HanyF
asked on
Hard disk became inaccessible after Norton GoBack problem
It all began when my 6 year old computer stopped letting me into Windows, and it showed the message:
GoBack Internal Error
Failure Code: gb_ui_support(1199)
Press any key to continue...
And that was a loop.
Anyway, I searched this problem on the site, and found my solution (which was a file downloaded from the Symantec site that allows me to disable GoBack).
Link:
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/goback.nsf/docid/2001092611363307?Open&src=bar_sch_nam&docid=20020201095718923&nsf=SUPPORT%5CINTER%5Cgobackintl.nsf&view=243398c9539420a988256de50063d9e4
Now, the problem is:
I have 2 hard disk drives, one is master of 40 GB, and the other one is slave of 160 GB. Of course Windows is on the master, but I remember that the GoBack files were stored on the first partition of the slave.
I did as the solution says, inserted the CD, and it ran. It told me that I will be able to continue uninstalling from Windows when the machine restarts. But the next thing that happened was a Boot Failure - system halted. I then went to the Setup of my motherboard to find that it recognizes the hard disk as the Primary IDE drive, but on the boot menu it does not see it at all, only sees the slave drive! so it doesn't boot from it. ( And then I don't know what the GoBack fix did exactly)
I took both hard drives, connected them one by one to another computer in my place. The slave drive is now back to normal, partitions can now be read correctly, no data loss, thanks to the solution. But the master one does not show anything. However Device Manager sees it, and the strange thing is that the boot menu in this PC can see it, but still can't boot from it! (says Boot Failure, and moves on to boot from CD-Rom).
Furthermore, I put it alone on the new PC, tried a Bootable Windows XP CD, started setup, then when it usually shows you the partitions to select one to setup Windows on, it told me:
Setup can not access this hard disk, though it counted its space correctly (38xxx MB). I exited setup, now what ?
Thanks in advance for any help you can give.
Feel free to ask for further details if needed
GoBack Internal Error
Failure Code: gb_ui_support(1199)
Press any key to continue...
And that was a loop.
Anyway, I searched this problem on the site, and found my solution (which was a file downloaded from the Symantec site that allows me to disable GoBack).
Link:
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/goback.nsf/docid/2001092611363307?Open&src=bar_sch_nam&docid=20020201095718923&nsf=SUPPORT%5CINTER%5Cgobackintl.nsf&view=243398c9539420a988256de50063d9e4
Now, the problem is:
I have 2 hard disk drives, one is master of 40 GB, and the other one is slave of 160 GB. Of course Windows is on the master, but I remember that the GoBack files were stored on the first partition of the slave.
I did as the solution says, inserted the CD, and it ran. It told me that I will be able to continue uninstalling from Windows when the machine restarts. But the next thing that happened was a Boot Failure - system halted. I then went to the Setup of my motherboard to find that it recognizes the hard disk as the Primary IDE drive, but on the boot menu it does not see it at all, only sees the slave drive! so it doesn't boot from it. ( And then I don't know what the GoBack fix did exactly)
I took both hard drives, connected them one by one to another computer in my place. The slave drive is now back to normal, partitions can now be read correctly, no data loss, thanks to the solution. But the master one does not show anything. However Device Manager sees it, and the strange thing is that the boot menu in this PC can see it, but still can't boot from it! (says Boot Failure, and moves on to boot from CD-Rom).
Furthermore, I put it alone on the new PC, tried a Bootable Windows XP CD, started setup, then when it usually shows you the partitions to select one to setup Windows on, it told me:
Setup can not access this hard disk, though it counted its space correctly (38xxx MB). I exited setup, now what ?
Thanks in advance for any help you can give.
Feel free to ask for further details if needed
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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ASKER
thanks for the answers guys, I will try these as soon as I go home.
SysExpert,
you mean Norton Ghost? How will it work on it if Windows can't access the drive?
What I understood (please correct me if I am wrong): I will setup Norton Ghost on a working computer, slave the hard disk in question to it, run Ghost, and see if it works.
