Backup your source!

[zehd]

Sorry to hear that zehd. About three months ago, I lost a boot block and couldn't restart my XP machine and being RAID-0 I really learned a few lessons. I'm still trying to recover applications that I had configured just like I liked them. I took it as time to move on to Vista.

Smoker's suggestion wasn't totally bad either. I did a quick search "decompile vb6" and found this http://www.vbrezq.com/ among others. I know I had to use something like this to recover some old Foxpro (or Clipper) apps after a crash and it worked out reasonably well.

Good luck.

Martin

Wow... That's a great tip, Martin. (and Smoker) Thanks.... for 149.00 I can let the recovery process end, pull the plug, and let it go...

[ACTCMS]

zehd: I know it doesn't really help but I'm feeling for you on this one...

However, if the fact that you published your problem encourages more of us to actually start taking backups (instead of just 'realising how important they are') then at least something good will come from your misfortune.

There's a couple of other things about backups which in my experience, very few people do...

• Check that they are usable - try a test restore regularly.
  
• For long term archives - do you still have the hardware and software to read them.
  
• Get some distance between your backups and your data - if something catastrophic zaps your data (like a fire), and your backup media is sitting on top of your machine it gets zapped too.

Just a thought...

[zehd]

zehd: I know it doesn't really help but I'm feeling for you on this one...

However, if the fact that you published your problem encourages more of us to actually start taking backups (instead of just 'realising how important they are') then at least something good will come from your misfortune.

There's a couple of other things about backups which in my experience, very few people do...

• Check that they are usable - try a test restore regularly.
  
• For long term archives - do you still have the hardware and software to read them.
  
• Get some distance between your backups and your data - if something catastrophic zaps your data (like a fire), and your backup media is sitting on top of your machine it gets zapped too.

Just a thought...

I appreciate the heartfelt sentiments from everyone...(That's why I picked the developers forum)

Indeed, the only reason I told people was to shake them up and look at their own situation. You have great points.

I'm sure that we all know this stuff, and we're probably the guys that family and friends come to ask advice on this stuff.

It's quite embarrassing getting caught with your britches down, when you always tell everyone to backup backup and backup...

[psycik]

Sorry for your pain zehd. People always laugh at me when I explain my backup strategy.

But here goes....

All my source is in sourcesafe on a d: partition on my main pc

Every day on boot up, this machine backs its D: up via acronis true image home 10 (incremental backup then full backup every 2 weeks). This backup is stored on another partition.

Then 11 am each day the backups held in the other partion are copied to my gbpvr server (handy having a server with heaps of space always running).

Then same machine backs it's c: up each week - this is also copied to the gbpvr machine.


Gbpvr machine backs itself once a week (C: only < 5 gb) and this is copied to the first machine.


Also have a couple of laptops, including a work one that is backed up in a similar method. Have seen too many hardware failures to not do this. And with the GBPVR machine, means I can have it up and running again in about 15 minutes after a system crash.

May be overkill - but I work in electronic archiving and so have go a good appreciation of storing things in mulitple places with good reliable products....

[zehd]

The decompiler Martin suggested, resurrects the design elements and code structure but not the code itself. That's because at compile time, the code is translated into machine or assembler code...

I have given up on the data recovery software. I'm trying the freezer right now...

[systemshark]

Zhed,

I'm sorry to here about your hard disk .... I've been here in the past, thats why I use a raid 5 disks for all my data with a hot spare....

However last time a friend has this, I use two pieces of software:

1) Spinrite 6.0.1 from GRc.COM (available from a number of torrent servers)
and
2) Hiren's Boot disk (also from a torrent servers)

Both are master peices at getting hard disks back.

Lastly I've sometimes got luckly by 'hitting' the drive during power up with a handle of a large screwdriver to get it to release from the parked position. (very drastic but if your at the freezer point you have nothing to lose)

Best of Luck

[martint123]

I feel for you as well. I was in computer service for 30 years and telling someone their server drives were toast, replacing them and asking for their backups to restore their system.......

We found out that systems that died in their first week got real, tested backup systems - people become lazy when nothing ever goes wrong.

Anyways - I wouldn't have run getdataback on the drive, but would have tried to clone the drive to another with ghost or something - this would be quicker and give an idea if it is a physical or logical problem. The less time spinning the less chance damage spreads.

I've recently started using a freebie data cloneing program to synchronise a pair of drives in lan enclosures. http://allwaysync.com/?a=1 looks like it's meant to sync machines, but it works for drives as well.

Good luck
Martin

[zehd]

I feel for you as well. I was in computer service for 30 years and telling someone their server drives were toast, replacing them and asking for their backups to restore their system.......

We found out that systems that died in their first week got real, tested backup systems - people become lazy when nothing ever goes wrong.

Anyways - I wouldn't have run getdataback on the drive, but would have tried to clone the drive to another with ghost or something - this would be quicker and give an idea if it is a physical or logical problem. The less time spinning the less chance damage spreads.

I've recently started using a freebie data cloneing program to synchronise a pair of drives in lan enclosures. http://allwaysync.com/?a=1 looks like it's meant to sync machines, but it works for drives as well.

Good luck
Martin

Cloning is something I never even thought of. Its something I would have thought at the beginning wouldn't work. But I have been (and I'm sure will be) wrong...

Last night, with the frozen drive, for a short time, I was able to see the directory structure on the bad drive. I had already set up a batch file to copy the text files (source) from the bad to the good... I was able to get about ten files, But alas, not the ones I want.

I've since made the batch file more specific, and now, just like a ghost buster, I'm sitting and waiting for the drive to reappear...

I may try the cloning and spinrite, too...

[madcat]

run the batch file inside the freezer then...

[ACTCMS]

Last night, with the frozen drive, for a short time, I was able to see the directory structure on the bad drive. I had already set up a batch file to copy the text files (source) from the bad to the good... I was able to get about ten files, But alas, not the ones I want.

May sound daft, but it may be worth changing the physical orientation of the disk when you try to read it... eg balance it on its edge or try it upside down. Edge on certainly helps with some types of bearing problems.