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Linux to the Rescue (again)

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by w2ktechman

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Ok, I mainly use Windows but have a couple of Linux machines as well. Most of my current job can be done from Linux, so I try to use it when avail. At home I have a Win/Linux setup as well. This thread is not about bashing MS (although it may sound like it at times), but to bring up some things that MS lacks on, and Linux has rescued me.

For the most part, either OS can work just fine for many things, especially web browsing, Office tasks, etc.. But since I setup a Linux desktop to use, to see about transferring oddball jobs to, I have found a few things that work well in Linux, where Win failed miserably. So I thought I would share the top performers.

A few months ago, I received help from TR members because of a GHOST issue that I was having. I was learning a bit about DD but had little time to read, and needed a solution. TR came to save my day, and after the exp. I was very impressed with DD for drive cloning (can read from here) https://www.techrepublic.com.com/5208-6230-0.html?forumID=101&threadID=221597

But today, having a Linux box around was an absolute save, without a doubt. My manager was just doing some work when her system froze. After not being able to recover, she powered it off, and on again only to find a BSOD (unmountable_boot_device). Of course I looked at it, and as thought, the HDD was having an issue. So, I looked up the BSOD hoping to find something to keep me from re-imaging. MS KB says that I need to run chkdsk /r and to install a patch. Hmm, install a patch when I cannot get the system up at all.. Ok, I try safe mode, safe mode command prompt, and Recovery console. It BSOD's before loading each. I try ERD commander, but it fails to find a partition. I try the XP disk, and it fails to find a Windows system installed.
I pull the drive out and throw it in a USB caddy, plug it into a WinXP system and viola, my system is now hanging. After 30 minutes, I have to manually power it off and back on. boot it up, plug in the drive again, and BAM!!! my XP box (fresh build 2 weeks ago) becomes more unstable. I can open task manager, but the system stops responding, then plays 'catch-up' and does a bunch of things at once, then hangs again. I unplug the drive after 20 min, and my system still did not recover. Again, had to manually power down.

So, I asked about backups, not for a couple of days. I informed her that those days are most likely lost unless we send the drive out. While on the phone, on hold to order the recovery, I got experimental. I threw the USB drive into the USB port on my PCLinuxOS notebook. Not 10 seconds later, I have all of the files on the drive viewable. I hung up, and started to copy everything over the network to a Win system.
Again, it seems that every time I am in a real jam, my Linux system seems to save the day.

Please, if you have any 'almost' horror stories, where Linux saved the day, please share. I am interested in hearing about it.

4 replies

by thrash cardiom

I keep a Knoppix CD handy for just this sort of event. I have used it a number of times to recover data off HDs that Windows fails to boot from. Another use is using dd to image one HD onto another one which comes in useful when setting up identical computers.

by w2ktechman

I tried DD for imaging, and love it. No rebooting to free up memory, an exact copy, etc. But what I found the most interesting was an accidental typo when using it. I actually cloned the Linux HDD while I was using it. Instead of dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdb I (BC moment(before caffeine)) dd if=dev/hda of=dev/sdb
for a full read https://www.techrepublic.com.com/5208-6230-0.html?forumID=101&threadID=221597&messageID=2231678

by mylittlemansanidiot

...but I can easily see how my Linux installation on my home PC could save the day in the event of a catastrophic Windows crash. I already use my Linux install to scan my windows drives for viruses as a second line of defense. I've installed Ubuntu on a separate physical drive. It's great having access to all my files on my Windows (NTFS) drives from Ubuntu. I pretty much use Ubuntu for everything (web browsing, emailing, downloading) that I don't require Windows for, and it's just handy to have access to those files if I need to email something, or download a file for Windows.

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