Hany :)
SysExpert,
you mean Norton Ghost? How will it work on it if Windows can't access the drive?
What I understood (please correct me if I am wrong): I will setup Norton Ghost on a working computer, slave the hard disk in question to it, run Ghost, and see if it works.
Hany :)
ASKER
is anybody here?
I was using Recover My Data & GetDataBack to solve another issue, and noticed that RecoverMyData can recover lost partitions, and that GetDataBack can create images of drives.
Will these help in my case ?
Thanks in advance
I was using Recover My Data & GetDataBack to solve another issue, and noticed that RecoverMyData can recover lost partitions, and that GetDataBack can create images of drives.
Will these help in my case ?
Thanks in advance
Have you checked out the ubcd4win to remove goback?
I was suggesting that you use the DOS version of Norton to make a byte by byte backup image of the drive before you do any more testing, since if it gets messed up, it will be more difficult to fix. If you have a byte by byte image, then even if it gets messed up by tour trials, you can at least put it back to the original problem/ image.
ASKER
SysExpert,
sorry for the annoyance.. but I don't know what is the DOS version of Norton Ghost. I've searched for it, in vain.
I have Norton Ghost 14, can it do the job?
Can you tell me how to make it work as a DOS version, if it is possible?
Thanks for your help
sorry for the annoyance.. but I don't know what is the DOS version of Norton Ghost. I've searched for it, in vain.
I have Norton Ghost 14, can it do the job?
Can you tell me how to make it work as a DOS version, if it is possible?
Thanks for your help
ASKER
I forgot to add:
if the HDD in question is alone on a computer, I can't access it from DOS either.
if the HDD in question is alone on a computer, I can't access it from DOS either.
Again, have you tried using the ubcd4win to remove goback from the HD?
ASKER
I can't find the option of Byte by Byte image in Norton Ghost 14
ASKER
rindi,
I am still at the point of creating an image of the drive, if I get through it I will start using the tools.
I am still at the point of creating an image of the drive, if I get through it I will start using the tools.
I don't think you can create good images of drives that have goback on them.
ASKER
oh ok I didn't know that, thanks for pointing that out. I will give it a try though, won't lose anything trying. Then will try using UBCD and/or SystemRescueCD
ASKER
Actually Norton Ghost did not even detect the HDD when I slaved it to a working computer.
Am I doing it wrong? Or is it because of GoBack?
Do I try another imaging software (like Acronis)?
Another thing,
I wanted to make sure if it is GoBack or not. So I installed Partition Magic. Usually PM tells me that it sees the HDD as "other" when it has GoBack on it, but as I started PM, it said> bad partition table and closed. Is this related to Ghost being here?
Thanks
Am I doing it wrong? Or is it because of GoBack?
Do I try another imaging software (like Acronis)?
Another thing,
I wanted to make sure if it is GoBack or not. So I installed Partition Magic. Usually PM tells me that it sees the HDD as "other" when it has GoBack on it, but as I started PM, it said> bad partition table and closed. Is this related to Ghost being here?
Thanks
I think Goback uses it's own partitions table, and that causes most other tools to not properly recognize the disk.
ASKER
yes you're probably right, rindi. Because now I just detached the HDD, and PM works fine.
So, I think it's no useful trying Acronis Image, don't you think so?
If so, I will start using UBCD.
Please tell me what you think
Thanks
So, I think it's no useful trying Acronis Image, don't you think so?
If so, I will start using UBCD.
Please tell me what you think
Thanks
Acronis will probably have the same problem. There could be some linux based tools that might work, but I'm not sure there, or you might try bootit-ng, but I don't think that will be able to successfully image the drive either.
http://terabyteunlimited.com/
http://terabyteunlimited.com/
ASKER
Thanks man
I will keep you posted
I will keep you posted
ASKER
No luck!
The tool included in UBCD for this is the same Removal Tool that I used before (which I downloaded from Symantec), no difference.
Any other ideas?
