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Katsunami · 02-10-2016, 04:37 PM

When it rains, it pours

My sister called, half-panicked, that her external hard drive wasn't recognized by the computer. So I told her: "That's not a problem; it's just the backup. Get a new drive, and copy everything to it."

But (almost as expected...), she always removes all data from the laptop, despite the fact that I've told her to NOT to do that. Doing so makes the external drive the only copy, and I told her repeatedly that this is *very dangerous*.

"Data that is only stored in one location, is never safe," I told her. Several times. But she didn't listen and only kept one copy on one drive.

And now it's broken, with all the pictures and movies of the kids on it. Lost.

I said I'd take a look at the drive to see what I could to. Mom brought it over, almost dead and making screeching noises. (The drive that is; Mom's fine.) Computer didn't see it. Thinking it might be an issue with the hard drive's housing/SATA board, I cracked it open (destroying it in the process) and removed the drive. It was a Samsung drive, with a custom board in it, that only had a USB-connector; so no way to put it into a laptop or connect it to a SATA port.

Thus, me being very evil, I called my sister and told her that everything on the drive was probably lost, and that she should have listened and kept the files on the laptop as well. Panic and devastation ensued.

I told her that I would try some stuff, but if that failed, she could only recover the stuff Mom still had, and that would be it.

But that was not really true.

I lied, because I'm evil.

And I have to keep my reputation as a miracle worker, of course.

I create an image of that laptop every half a year, using Image for Linux, by Terabyte Unlimited. (It works like Ghost 2003 and before did; it basically puts an entire hard drive or partition into a compressed file.) I only tell my sister that I can use it to quickly reinstall the laptop if that is ever needed.

Obviously, I created an image of that notebook in July last year, and I knew that all along. Also, obviously, I have that image, and several backups as well.

Also, while I personally don't use Dropbox, my sister uses it to share files with my Mom. (Kids... pictures, movies... too much to e-mail). What they don't know, is that *I* am also part of that group, and thus receive those files as well, and thus they are backed up. (They're copied out of the Dropbox folder in case someone deletes them and I lose them through syncing.)

I've ordered a new hard drive (which my sister is obviously going to pay for), and I told her I'd see how many files I could recover from the broken drive and my Mom's laptop.

When the drive arrives tomorrow, I'll pull the files out of the image, supplement them with the files from my Dropbox folder/backup, and then tell my sister I was able to recover everything from the dead hard drive with a lot of work and even more luck.

Maybe the shock was big enough, so she'll now be smart enough to LISTEN, and put the files onto the laptop as well.

02-10-2016, 04:37 PM	#27144
Katsunami Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,111 Karma: 34000001 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: KPW1, KA1	When it rains, it pours My sister called, half-panicked, that her external hard drive wasn't recognized by the computer. So I told her: "That's not a problem; it's just the backup. Get a new drive, and copy everything to it." But (almost as expected...), she always removes all data from the laptop, despite the fact that I've told her to NOT to do that. Doing so makes the external drive the only copy, and I told her repeatedly that this is very dangerous. "Data that is only stored in one location, is never safe," I told her. Several times. But she didn't listen and only kept one copy on one drive. And now it's broken, with all the pictures and movies of the kids on it. Lost. I said I'd take a look at the drive to see what I could to. Mom brought it over, almost dead and making screeching noises. (The drive that is; Mom's fine.) Computer didn't see it. Thinking it might be an issue with the hard drive's housing/SATA board, I cracked it open (destroying it in the process) and removed the drive. It was a Samsung drive, with a custom board in it, that only had a USB-connector; so no way to put it into a laptop or connect it to a SATA port. Thus, me being very evil, I called my sister and told her that everything on the drive was probably lost, and that she should have listened and kept the files on the laptop as well. Panic and devastation ensued. I told her that I would try some stuff, but if that failed, she could only recover the stuff Mom still had, and that would be it. But that was not really true. I lied, because I'm evil. And I have to keep my reputation as a miracle worker, of course. I create an image of that laptop every half a year, using Image for Linux, by Terabyte Unlimited. (It works like Ghost 2003 and before did; it basically puts an entire hard drive or partition into a compressed file.) I only tell my sister that I can use it to quickly reinstall the laptop if that is ever needed. Obviously, I created an image of that notebook in July last year, and I knew that all along. Also, obviously, I have that image, and several backups as well. Also, while I personally don't use Dropbox, my sister uses it to share files with my Mom. (Kids... pictures, movies... too much to e-mail). What they don't know, is that I am also part of that group, and thus receive those files as well, and thus they are backed up. (They're copied out of the Dropbox folder in case someone deletes them and I lose them through syncing.) I've ordered a new hard drive (which my sister is obviously going to pay for), and I told her I'd see how many files I could recover from the broken drive and my Mom's laptop. When the drive arrives tomorrow, I'll pull the files out of the image, supplement them with the files from my Dropbox folder/backup, and then tell my sister I was able to recover everything from the dead hard drive with a lot of work and even more luck. Maybe the shock was big enough, so she'll now be smart enough to LISTEN, and put the files onto the laptop as well. Last edited by Katsunami; 02-11-2016 at 08:52 AM.