and have no one else but me accessing my emails but there are endless YouTubes and it is so hard to follow soemone who goes so fast and not quite wat I want to know.

Am trying a VM machine on my main laptop right now to see what luck I have there.

 

[Night Hawk]

What I find here is having the auto login set to go while for every little thing you may get a prompt for entering the password over and over acting much like a password protected firewall or UAC only in Linux. I never have any distro being looked at as well as the fewer flavors you can actually use for live data recovery set to require a password when first seeing the distro boot since that would automatically defeat the purpose of making up a live stick that has seen a custom install as the fresh download itself is only run in a live demo mode until the physical install or VM install takes place.

Without any installation to keep in demo mode you won't have any password concerns at all. You just can't install things you would want to try since that would require the physical install and password being assigned This is why ubuntu as well as LM, Knoppix live for dvd, and only a couple of others will actually work for data recovery due to seeing a demo mode which besides Knoppix will also see the option to install. Here's some information on that one and why it was one of the first distros actually to be found to work well for live recovery.

KNOPPIX is a bootable disc with a collection of GNU/Linux software, automatic hardware detection, and support for many graphics cards, sound cards, SCSI and USB devices and other peripherals. KNOPPIX can be used as a Linux demo, educational disc, rescue system, or adapted and used as a platform for commercial software product demos. It is not necessary to install anything on a hard disk. Due to on-the-fly decompression, the disc can have up to 10 GB of executable software installed on it.

The page there just saw an update when going to look up the different articles about Knoppix. DistroWatch.com: KNOPPIX

How-To-Geek has a blog on how to use the other smaller popular or previously much more popular distro for the same purpose. Recover Data Like a Forensics Expert Using an Ubuntu Live CD

Someone also made a Youtube clip on how Linux Mint Debian also seeing the 17.3 release can be used for backup and recovery. And the Debian package is typically loaded up with more options for apps then the regular LM if you are wanting more. The video shows how that is done for things in Li

"an error occurred try again later"

When that trying to use the YT button that never seems to work where I generally prefer to simply provide a direct link to a clip! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_Mv8zpKT7s

A review on the LMDE from 2014 is seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BXlPGxiBOk

 

[ICIT2LOL]

What I find here is having the auto login set to go while for every little thing you may get a prompt for entering the password over and over acting much like a password protected firewall or UAC only in Linux.

OK mate yes that is exactly what is happening with the software my only concern is opening emails really.
So that is the only reason I would have liked the login page first up but no bother I'll get there somehow. I haven't had chance to see your links yet as I have just set up a VM machine with Linux on my main laptop and it does have the password for anything and a screen that sits in the middle of my 27" like a small saucer LOL!!

 

[Night Hawk]

Here my main concern at this time is either having the latest on a VM or turned into the live data recovery stick while I have been more or less glued to 10 lately and haven't even booted back into 7 now for several weeks getting to know the works on the latest version out. Since you are now trying the 17.3 on a VM you might also want to give the Debian flavor a look as well. Since Linux Mint was first out 6yr.s ago I have been staying mostly with the 64bit flavor having seen that replace both Knoppix live and ubuntu since LM was made to draw more Windows users to it by prepackaging more goods as well as making it much easier to see them download and install automatically when selecting the install options.

You still have to sign in for each step however since adding any new program on is making a change in Linux and why the password prompting is a constant. The VMs however set up here are not intended for running as another main OS but to see what is different between releases. The custom install onto the flash drives was to get past the demo and onto seeing that being a main install so when going to boot on any machine where Windows got trashed I still have all of the normal options except for running the other guy's OS!

 

[ThrashZone]

Yes youtube videos can be frustrating when most of it does not apply to what you really are looking for or too fast
I just need a larger ssd to put Zorin ultimate on is pretty much what my hold up is all I have vacate is a 128gb ssd
Never have enough freaking 250gb ssd's :mad2:

 

[Night Hawk]

Unlike a typical Windows install with 10 seeing 88gb used up for the new version there while 7 was quite a bit less you would want 128gb or larger for simply having the room for the basic apps. A good 200-250gb primary on a larger drive then works to see a second backup partition created if not having multiple drives to work with.

Now for Linux on the other hand even for the commercial version you are after there can run on a 32gb VFat primary Ext4 or 5 presently. Unless you are planning to pack a number of programs especially with Wine you can easily see the minimum install under 60gb total.

The reason I say is that Zorin OS is a ubuntu distro which are generally smaller to begin with while not nowhere as small as Gentoo or Mephis. You can hardly work with those for anything like data recovery on a Windows machine to start with.

