moving files from external HD to new C: XP install

[rtrdom]

First time user of Knoppix. I'm impressed with its capability to retrieve files. I am using Knoppix 5.1 and have successfully removed all files
from a damaged Windows XP installation to an external hard drive. Next I reformatted the hard drive and did a new XP Sp2 install. I then
dragged and dropped all the files from the external hard drive to the "new" sda1. The new sda1 was formatted NTFS. It appears all the files are
on it because when I click on My Computer of the new installation, then select C drive I can see all the folders but there is no data to be found.
How can I move the data from the external hard drive to the newly formatted C drive? The tutoria I was using mentioned using the
captured ntfs... but I did not find it in version 5.1. Did I miss it or does this version include it automatically when writing to an NTFS formatted drive?
Have looked for an answer in FAQ but did not see it.
Thanks for any help rendered.

[Harry Kuhman]

..... I am using Knoppix 5.1 and have successfully removed all files.... but there is no data to be found.....
Some people think that it is safe to use 5.1 to write to NTFS. Others, including myself, would never write to NTFS with Knoppix.

I'm not clear if the external hard drive was NTFS or some other format. Are you actually trying to write the files from external to internal with Knoppix, or are you using XP itself to copy the files?

I would suggest the following:
1) determine if the data is actually in the files in the external drive. If it is go to step 2, else to step 4

2) Be sure that your XP internal partition has never been written to with Linux. If it has, reformat and reinstall. Try copying the files from external to internal with XP. See if the data is there. If it is you are almost done, go to step 5

3) if you can't copy the data with XP, but have confirmed that you can see it on the external drive, then try attaching the external drive to a computer running Knoppix or some other Linux systen and transferring it to the XP system across a network. I would do this by installing an FTP server on the XP system and using Konquror on the Knoppix system as an FTP client to make the transfer, but there are multiple ways to accomplish this, do it however you like.

4) if you can't see the data in the files on the external drive, and the drive is formatted NTFS, then you likely have a corrupted NTFS partition (the reason so many of us distrust Linux and NTFS). Assuming that you already overwrote the source disk, I don't know of anything that can be done for you.

5) if the external hard disk is NTFS and has been written to with Linux, reformat it with XP (assuming that you still want it to be NTFS) and write to it with Linux no more. Don't trust a NTFS partition written to with Linux, even if it seems to be OK.

[rtrdom]

Thank you Harry for the reply.
I'm not clear if the external hard drive was NTFS or some other format.
Before starting this project, I reformatted the external hard drive as NTFS because I knew the disc being investigated/repaired was NTFS.
Are you actually trying to write the files from external to internal with Knoppix,
I did that by dragging and dropping via the Knoppix identified discs
1) determine if the data is actually in the files in the external drive.
The data is actually in the external files, I can see pictures, letters, forms, applications, programs, all there. The only thing that I see
that doesn't immediatly show up is the QuickBooks files. I think that by reinstalling the QuickBooks program, then xfering the files, I probably
will be able to see them because I believe Quick Books uses some type encryption to store their files.

2) Be sure that your XP internal partition has never been written to with Linux. If it has, reformat and reinstall.
This has been done, today, after receiving your reply.

Try copying the files from external to internal with XP.
This is in the process of happening, as I write this reply. Looks like it will take approximately 224 minutes more to complete.

This whole thing is because the local library's NEW Vista hard drive would not boot into Vista after a technician removed it and installed a new
hard drive with XP (which the librarian wanted in the first place). So before doing anything to their hard drive, I decided to attempt the process
on my own. First I tried system restore/recovery. Bingo. I lost access to my harddrive. Spent two days seeking answers from GEEKS(?) . They
did not know what to do. Now, with many thanks to you and Knoppix, I believe I can recover the data from the library's hard drive.

Question: Does Knoppix play as well with Vista as it does with all other Microsoft Windows programs?

[Harry Kuhman]

The data is actually in the external files, I can see pictures, letters, forms,
Well, from the little I can know about it, it sounds like somethings strange has happened to that NTFS external system as a result of the Knoppix writes and that XP just can't read the data. I hope that the network transfer works out for you. If you are using FTP you'll find it is much faster than other network transfers between X and Linux that use Windows networking. Let us know how it works out for you, but once you are certain that you have good data on the internal hard drive, it's pretty important that you reformat the external hard drive before you use it again.


Question: Does Knoppix play as well with Vista as it does with all other Microsoft Windows programs?
From all reports that I've seen, nothing plays well with Vista. (I have a Microsoft certified "Vista Ready" laptop that can't even run Direct-X, Aero Glass, or the screen savers included with Vista.) I'm not sure what the question even means, since they are both OSs and without virtualization software will not be running on the same system at the same time. I imagine that you can network between the two systems as well as you can with XP, although I have never tried it. I know XP seems to deliberately slow down when networking with Linux and using Microsoft networking to transfer files (it does the same thing with older versions of Windows, a file xfer from Win98se to XP takes 3 times or more as long as a file transfer between XP and XP or Win98 to Win98!) I can't say if they have made this slow down even more painful in Vista, but since they seem to have gotten away with it in XP I don't know why they wouldn't. As far as I know Vista uses the same undocumented NTFS file system, so the same issues would exist when writing to a Vista NTFS partition.

I'm pretty much alone in this belief, and I may just be being paranoid, but I've seen enough dirty tricks on Microsoft's part that I'm seriously thinking that Linux NTFS computability is a moving target. Even if a proper way to write to NTFS today were worked out and implemented, Microsoft may be able to detect that the data was not written following some cryptic algorithm, and a future service pack may then act like the partition is corrupted, deliberately corrupt the partition itself, or just pretend that the files are all empty and the data is missing even though the file names are there. I don't intend to ever trust that NTFS writing will be safe.

[rtrdom]

Let us know how it works out for you,

It has worked out very well.
It took close to 7 hours by using XP to transfer from external to internal drive by copy and paste, after I had:
1. disconnected the external drive,
2. Reformatted the internal drive to NTFS,
3. Reinstalled XP SP2.
4. Reconnected the external drive.

All the files are present, even the QuickBooks files. I will have to install a couple of programs again such as printer drivers,
two monitor video card, wireless network card, external LG DVD +/- RW drive. Also, I'll have to set up the network again and the
internet connection but that is minor. Maybe a couple more things. Some of the programs I could reinstall merely by
finding the .exe file or the install file in My Documents(which is where I returned everything until I learn where else to put it). Others I can't find the
.exe files or install file (don't know for what else to look).
If it is proper for this forum, is there a special place to return the files from an external harddrive to the internal harddrive so one does not have to
reinstall programs from their discs?
I will try the FTP thing over an isolated (from the internet) network as soon as I learn how. I think it would be faster, something like having both
drives on the same motherboard.
Thanks again for your assistance.