The tool included in UBCD for this is the same Removal Tool that I used before (which I downloaded from Symantec), no difference.
Any other ideas?
SOLUTION
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ASKER
I tried all that already rindi :(
Neither GetDataBack nor RecoverMyFiles could help me.
And the WDtool could not launch a test on it (says cable error, but it's not that, because the same IDE cables work fine with the other HDD).
Anyway, after trying all the Disk Tools available on UBCD to no avail, I tried something else:
in the GoBack removal tool, there is another option: Fix MBR. I had only the 40GB HDD in the system, and ran that... says it repaired the MBR, but actually did nothing.
Then I backed up data that was on the other HDD (the 160GB), and connected them both, ran the same option... and there was a slight change: it prompted me saying that it didn't find the GOBACKIO.BIN file, but it will scan the "disk#1" for it. and it scanned for about 2 hours, and found nothing.
Now... I remember that the GoBack files were on the other HDD (the 160GB), and the MBR fix tool didn't offer me the option to scan it (which would have been disk#2 then).. how to do it?
Has it been removed when I ran the GoBack removal tool for the very first time as explained in the original question? Then if I got it back, how can I transfer it to the 40GB HDD?
I know it got ugly, and keeps getting more and more complicated, but it's really important for me to get that data back.
I even got the desperate idea of formatting the drive, then trying my luck with GetDataBack to recover whatever possible.
Thanks
Neither GetDataBack nor RecoverMyFiles could help me.
And the WDtool could not launch a test on it (says cable error, but it's not that, because the same IDE cables work fine with the other HDD).
Anyway, after trying all the Disk Tools available on UBCD to no avail, I tried something else:
in the GoBack removal tool, there is another option: Fix MBR. I had only the 40GB HDD in the system, and ran that... says it repaired the MBR, but actually did nothing.
Then I backed up data that was on the other HDD (the 160GB), and connected them both, ran the same option... and there was a slight change: it prompted me saying that it didn't find the GOBACKIO.BIN file, but it will scan the "disk#1" for it. and it scanned for about 2 hours, and found nothing.
Now... I remember that the GoBack files were on the other HDD (the 160GB), and the MBR fix tool didn't offer me the option to scan it (which would have been disk#2 then).. how to do it?
Has it been removed when I ran the GoBack removal tool for the very first time as explained in the original question? Then if I got it back, how can I transfer it to the 40GB HDD?
I know it got ugly, and keeps getting more and more complicated, but it's really important for me to get that data back.
I even got the desperate idea of formatting the drive, then trying my luck with GetDataBack to recover whatever possible.
Thanks
I think the option left is a recovery agency.
ASKER
I am not intending to let go..
so yesterday I used a SysRescueCD, none of the utilities in it helped.
But now, the hard drive 'name' in BIOS setup, or in Boot Menu has changed..
and its capacity became 136 GB !
I ran the SysRescueCD again, it contains a SysInfo utility, it now reads the drive with a strange name and it sees its capacity as 589 GB.
The drive is actually only 40 GB.
Does these numbers say anything ?
The problem is that when I inserted a Bootable WinXP CD, it can't format the drive, it says : can't access drive 1...
so, even if I lost hope in getting the data back, I can't even format the drive and start all over again!!
any ideas ?
so yesterday I used a SysRescueCD, none of the utilities in it helped.
But now, the hard drive 'name' in BIOS setup, or in Boot Menu has changed..
and its capacity became 136 GB !
I ran the SysRescueCD again, it contains a SysInfo utility, it now reads the drive with a strange name and it sees its capacity as 589 GB.
The drive is actually only 40 GB.
Does these numbers say anything ?
The problem is that when I inserted a Bootable WinXP CD, it can't format the drive, it says : can't access drive 1...
so, even if I lost hope in getting the data back, I can't even format the drive and start all over again!!
any ideas ?
It looks like a bad circuit board on the drive. Sometimes, if you have and exact same drive (including revision number) you can try changing the board. Otherwise it looks more and more like a task for a recovery agency.
http://ubcd4win.com