As for the review on LMDE there that wasn't quite what I was looking for anyways with that guy only skimming through the options for Linux backups and recovery not a review showing the full features of the Debian flavor as well as being able to use that for live data recovery. The Kingston 128gb flash drive was split to see only a 13gb VFat on the back end out of sight from Windows despite having Paragon's ExtFS for Windows app on that allows you to mount linux volumes on Windows. Windows is only able to see the first partition on anything usb it seems. The older 32gb being another Data Travler saw the full drive used for LMDE 14 a few years ago.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Yep I am trying out Ubuntu again as I did like it before and when I made up my little ditty about seeing into drives and that was many moons ago before (I think) the Linux MATE one was written up by Wolfgang.


My Linux SSD install on the Toshiba is ok as I get a full screen view but the same run in the VM ware is a little disappointing as the "viewing" screen is a small one stuck in the middle of a 27" monitor ie it doesn't fill the monitor from edge to edge - whereas the bootable stick does

Yes Mike I use only 250GB SSD's now as the 120's are really not good for anything but a boot drive and I don't like fiddling with a second drive for data storage - ok for an image but that is all.
I agree the YouTubes are really frustratingly quick and they tend to assume one knows what they are talking about.

The other little hassle is getting the bundled software to download ie I tried to get that Bleachbit to download last night but it just got more complicated.

I am just hoping I can get to understand it enough to make it a real competitor for my machines to Windows .

 

[Night Hawk]

When running the distro from booting the flash live was that simply the iso being written to the drive? I didn't think you went as far as seeing a custom install to the flash drive itself where you then have more display options as well as the full version to work with as far as not simply seeing the little circle in the center of the screen?

Never had that problem here on the 19" lcds while VMs are typically viewed by windows and maxed out to the full screen level in most cases. When using the TeamViewer program to view the second remote mini tower on the other hand you can hit the maximize button or drag the view out to only leave the extended taskbar(no longer on second display) in order to be able to click on the move button if not simply going to close it out.

The custom installs to flash drive while the ubuntu 15:10 was too friendly and simply looked at on VM only the LMDE has been an ease for each of the releases so far over the last 5yrs. time and why I prefer the app filled flavor of Linux seen there as well as seeing a permanent custom install to the large capacity flash drive for dual purpose of having a full OS on a live stick as well as the larger partition ready for recovery and transfer of files. Just having one bit of UEFI problem with the new laptop not allowing anything on usb to boot including Linux or even a 10 media stick!

 

[Golden]

the same run in the VM ware is a little disappointing as the "viewing" screen is a small one stuck in the middle of a 27" monitor ie it doesn't fill the monitor from edge to edge - whereas the bootable stick does.

Try changing the display resolution. If you can't find the resolution you want, you need to install VMWareTools - you should install it anyway.

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/mi...nguage=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1018414

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Ok running the Linux from a 120GB and 32GB stick/s went fine installing the Linux MATE to the SSD wentt through eventually and works ok except I could only install it with auto login and not the use r login I wanted but no matter can try again now I know it works.

Colin I downloaded the workstation VM Ware from here https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/downloads and I shall try again using that link of yours to get the res right as I couldn't find any way of setting it when I got it going.
It had been a long day with the Linux install and I thought I would ask before I really mucked up my main laptop.
Plus I find getting used to the terminology such as terminal for the cmd prompt and having to set up using that method right now a little time consuming having to watch those quick YouTubes and then flicking back to the machine to make the changes.

Now I have used the stick method on the Toshiba ok but with the Ubuntu trial I want to use the new machine which has EUFI BIOS whereas I only had to change the boot speed in the old legacy BIOS I am not sure of what in the EUFI settings needs changing if anything at all?

 

[Night Hawk]

That page is the main page for all downloads. The one you should have found yourself at was the next to last right above the Fusion link but not the actual last at the very bottom of the page to end up with the choice between the 64bit or 32bit Workstation 12 Player. https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/free#desktop_end_user_computing/vmware_workstation_player/12_0

Well it seems my LMDE VM on Hyper-V not the one on the 7 VM using the Workstation 12 Player is a password required to log in while the others see the auto logon enabled. The view at the moment due to having a sidebar gadget running on 10 on the far right with the main taskbar on the far left with the dual display set up is why it's not full screen on the secondary there.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Ok mate am having a look now - actually that was the one I used.


By the by the Ubuntu boot went fine from a 8GB stick without any need to change the EUFI settings so I shall put it on a 128GB stick for future use as it is still a much simpler set up as I used all that time ago. If nothing else it is an option

 

[Golden]

John, if you are serious about your foray into Linux, whatever flavor it may be, the best advice I can give you is to get completely familiar with the CLI (command terminal). Many things in Linux, such as installing VMWARE TOOLS for example, cannot be accomplished without some proficiency in it.

Currently most distros use BASH, so here is a start:
An A-Z Index of the Bash command line | SS64.com