I cleared MBR by accident on raid0. How to save data?

[Dushmanius]

My PC was working fine. Then I got Antispyware Soft or some crap like that. It blocked all .exe files so my first move was to boot in to safe mode and do a little cleaning with task manager and regedit.

I restarted my PC and it hanged on Verifying DMI Pool Data. I tried everything. I removed all peripherals, then all memory modules (except one), then I removed that one and put one of the others inside, then removed all PCI cards, then removed hard drives... Nothing helped. Then I went to Nvidia Raid setup thinking that something happened there and I cleared MBR by accident.

Now I am freaking out! I don't know what to do. I managed to boot in to windows 7 from other computer's HDD (it worked flawlessly) and only thing I saw was 2TB of data that is unallocated.

I have no idea how to fix this.

I am on the verge of shooting myself. I have more than 6 years of graphic design there.

Please. Help.

 

[not so gray matter]

You can try using recovery software to get the data back. Depending on how badly you messed up, it may not work but it's worth a shot.

EASEUS Free data recovery software to recover deleted files. The undelete & unformat freeware to recover formatted, corrupted hard drive partition data.

NTFS.com File System Structure, Recovery Software, Hard Disk Internals.

http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/welcome.htm

|MG| Restoration 2.5.14 Download

 

[Bill2]

1) Since your data is critical, first ensure its safety. You can try the the tools Al suggested, another way is to boot from a live linux cd like Knoppix. Its a distro that runs off the cd, so no installation is required. Inside Knoppix, you should be able to see your hdd and data, then back it up to an external drive.

2) If indeed you have destroyed your mbr, you can rebuild it using the win7 install dvd and the command "bootrec /RebuildBcd". Heres the MS page on how to do it.

How to use the Bootrec.exe tool in the Windows Recovery Environment to troubleshoot and repair startup issues in Windows

3) "Verifying DMI...." is a mobo issue, not OS. This error can often appear if the BIOS is trying to find a IDE drive, when there is a different drive installed on the computer. Most often happens from a faulty component the BIOS is trying to register in the DMI pool data, when the component is not responding.

If you are lucky, a bios reset should solve the problem. You can do that by replugging the CMOS battery while the motherboard has no power. Removing the power of the CMOS will clear the BIOS, it should revert the BIOS to default state. You can also try getting into your bios settings and loading default settings.

Sometimes a bios flash can solve the problem. Also any onboard devices that are still connected, disable them.

 

[Dushmanius]

I woud like to try everything before data recovery. First I do not have 2 TB of free space and second they never save enough files and in good enough condition.

Are you sure Knopix will see my unallocated drive as a data? As I said I was able to boot windows from another computer and saw my raid as unallocated.

I tried restarting CMOS, removing the battery, jumpers, loading defaults, all of it bofore i cleared MBR. Nothing worked. I went past Verifying DMI Pood Data fine when I booted from a different HDD.

 

[not so gray matter]

If your hard drive isn't damaged in any way, then Knoppix should see it as data. However, if the map which shows the operating system(s) where the data is located is broken then you may not be able to access it through a Live CD. In this case, I'm pretty certain that your only option is recovery software unless there is a way to rebuild the drive map.

 

[zzz2496]

No, Knoppix won't see the data, it's a RAID 0 member. Unless the controller who initialized the RAID volume is present, and aware of the data structure, your data is lost, Dushmanius. This is what happen when some user without any knowledge of RAID use a RAID 0 for their work disk... You get a gigantic mess along with frustration and stress and resentment along the way. Next time, stay away from RAID 0, this is the result of that "double speed"...

Here's the logic WHY it won't restore, or why you won't be able to retrieve the data. RAID 0, each write command will issue several write commands to the RAID array member. If there's 2 disk, then it will issue 2 write commands, the data in the original write will be split in half (as much as the RAID member), writing one block at 1disk, another block at the next disk... See, the data is just a jumble of garbage right now... Unless you know what block should go along with what block from which disk... you are screwed, SERIOUSLY SCREWED... Good luck with the recovery...

zzz2496

 

[Dushmanius]

I don't know why you think that it would be impossible to fix simple MBR sector for whole Raid 0? Raid controller is still operational (it still reads my 1TB+1TB as single 2TB drive). And if the structure of Raid 0 is unchanged then theoretically thing should still work.

