Data Recovery

Hi and Thanks again,


Now I'm reading the web page and my understanding is that I can create a bootable rescue disk.
I was told from my ISP that I will need one to boot due to damaged hard disk.
I am downloading ' Bootable CD ISO (RIP-14.8.grub.iso.bin) '
For the bootloader is loading in GRUB.
Is this correct?


What I want to do is to rescue as much data as possible from the /var/www directory.
As far as other partitions I'm not interested.

Can you give a step by step guide in the process of recovering the file using Test Disk.
I will be going to my ISP to do this and would like to have an overview before I attempt it.

Thank you

eta

check this link for  complete documentation how to install and how to use this test disk

http://www.cgsecurity.org/phpwiki/index.php/testdisk

hope this helps

The first think to do would be to boot up in rescue mode from the first CD of the RHEL distribution. Allow it to try to find your Linux system and if it succeeds you'll be able to examine the system for damage. In particular check the contents of /boot to see that all of the stuff necssary to boot is still there. There are several possible causes of Grub stopping at the prompt, but the most common cause is because Grub can't find the kernel, initrd, or root file system. So check to see that all of that is present and usable.

Note that you can use the rescue boot to copy data to another disk.

I was told from my ISP that GRUB asked to build the kernel.

Does this mean that the kernel is gone?

Also,

1.  After you rescue boot... using the CD, how am I able to see the content of the disk?

2.  Will the boot CD let me ftp the data to another server?  

Thank you

If the rescue boot is able to find your Linux system and the file systems are valid, they'll be mounted on /mnt/sysimage. So you can examine the file system contents with the usual commands (ls, more, etc).

After booting from CD1:

I booted as linux rescue

But upon /mnt/sysimage I get a reply ' can not read  /etc/fstab.

Also when I view the partitions I only see the sda partitions.
/boot is gone.

I've tried to search on the net for any information but can't seems to pin point it.
Is there a reason why this happened?

I will get a copy of knoppix and give it a try.

Thank you

eta

Hi,

I've now brought back the server and booted with Knoppix.

I am able to see some files but many of the files seem to be missing.

When I try to mount sda2, I get the message,

wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/sda2
missing codepage or other error
In some cases useful info is found i syslog
try dmesg | tail or so

after running dmesg I get error messages of this type:

I/O error
Drive Ready Seek Complete Error
Uncorrectable error
invalid journal inode
EXT3-fs error
unable to read indo block

in many locations.  (Although I am not sure what they mean, just picked out any lines with the word error)

Now I'm wondering is it possible to recover any data that has dissppeared?

Thank you

-eta

 

If your filesystem actually is/was ext3, you can run e2fsck --help to get the syntax and then use that utility to try repairing your filesystem. If the data was really important, though, I'd look for a data recovery service, for which you will have to pay something, but normally the recovery rate is pretty good. Make sure you ask for a quote before commiting your disks to them. You can google for such a service in your area.

http://www.gillware.com/?campaign=googleContent

is supposed to be one of the priceworthiest.

i don't understand why don't you use testdisk to recover your data actually this is your original question and you came back to the same point

Hi qq234,

I downloaded test disk and gave it a try, but was unable to boot from the cd.
I don't know why I couldn't boot, seeing good recommendations for the linux os.

So I gave Knoppix a try.
With Knoppix I was able to boot and view.  Although it didn't solve the problem.

So I opened another forum and have decided to try other recovery softwares out there.
Currently I am trying R-Linux a freeware and runtime.
It is still scanning and with many errors, so I am already getting ready to resort to professional service.

Thank you

-eta