Windows 2000 Registry & Restoring it with Knoppix

Windows 2000 on my laptop said it couldn't start because a file was missing or corrupt. After some research, I figured out what the file was (my registry) and how to fix it (I have a backup on my hard disk). The problem is, Knoppix doesn't recognize the directory (C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG) I need to put it in as a directory, but as a file. Also, Knoppix does not recognize the directory that contains all the files I need to back up if I were to start clean with a new Windows install. Now when I tried to boot using the Windows 2000 Installation CD and use the Recovery console, it says ACCESS DENIED when I try to go into any directories or do anything with any file. Also, the recovery console does not prompt me for which Windows installation I want to log into. In other words, it won't recognize the Windows installation. Before, it would allow me to do this, but at the time I didn't know yet how to fix my problem. I used Knoppix and was able to go online and find out, but after that I started getting ACCESS DENIED messages. Any ideas on how I can either get Knoppix to recognize those directories, or get the recovery console to allow me access, or any program that would let me either back up my files or fix the registry? Thanks.

It sounds like there are major file problems on your machine. The hard drive may be dying. I would attach a portable USB hard drive and use KNOPPIX to copy all of the data possible from your win2k drive onto the USB drive. I would run your notebook minimally before trying to rescue the data so it doesn't give up completely. Prioritize your data by its value to you and rescue it in that order.

You can run smart programs against the drive to read it's diagnostics. There are S.M.A.R.T. (acronym for drive diagnostic and control stuff) aware programs which will read the statisitcs off of your hard drive. It sounds like it is dying or your file system is sorely messed up.

If that is the case, it is new hard drive, new install time. You could mount the dying/dead drive as a slave in a tower you have access to ( there are adapters to mount notebook drives in towers) and try to extract data, or send the drive to a data recovery facility to see what they can extract. That is an expensive option, I did it once to a local person. It was $300 or more at the time and a bargin. Most charge more, and my guy has raised his prices considerably since. He had a comercial rate for businesses and a home rate for personal computers, which was much less.

Good Luck.

Yeah I didn't think it looked too promising. The thing is, ALL of the files I need off of the drive are in directories that Knoppix won't recognize as directories. Is there a program in Knoppix that will get them even if the normal browser doesn't see them? And if I hook it up as a slave to a Windows computer, that should definitely be able to recognize them, right? Well as long as the drive holds up physically...


On a side note, this would be the second time my hard drive is crashing on my laptop. I had to replace it once about a year and a half after I bought it, and this is about 2 years after that replacement. Is this normal or am I running my computer into the ground somehow?

laptops get bounced around and generally are hard on hdd's

I have used KNOPPIX to retrieve files from NTFS from Win2k and WinXP without problem. It recognizes all files and directories. If it doesn't recognize directories as directories, I would suspect the worst: the drive is dying or dead.

You might check on the hardware to mount it as a slave in a tower, if you wish to make a different pass at it. That would be independent of the ide on the notebook. I wouldn't expect much or bother unless the data was very important.

I'm not sure if you've managed to resolve this problem yet or not, but there are a number of data recovery programs you can run yourself under Windows XP if you can attach the drive to another computer. Often an easy option is to put your drive into an external USB caddy and then attach it to another computer.

I can only advise on Windows recovery utilities, I don't know any for Linux, although I'm sure they exist and are probably more effective.

OnTrack are the biggest but also the most expensive. However, their free download will tell you what it can recover before you decide to pay for it or not.
Handy Recovery is much cheaper and has worked effectively for me in the past.

Good luck - Callum.