You were right Knoppix was blind for the raid.

But against all odds I was able to recover the raid.
I used Hiren's BootCD (Hiren's BootCD 10.4 - www.hiren.info) and used MbrFix 1.3 (thought it has some other great MBR tools) to recover windows partitions and to install new windows 7 MBR.
After that I booted with Windows 7 DVD and repaired the startup.

All files were there and none were corrupted.

This is what happen when some user without any knowledge of RAID use a RAID 0 for their work disk...

I must retaliate with "This is what happens when any user uses any hard drive without the backup."

 

[zzz2496]

I must retaliate with "This is what happens when any user uses any hard drive without the backup."

No, not really... regular user can always load their "normal" disk to another computer and extract the data if need be, that won't be the case with RAID 0 volumes.

See... RAID 0 + Work = disaster, thus you need to backup more than those with RAID 1 just in case. RAID 0 is for achieving high throughput, at the expense of reliability, one failed drive = all data lost. At least in RAID 1, when this kind of situation happens, you can just load either of the disks onto another computer and extract your data...

The promise of "high speed" doesn't really worth the stress and anxiety of losing your data IMHO. Anyway, since you've successfully recovered your data, this thread is solved, right? Next time, don't use RAID 0.

zzz2496

 

[whs]

Hmm, my first thought was." How could the man have 6 years of work without proper backups".

My second thought was: "How could he have his data in the OS partition in lieu of a seperate data partition".

And my third thought was: "How could he expose his valuable data to a flimsy setup like RAID0".

Sorry, but you did about everything wrong. If you need advice for a proper data strategy, let me know. I assume you learned your lesson.

 

[Dushmanius]

: ) I did.

6 years of work without proper backups was my most hideous crime.

I actually always (since my first Duron PC) keep system on one partition and data on other. In the XP era proved to be the best solution I did my whole IT career since I had to reinstall XP more than 127 times (I keep an excel sheet). So this was done in this case too. Unfortunately it was on the same hard drive (or same raid 0 to be more specific).

I guess both of you are right about raid 0. It's just not worth it. Though my thoughts were always "If I loose half of my data, I don't really care if I lose the other half too".

I'm backing up web design as we speak on my old MyBook.

Whs if you have some good ideas about data management I would definitely like to hear them.

 

[whs]

I use Macrium imaging to backup both my system and my data partitions. Given that you have apparently a lot more data than I have, you may have to modify the approach somehow. But the main thing is that I provide for an image trail all the way back to the initial installation and I image daily. Prerequisite with my approach is that you have enough disk space to hold one weeks worth of backups plus the weekly and monthly copies. The space requirements can be reduced if you use incrementals, but for that you need Macrium Pro or an equivalent other imaging program.
The backup time is not so important because the imaging can run in the background and does not keep me from doing other tasks. Here are the details:

I make a daily image of my system and data partitions at boot-up. I have set Macrium to do that automatically. It takes only 9 minutes from my SSD to the internal HDD. Every Sunday, I copy the Sunday image to an on-line external disk into a "weekly folder". Every first of the month I also copy the last image to an external disk "monthly folder" that usually stays off-line. That way I have a whole history all the way back to the initial installation.
In addition I have two 16GB sticks to which I copy my data every 3 months and put it into my bank safe. 3 months later I retrieve the first stick and deposit the latest data copy on the second stick, and so on.

 

[zzz2496]

Wow, extremely elaborate setup you have there, whs...
I don't have that extreme backup, my work data (all 5 years of them) fits in a DVD. So, every month or so I'd burn one DVD. But next to that, I have a SAN, 3x 1TB disks, 2 run as RAID 1, 1 stand by as Hot spare. I set smartd to email me whenever it found anything weird with any of the disks. Those disks are then, every few weeks synchronized to another SAN box using Rsync, incremental backup copy... I'm thinking of buying an IBM DS 3300 Storage system, it'd be much simpler to maintain, and a lot more reliable hardware wise...

zzz2496

 

[whs]

Well, it may sound elaborate. But from an operational standpoint it is the simplest solution. My backups are all scheduled automatically and all I need to remember is to turn on the external disk for the monthly backup. Everything else runs without my intervention - except the USBs.
I have seen a lot more subtle approaches with sync, differentials and alike. But I like things to be simple and transparent so that I know at every step of the way where I am and what I have got. It may take a bit more disk space, but so what.

