Linux to the rescue ?

[Cyber Source]

bring it sunday
On Fri, 2003-01-17 at 19:41, Scott Lawton wrote:
> Regarding the Test Message, OK, so it works. 
> 
> Apropos Linux Withdrawal:
> 
> I got a 2nd hard drive and fed it WIN 98. Ultimately, one drive was going to be for Windows, and the other 
> for Mandrake. The original currently had Win 95 and Mandrake cohabitating. I had begun zipping and 
> transferring files over when my ISP changed my domain name and I lost NFLUG messages. 
> 
> While using Internet Exploiter in Win95 [ a mistake, I know] I think a popup  tried to write a font to C:\ 
> Windows\ Fonts  and absolutely seized up the machine. I had to shut down by killing the power because 
> it would not even recognize the system reset button. I had a BSD error message in the Symbole font, 
> but my knowledge of Greek is limited to algebraic equations. I was able to figure out that fonts was one 
> of the files corrupted in the illegal operation by that. 
> 
> I tried using the Windows "rescue" program and was told win.com was corrupted [ is that what the 
> registry is actually called ?], and it was going to format C: and install Windows, and I would have to 
> reinstall all my other software [ kill everyone, then shoot the survivors ] . I cancelled, but I think that 
> snuffed my LILO. 
> 
> Next reboot, no LILO, no nothin'. I then used the Windows boot disk, and was told it could not load 
> Windows because win.com was missing or corrupted. Booting to MS-DOS, everything is still there; at 
> least all the files are there in the list with what appear to be correct file sizes. 
> 
> To my horror and disgust, I've lost everything - games, saved games to 5th and 6th level, themes I've 
> created, including wallpapers, cursors, and icons that took many hours to refine, e-mail programs 
> including address books and saved messages, browser histories and bookmarks, and several gigs of 
> things archived in .zip files. It's there, but inaccessible. 
> 
> Since the Linux partitions are hopefully untouched, is there a way to use a Linux rescue program,  which 
> hopefully is of the "salvage" type, not "burn and bulldoze" like Microsoft, to access Mandrake and then 
> "backdoor" my way into Windows to get what I need ? 
> 
> I would like to bring it in to a meeting sometime, where we can pool the knowledge of those Windows 
> savvy and those who are Linux savvy, and make it the demonstration project, rather than just get 
> messages through the list that say "do this, try this" because I'm afraid of doing irrevocable damage to 
> the data. Once I retrieve everything, it will be how to install Linux and Windows to be dual boot from two 
> physical drives, and how to get LILO or GRUB to do that. It's been sitting idle for a few months, and can 
> sit for more, until this can be coordinated. 
> 
> P.S. - Greg Neumann, if you're out there, I lost your phone, email, address, and directions to your house 
> in the aforementioned great crash of ' 95.
-- 
Cyber Source <peter at thecybersource.com>