Recovering USB drives

If one does not properly remove a USB dreive, especially if the drive is active, I find that I can usually go into Disk Management and fix things by just assigning a drive letter. Not sure if tghat will always work.

I was wondering, if after a power outage, ADD would be able to recover partitions on a USB drive, assuming that the only thing that got munged was the file system?

I'm askling because I'm thinking of replacing a UPS that has 8 outlets, but only 4 have power backup, the other 4 are surge protect only. I need 5 for a particular system: CPU, monitor, router, 2 USB drives. I might be able to move te router to anoter UPS, but not sure yet.

 

PLease ignore previous post, it was unclear. The following is better.

If one does not properly remove a USB drive, especially if the drive is active, I find that I can usually go into Disk Management and fix things by just assigning a drive letter. Not sure if that will always work.

I was wondering, if after a power outage, ADD would be able to recover partitions on a USB drive, assuming that the only thing that got munged was the file system?

I'm askling because I'm thinking of replacing a UPS with one that has 8 outlets, but only 4 have power backup, the other 4 are surge protect only. I need 5 for a particular system: CPU, monitor, router, 2 USB drives. I might be able to move the router to anoter UPS, but not sure yet.

 

Howard:

Recovering Partitions and recovering bad File Systems are two different beasts. The Acronis Recovery Expert will recover lost partitions; ones whose entries have gone missing from the partition table or from an extended partition link. This is done by searching unallocated space on a disk for evidence of a former partition. Recovery Expert will not, however, recover file system corruption. For this task you need different tools. Chkdsk will usually work but not always. Sometimes you need to resort to file recovery software.

BTW - which file system are you using on your external drives? If FAT32 then I can understand the need for caution and careful removal. NTFS is much more bulletproof because it is a journaling file system. Often the power can fail in the middle of a write operation and it will recover when plugged back in. I've never had an issue after just yanking the cable on an external NTFS USB disk instead of using "Safely Remove Hardware".

 

Iunderstand the difference, I was just wondering what ADD recovered.

I've always used NTFS on USB drives.

I will never, intentionally, just yank the plug, that's needlessly aking for trouble.

On my notebook, the problem is more severe.
For a yet unknown reason, more than 95% of the time, I canot remove the USB drive without SHUTing down.

Earlier this week, when I was messaing around by adding a 2nd (ying USB drive), i was able to remove both USB drives.

I noticed that the Drive Manager icon on the Vista desktop only referenced one USB drive, but not the one that I had added.

So, I looked at the drive and found software that launces when the drive is loaded. Th e software is not needed, so I unintalled the Drive Manager, removed the software from the USB drive, and deleted all references that I could find in the Registry. As a result, I was able to removethe drive.

Alas, my glee was short lived as, after a reboot, the problem re-appeared.

I guess some process is latching on to the drive.
I'll have to run Procmon to figure this out, maybe again search the registry.

Of course, maybe Vista handles things better than Windows 2000, but I will not yank the cord.

 

Howard,

To your original reason for investigating this issue, I have had no issues by adding a "dumb", featureless power strip to a UPS outlet to extend the backup capabilities to more components. As long as the sum of the loads are within spec of the UPS outlet / system (and of course within power strip specs), there shouldn't be a problem. Lower power components can be used on such a strip, such as your router and a couple of USB drives. I have one such strip with a network switch, NAS controller, and 2 USB drives on it which are on 24x7 and have lasted through home power outages (with and without my PC and monitor on, which are each connected to dedicated UPS outlets) with no observed problems. I will also power a 3rd USB drive on the same strip for manual backup imaging purposes.

Doug

 

The issue is the warranty/insurance.

I was explicitly told by APC, more than once, that using such extra plugs would violate the warranty/insurance.

 

Naturally that would be their position, even for a passive device that would have no impact on their unit's ability to function as promised. They're in the business of selling UPC outlets. Even if one does follow the letter of the law and their unit somehow manages to fry a connected device(s), which may be a low probability event, my (cynical) position is they'll do their best to find some loophole out of their equipment protection insurance. Whether one is successful or not in collecting, one will likely have to jump through hoops.

I'd rather address the more likely event of power outages, without either exposing any of my equipment or spending more and thus underutilizing what I already purchased. Coincidentally, I had a 30+ minute outage late this afternoon, and while I was continuing to work on my PC for a while longer, I gracefully shut down my NAS and its connected drives.

Doug

 

It is not an unsupported position, them's the rules.

Yes, you do have to jump thru hoops.

Of course, compents are less expensive these daze, so if you have an image backup, it is easier to just buy, e.g., another modem, or drive, even a printer.
However, if your mobo, etc. gets toasted ...

By putting more plugs on a unit than it is designed for, you are reducing the effectivess of the protection. Not really any different than some electrical appliances that state "do not use an extension cord", that affects the way the device works.

 

I don't think a UPS outlet design takes into account or sees a number of plugs per se. Most importantly, it sees a load. Manage the load within those specs and don't introduce other potential issues, and the reduction in effectiveness of the UPS will not be an issue.

An active device that's potentially performing some additional manipulation on the waveform leaving the UPS outlet could impact the UPS's ability to protect the far end device(s), or at a minimum cloudy the waters of responsibility if such devices get damaged. I don't blame APC or any other vendor in this market being absolute and all-encompassing in their position so as to eliminate the variables that can compromise their unit's effectiveness. They have to deal with a large range of customers and how they use such products.

I will go with what I perceive keep the percentages in my favor. I do not believe my devices on the passive extension present an undue load or have any other deleterious effect on the UPS or on the UPS's ability to protect the more important/expensive components on the other outlets.

Bottom line, it is just a suggestion that has benefitted me to this point.

Doug

 

I was told that each connection affects electrical flow, so it will affect surge protection. Might not affect load that can be handled.

You call call APC or Tripp Lite or ... to see if you can get more info.