 

[zzz2496]

We can never have enough disk space, huh...?
Btw, where's the OP?

zzz2496

 

[surfasb]

Wow, extremely elaborate setup you have there, whs...
I don't have that extreme backup, my work data (all 5 years of them) fits in a DVD. So, every month or so I'd burn one DVD. But next to that, I have a SAN, 3x 1TB disks, 2 run as RAID 1, 1 stand by as Hot spare. I set smartd to email me whenever it found anything weird with any of the disks. Those disks are then, every few weeks synchronized to another SAN box using Rsync, incremental backup copy... I'm thinking of buying an IBM DS 3300 Storage system, it'd be much simpler to maintain, and a lot more reliable hardware wise...

zzz2496

Yeah, work data is invaluable. Multiple backups is cheap compared to what happens when a disaster hits. I think of it like this. If I charge $100 an hour for my work, then an extra HD is a drop in the bucket compared to what happens if I happen to lose several days of work due to a disaster.

 

[zzz2496]

Wow, extremely elaborate setup you have there, whs...
I don't have that extreme backup, my work data (all 5 years of them) fits in a DVD. So, every month or so I'd burn one DVD. But next to that, I have a SAN, 3x 1TB disks, 2 run as RAID 1, 1 stand by as Hot spare. I set smartd to email me whenever it found anything weird with any of the disks. Those disks are then, every few weeks synchronized to another SAN box using Rsync, incremental backup copy... I'm thinking of buying an IBM DS 3300 Storage system, it'd be much simpler to maintain, and a lot more reliable hardware wise...

zzz2496

Yeah, work data is invaluable. Multiple backups is cheap compared to what happens when a disaster hits. I think of it like this. If I charge $100 an hour for my work, then an extra HD is a drop in the bucket compared to what happens if I happen to lose several days of work due to a disaster.

Very true indeed... OP still MIA...

zzz2496

 

[Dushmanius]

OP is back from Action. I was feeling different backup solutions. : )

I tried mozy.com but it is crappy slow. I backed up 1GB of data and then tried to download that. First I waited for 6 hours for them to prepare my backup (?) then when download started it was capped at 90 KB/s. I guess they don't want to be rapidshare...

Carbonite was next but those sneaky *******s have upload limit at 300 KB/s. They actually want you to upload your things to their servers forever.

Then I though megaupload was a good deal. 200 greens and you get lifetime membership with unlimited downloads and uploads and all that... Speed was superb! But you can make folders only in root directory (!?). That's right. You can have unlimited folders in root but no where else. Which basically means that all my photoshop brushes, gradients, patterns and styles would be in the same folder. That is a huge mess so I canceled my premium right away.

Damn it. I can't seem to find good online backup solution.
At the moment I'm backed up only with WD anytime backup (not bad software but far from good) that runs on my MyBook external 500GB drive.

@surfasb
that was best comparison yet. : )

 

[not so gray matter]

I suggest that if you're going to use an online backup solution you look for companies that actually do backup solution and not companies that are just providing disk space for downloading (i.e. Rapidshare, Megaupload). Reliability on those sites isn't even close to good because most of the files uploaded are illegal and get deleted quickly.

Here's what I suggest... It's simple and should work out just fine for ya.

Make one Macrium Free backup of your system partition after you've installed your programs, fixed your settings and all of that. This should be done right after an installation, that way there's nothing erroneous on the disk. Now copy this backup and put it in a few places (dvd/usb/etc). This part of the backup can just sit and collect dust as you don't need it unless you're updating it with a new configuration or using it.

The next part of the backup is to purchase a hard drive that's large enough to store all of your data. If this cannot be done, purchase multiple hard drives. This drives should be independent of your system drive and hopefully external as well. Store all of your data on these drive(s). Now purchase another set of these drive(s) so that you have 2 sets of the same amount of space. Now just use backup software to backup drive(s) 1 on drive(s) 2 once a day or week or month. Now you've got two copies of your data, you latest stuff which is stored on a set of external hard drives and a backup set which is kept disconnected.

