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Cannot Read Files From CD Backup...

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18 replies

by gary mintz

Closed to new repliesThis discussion is closed. It stays readable, but it takes no new replies.
I recently backed up some customer data onto CD. When trying to restore .pst file and "My Documents" folder, recieve errors such as..."unable to access files" , or "You do not have permission to access this file". All the files and folders attributes are readable from the CD. i.e: file size, date modified etc. I have used the CD-burner in question many times before and since, with no problems reading data. I have never seen this problem before, does anyone have any insight?

18 replies

by timthetoolman

Hi,

I suspect your problem could be at the writing end of the operation - rather than the reading end off the CD.

Try copying the files to a temp area on the disk (if you have room) and then renaming the old files out of the way and the restored ones into their correct positions.

If you come across a permission problem when you do that, you'll know exactly which file is the problem.

Cheers,
Tim.

by gary mintz

Am unable to copy any files. Error says " Cannot read from source file or disk". Can see all files and folders though.

by dmiles

If not mistaken you will need to use the same CDR or CD-RW,that was used to make the cd to access the files,this process depends on the utility that was used to do the backup.
The customer CD cannot access the file due to the copying used by the cdspeed.

by gary mintz

Followed your suggestion, the CD-Burner that was used to create disk also unable to open, move or copy files.

by tar12

Copy the files in question to a hard drive. Right click on the file name and go to properties.
Take off the read-only option that goes with transfering files from a CD - you should be good to go then.

by gary mintz

Am unable to copy any files. Error says " Cannot read from source file or disk". Can see all files and folders though.

by isys

From the sound of your reply to Tim, you have a FAT problem. Take the disk and wash it with cold water and dish soap. Also clean out your CD drive. Hopefully you just have something that is interfering with reading the FAT when copying.

by gary mintz

I have tried using multiple CD-ROMS on several different machines with the same results. I am unable to copy any files. Error says " Cannot read from source file or disk". Can see all files and folders though.

by isys

You don't mention the operating system. It might be that NT/Win2K permissions are preventing you from copying. Have you tried a Win 95/98 box that is not logged into the domain?

by timthetoolman

Hi,

Well given the extra information I'd be pretty confident that the CD is corrupted. In fact its probably exactly the opposite of an answer above. I'd say that the "FAT" (Its different for a CD) was ok, but the files themselves were corrupted when written.

If the data was written on lower quality blanks, or written at too high a speed for the blank, or even that you were just unlucky with this one, then the file(s) will be corrupted.

In future, if the data you're writing is important, it pays to burn the CD with the writecheck option even though it takes twice as long.

Unfortunately the fact that you cant read the CD in the drive it was burned lends a lot of weight to the corruption argument.

Hope you get the data off somehow.
Cheers,
Tim.

by timthetoolman

After re-reading your comments it looks like you haven't actually tried it in the original drive... but the same argument applies to trying multiple drives...

Cheers,
Tim.

by timthetoolman

I thought I saw that you'd tried it in the original drive... You have!

Try the following people, although expensive, they have software to recover data from corrupted media. In fact, I think they have free downloads that will tell you if their recovery was going to be successful - without actually recovering the data...

http://www.dtidata.com/index.asp

(remove spaces from the above URL)

One last time :-)
Tim.

by jcorlett

I have seen this when the CD recording session managed to copy the DIRECTORY information but errored out when trying to copy the actual data. Check out this link:
http://www.cdrom-prod.com/software.html You should be able to get a demo program that will verify the contents of the CD to make sure it's real data. I think they also have a forensic piece of software for less than $100 - MUCH less than a data recovery service. Hope this helps...
John

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