We've got an introduction to data recovery with DDRescue and TestDisk. TestDisk is probably where you'll want to start. It will help you recover from non-mechanical problems where some piece of software has trashed your disk, partition tables, MBR or that type of problem. It may even be able to help you "unformat" a wiped hard drive, or wiped USB stick.
DDRescue is a variant of the DD program that's setup specifically for data recovery situations. Unlike DD, DDRescue can produce a physical map of unrecoverable, can retry reads and can automatically resume an interrupted DD.
DD stands for something like disk direct, and is a program that simply moves blocks of data from one device to another. It's also possible to move blocks of data from devices to files and vice-versa.
If you are not used to thinking of devices as files, it can be a little bit of a mind warp to think in these terms. However, it is a simple yet powerful tool that allows for complex recovery scenarios.
Hey Wendell, Do you think some day you could make a video on how you came about the knowledge you have gained over the years. Like learning Linux, compiling, coding, etc.. I would find that so intriguing, and would help get to a great tech position someday. I have read some books you suggested like Winn l. Rosch's Hardware bible. I am mostly a visual learner though. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Just last week I was trying to recover a drive that had gone bad on me. If only I had known about these tools. I ended up using unstoppable copy, however the majority of the data was corrupted due to bad sectors on the drive. The drive would even "disconnect" itself after a several seconds long system hang, but unstoppable copy kept pulling the data off regardless. However I get the feeling these tools might have allowed me to recover more data than what I did.
This was an excellent video and I would love to get into the more technical and detailed aspects of it in the future.
Terve! Well, I have to admit that I am that noob that has not enought Linux skills to understand what you were talking about in some parts. Can anyone make a suggestion what I should do to learn the Linux basics? (I don't want to go to a course because the time I am able to invest into PCs is always fluctuating. Thank you already. Sayonara!
I learned Linux just by using it and running into issues that I wanted to fix. I would suggest running Linux in virtual box until you get a feel for it and then moving it over onto an old computer to test it out. There is also quite a selection of downloadable ebooks from amazon you could check out. But I have always found the best way to learn about something is to just use it.
Terve! I suspect that the advice is going to me, so I'll reply as if it would. I run Linux as my daily driver and I also have a spare Linux box to do some things clean once I've learned them. (sidenote: I have 4 working PCs in my room) The problem is that I am apparently very terrible at getting the info I need. For example: I am trying to do a NAS, which I would like to be able to connect to via FTP. The Problem is that I am not able to do a btrfs partition that is on a "RAID 1" on two drives and I am not able to do the FTP stuff. That's the reason why I am asking. Linux is promising for the future and once I found out how to get the things I did over to Windows (so my friends could use or watch it as well) I might not get away from it anymore. Sayonara!
I just want to mention that write blockers are amazing things. This can help prevent those terrible terrible mistakes that Wendll mentioned. Also great if you need to keep things forensically sound. A lot of them are a little pricey but worth it if you do this type of thing for work. Some less expensive options are out there if you look around.
Take a look at this cheep one that i found on ebay.