The last thing to do is to create a usb stick or hard drive with your most important files (setup files you cannot live without, photoshop filters, etc etc). This is just incase of the worst case scenario where all of your data is ruined. Keep this in a safe place.

Now if you want to reformat/start fresh all you need to do is use the backup software to load your system image which will have all of your favorite programs and preferences pre configured and installed.

Anyway, if you still want to try online backups, here are some options:

https://www.jungledisk.com/
http://www.sosonlinebackup.com/
http://www.idrive.com/
https://www.sugarsync.com/
http://www.ibackup.com/
http://www.elephantdrive.com/

If you're looking for a solution that allows you to upload multiple gigs of data and then download all of that data in an instant, you might need a file storage solution like rapidshare and megaupload, here are some alternatives.

http://www.filefactory.com
http://www.mediafire.com/
http://www.netload.in
http://www.hotfile.com
http://www.ul.to
http://www.depositfiles.com
http://www.storage.to
http://www.mangoshare.com
http://www.megashares.com

 

[zzz2496]

Make 2 SAN servers (use Atom, it's more than capable) comprised or 3 HDD each (totaling 6 for 2 systems), setup as such: 2 RAID 1, 1 as Hot spare. Backup each day, incrementally on the first SAN, the second SAN will backup the first SAN once a week. Then, every month, backup the data from the second SAN to a set of DVDs. All this only for your Work data, you can do a system image backup too if you want, SANs usually can serve a SMB/FTP share, so you can almost backup anything to it. If you prefer enterprise (but on the cheaper side), I suggest you try IBM DS3000 series, somewhat cheap, dual controller capable, very fast, and it's supported by IBM...

zzz2496

 

[Dushmanius]

@notsograymatter
Some good ideas. I was thinking more along the lines of buying additional Hard drive(s) and setting them in raid 1 setting. Or just buying one big 2 TB (or 2 2TB) and using some backup software to backup files every night. I don't think that I need to have 2 sets of backup. I'm just thinking along the lines of very slim chance that something will happen to HDD anyway and there is very very very slim chance that something happens both to HDD and Backup at the same time. Granted there could be fire or earthquake or huricane (damn Florida weather) but that's why I would like online backup too.

I am looking at the solutions to upload TB of data that's why online backup providers are not the best solution (they don't like users like me). That's why I was thinking of filesharing services. I don't think that reliability would be any problem because I don't intend to share any of these files.

Bunch of these services have some catches.

http://www.netload.in

- will keep your files for only 30 days.

http://www.hotfile.com

- will keep your files for only 90 days.

http://www.ul.to

- does not have ANY info on their service

http://www.depositfiles.com

- will keep your files for only 90 days.

http://www.mangoshare.com

- no tool for upload

http://www.megashares.com

- plain bad

http://www.rapidshare.com

- will keep your files for only 90 days.

http://www.mediafire.com

- has awful bug ridden service without any upload tool (except browser flash)

Megaupload was perfect except for the fact that you can't make subfolders.

I have (or had) premium memberships on most of these filesharing services and they just suck.

http://www.elephantdrive.com

- same as carbonite, same as mozy. You can use it only on one PC. If you want to take some stuff from the backup you will have to disassociate old PC from the backup which makes your whole backup deleted after 30 days. No you can't stop the process.

http://www.ibackup.com/

- 10GB of backup. Really?

https://www.sugarsync.com/

- 30 GB of backup.

http://www.idrive.com/

- 150 GB of backup.

http://www.sosonlinebackup.com

- 15 GB of backup. Really?

https://www.jungledisk.com/

- Unlimited storage at 15¢ per GB. Buying the drives would be much cheaper.

I am beginning to think that megaupload would be the best. I can just name my folders Music-ACDC, Music-CafeDelMar, Music-Enigma, Photoshop-Brushes, Photoshop-Gradinets. Photoshop-Styles...

Though you have intrigued me with that Macrium system image solution. I had Norton ghost do that for me back in the days but they do not support Windows7 (or Vista for that matter) anymore. So how does that work? It will make image of my windows, programs, drivers, desktop, application files, program files... and I can just restore whole system from that image if something happens?


@zzz2496
I was thinking about SAN (one though, not 2 ) but I am not ready to fork 500 bucks just yet.