Writing to a Maxtor USB Drive

**merlyn** · 10-07-2006, 06:56 PM

Hi have a Windows machine. It's crashed. It's going to get wiped and Linux is going on top of it.

Before I do that, I need to get the data off it. I have a Maxtor USB drive. Knoppix can see it and I can read the data on the Maxtor, however, when I try to copy data to the Maxtor, it fails.

How do I tell a Knoppix Live distro how to enable desktop copying?

It mounts the drive as:
/mnt/sda1

Thanks for any help and advice.

**Harry Kuhman** · 10-07-2006, 07:16 PM

If the external drive is formatted FAT then see answer #6. If it's formatted NTFS then come up with a different plan.

**merlyn** · 10-07-2006, 10:03 PM

Thanks, but it is formated with NTFS and it's not finding any drives with Captive NTFS. I've got Knoppix 3.4. Is it worth downloading the lastest Knoppix to help?

**merlyn** · 10-07-2006, 10:41 PM

Thanks, but it is formated with NTFS and it's not finding any drives with Captive NTFS. I've got Knoppix 3.4. Is it worth downloading the lastest Knoppix to help?

**merlyn** · 10-07-2006, 11:00 PM

Thanks, but it is formated with NTFS and it's not finding any drives with Captive NTFS. I've got Knoppix 3.4. Is it worth downloading the lastest Knoppix to help?

**RandomGoon** · 10-10-2006, 04:38 PM

Captive isn't the most reliable of ways of writing to NTFS partitions. Yes it can be done but if you're trying to recue data that's important why take the chance? If there is no data on the drive reformat it to something more useful to both OSes such as FAT32. Or, repartition the drive so you have 2 partitions if you have data on there you wish to save. As for getting the latest Knoppix that's entirely up to you. Supposedly there is support for writing NTFS natively but I've not tried it so I have no valid opinion either way. I say go for it as I've used it to write to FAT32 partitions on both internal and external drives numerous times.

YMMV,

'Goon

**merlyn** · 10-10-2006, 04:55 PM

There is data on there I'd like to save. I'd like to back the data up before going further fixing the computer/repartitioning the drive, because I know there's something seriously wrong with the machine.

Here's a little bit more info about it...

After a Windows update the screen developed a display problem. The images on the screen rapidly vibrate left to right. Then it got the Blue Screen of Death. Rebooting it didn't fix it. In fact it wouldn't reboot completely before the blue screen would reappear with a memory dump.

Thankfully I'm been planning to move away from Windows for a while, so I have a spare machine with Kubuntu I can use and also I have Knoppix 3.4 CD I got with Knoppix Hacks, which has given me a lot more confidence in using Linux.

The machine will successfully boot under Knoppix, however it has the same display problem Windows had. The screen rapidly moves from left to right and it's difficult to read the screen. I've tried the machine with a different screen & cable and it still has the same problem, so it's a fault with the machine. I don't know how to proceed with that, which it why I think the safest option is to try and get the data off first.

Regards,

Merlyn

**Harry Kuhman** · 10-10-2006, 05:12 PM

Originally Posted by merlyn

...., which it why I think the safest option is to try and get the data off first.

I think 'goon and many others will agree with that. Read the data, which is completely safe with NTFS. Don't try to write to the NTFS system, which is not safe with Captive and could destroy the partition. I have not heard of wide sucess with the NTFS tool in the latest version of Knoppix either, and I don't think that this disk with no good backup of the data is a good time to experiment with it.

You might want to look at the recovery faq for ideas on how to save the data. Just how much data do you need to salvage anyway?

And, since this is now pretty much on topic, let me pose a related question to tthe group, In my years here I've seen references to two websites that let users upload large files to them for temporary storage. One is yousendit.com and I have used them a few times. But yousendit has lately dropped the file size that they allow stored by free users from 1000 meg to 100 meg. There is another service like this, actually slightly better since the files don't have limited numbers of downloads and don't expire as fast, but I don't recall the name. Does anyone know the name of this alternate storage service? Perhaps merlyn could use it to store the data while the NTFS partition is reformatted and reloaded.

**RandomGoon** · 10-10-2006, 09:44 PM

Since this apparently was glossed over I'm going to address it now. Having the same symptom in both Knoppix and XP in regards to the video makes me believe you're video adaptor is about to take a dive. You said you changed monitors et al but don't say whether you changed video adaptors. I'd suspect that as the culprit in this case - try a new video card.

Looks like hardware issues other than previously surmised.

'Goon

**Jacky** · 10-11-2006, 01:30 AM

I have not heard of wide sucess with the NTFS tool in the latest version of Knoppix either

Harry, I have posted my results of success earlier in this forum. Have you seen it? Also there are lots users in other distros testing the latest tools. I continue to test it, and I did volunteer to stress test the new tools on behalf of users here, but I need you guys to suggest a test protocol or test criteria = what do you want me to test, for how long e.g. stability over 3 months at a million writes a day etc.....

Having said that I agree that the heat of a rescue situation is no time to learn and experiment with bleeding edge tools, unless it is the last option. Too many variables. First copy the data off somewhere safely.