Linux/Ubunutu support off of a pc?

Question

I have a vista laptop that All i need to do is recover some files off of it, but unfortunately it has too many viruses and bsod's so I said forget that and just need to recover the files. I decided to use this guide.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/use-ubuntu-live-cd-to-backup-files-from-your-dead-windows-computer/

but I am stuck at the part where I can't mount it.

Basically when I go to my harddrive on Ubuntu, It gives me this error.

"Error mounting mount exited with exited code 18. Failed to open hiberfil.sys data attribute. No such file or directory. Failed to mount /dev/sda2. No such file or directory.

If anyone can give me another way of recovering the files Id appreciate it, or if they can help me with this.

Answer 1

linux is not a good way of recovering files from"windows".use a "live" windows and boot ur pc from it.there r some programs like"Hiren's Boot Disk" or "@ctive Boot disk",but i recommend a live windows with a recovery program installed on it

Answer 2

I think that Linux IS the best way of recovering files from Windows. The problem you are describing occurs because of a failed attempt at hibernation...so a hyperfil.sys was created but corrupt, but locks further access to the drive. Linux respects these locks and will not override them in case it causes problems....but if you just want to recover files then you should "force" the mount.



Open a terminal (go into the command line)

Step one make a mount directory and entering

mkdir /media/recover

Step two force mount the drive

sudo mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/sda2 /media/recover -o force



Now you should be able to see all you files that you wish to recover. Just navigate to the folder /mnt/recover and the contents of sda2 will be there.



I would not recommend connecting a virus infected hard disk to any other computer.

Answer 3

Agreed with the use of usb attachment or you could install it in another computer as secondary hard drive. Then go to my computer click the hard drive and browse away. However its likely that anything you copy over will be infected if the computer was that bad. So i would suggest not doing so...

Answer 4

Pull the drive and connect it to another computer using a USB adapter (cheap, usually around $20.00), do a complete virus scan on the drive before you try to copy anything from it.