RollBack...geez...they got me too...

You're right buddy! I wish I did know more about this cryptic mess! That's why I wish they had a better disaster plan in place instead of (just) scavenger. But I guess I learned and found out the hard way.

 

I'll give this a try if worse comes to worse. Do you guys know if it can be booted from DOS as an emergency CD or DVD? more importantly is it pretty simple to use? Grin....man, I wish I was more of a nerd or geek...(compliment)!

 

i was a bigfan of RX ; the ultimate software, it can recover my system from infections, crashes, failed Windows Updates; i trusted it and made it my must-be first installed soft.

then one day, i had a power cut aka hard shutdown ; i restarted my Pc then RX was stuck at its boot screen saying something was corrupted and i had to restart (aka endless loop) , i thought "ok , let go for a boot fixing" ... a dozen fix tries later i still can't boot; MBR totally corrupted ; launched a live CD ; no files recoverable; partitions locked... only way : format all partitions and loose my files...

"RX saves you from crashes but not from its own crash"

now iuse AX Time machine, slower but no MBR mess

 

Hiren's Boot CD has some free file carvers.

 

@guest: did you try any file carvers?

 

can't access any partitions , i used Hiren boot CD and dozen of recovery methods ; none avail...

 

You're so right man! If I ever get back up and running again I will immediately go to ax64, and a hard drive duplicator!

 

Do not mess around with new techniques and exotic utilities when it comes to data safety and reliability. Stick with tools and methods that have been around for years, are proven, work, and are simple in principle. Sometimes this means doing things the old-school way. Sometimes this means using software that hasn't been updated in a while too. Afterall, you don't want to introduce unknown bugs in a critical operation.

And that means basic disk imaging for the OS and all its installed APPLICATIONS with a tool that has a good reputation. USERDATA could be typically handled by a filesync program or even manually executed Windows Explorer drag'n'drop style copying.

All tools should be semi-manual so a review of major changes can be conducted on a backup set prior to hitting the go button - or review exactly what will get restored if effecting recovery.

The point is to have two separate physical copies of anything important. Everyone will feel more or less comfortable with the above or variations on its theme. Your call.

While none of what I said will help you with your current dilemma, it *WILL* save your ass in the future.

 

Does anybody have any ideas of what I can do with my original problem? Please help...

Thanks

 

Rick,

Have you tried a 'cold-bootup' using a WinPE or Linux live disk (per posts 14 & 19)? - that should enable you to see and recover your baseline files.

TS

 

it's worth a try.
I solved quite a few Windows problems in the past using a Linux live disk.

 

I believe that this applies to all Rx snaps including the baseline. If so then how is Rick going to be able to see the baseline if he uses a boot disk

Are you saying that I was wrong when I wrote above

If I am wrong please explain how it would be possible to access any snap without Rx functioning. It is my opinion that Rick should be able to access the state of the PC as it was at the time of the RX failure. Thats the Windows content of the drive (less anything ckdsk messed up), not anything to do with Rxs hidden files. Again, if I am wrong please tell me how/why.

 

BG, although RBrx calls its BASELINE a snapshot, it really isn't... it's fully VIEWABLE/MODIFIABLE (that's the worst part) from outside of the protected Windows environment. From inside, it's hidden from the running system. That's the main reason Rollback hides (renames) the WinRE.WIM file (to WinRE.DAT) in the Windows RECOVERY folder... so that Windows itself can never run that module. If it does, the REPAIR function that WinRE can do, will modify the Rollback baseline, basically destroying the entire Parent/Child relationships of all the snapshots as well as its current system state at that time. This may be what happened to Rick's system (we're working in the background to find out).

If users ever load their Windows distribution DVD and ask for it to run the REPAIR function, the same thing will happen if there are any HDD anomalies on that protected volume... it could be destroyed.

So yes, any file explorer that understands Windows file structures, running from any external OS environment, can see the original baseline and potentially destroy its Rollback relevance through modification.

 

Some more clarity...

Since the BASELINE is not really a snapshot, Rollback IS NOT required to see it from an external environment (explained above).

Rick will only be able to see his CURRENT SYSTEM STATE if he is able to BOOT into the previously protected Windows system, which he is not at this time (all screwed up by RBrx during his update attempt). To BOOT into any other external Windows/LINUX/etc. OS will only give him access to his baseline.... no snapshot or CURRENT SYSTEM data, and then only if his baseline hasn't been destroyed by the ChkDsk that was run from somewhere during the upgrade attempt.

IF he's able to BOOT to his last protected system state, AND the ChkDsk didn't mangle his baseline, he should be able to see his last CURRENT SYSTEM STATE. This is basically what happens if you NEUTER the special Rollback MBR... the sub-console capability goes away and the system will BOOT into a non-functioning Rollback installed system. From this state, which will be his last CURRENT SYSTEM STATE (prior to the problem), he should be able to see everything at that time but do nothing with it as far as ROLLBACK is concerned... but he will be able to back it up if he wishes.

The problem at the moment is... his BOOT path has been compromised by his original problem, and the BOOT path appears to involve both his MicroSloth SYSTEM RESERVED PARTITION and and EFI-required partition to boot... not an easy thing to put back together even if you wanna neuter RBrx for access to your CURRENT SYSTEM STATE. The 2nd issue being we don't know how much damage has been done by the ChkDsk he has described in his previous problem report. Remember... if that possibly mangled Rollback BASELINE is trashed, then the state of his CURRENT SYSTEM STATE (even if we make it back their after some BOOT repair) will be severely compromised due to the Parent/Child Rollback relationships.

This is not an easy task... and maybe one that cannot be done.

 

Am I correct in understanding that CHKDSK was run outside of the RBRX environment?

 

Well... in reviewing the OP's sequence of events, it appears that during an update of RBrx (which these days does an uninstall/re-install to accomodate the process), when Windows went to BOOT, it found anomalies in the BOOTing structure and fired off the ChkDsk. If this was done between the uninstall and re-install, there's a good chance his baseline may be repairable. Since an active RBrx installation makes the Windows resident WinRE.WIM unusable (by renaming it while it's installed), the only way it could have run is if it was between the uninstall and the re-install. Of course that assumes that the RBrx unInstall reversed its WinRE.WIM renaming on the way out... otherwise it could have never run automatically during the process. BUT, that's a big assumption as far as HDS is concerned... the product never used to do that reversal.

Edit: just checked a RBrx uninstall and indeed it now reverses that WIM renaming that it used to fail at.

Anyway, that tells me that the ChkDsk was run between the uninstall and the re-install which means, possibly, that his CURRENT SYSTEM STATE, the state (I believe) following the automatic uninstall/reinstall, may be the one available when he gets the system to BOOT once again... what shape it'll be in, I have no idea. I'm going to try and walk him through an MBR/PBR repair (back to standard Windows BOOT blocks) and see if we can get the system BOOTing once again. If it does, he'll have to see what shape it's in... if it even BOOTs again.

 

Thanks for the clarification Froggie, much appreciated

 

I have a grave feeling parts of the parent/child system are scrambled. Making changes to this disk by any OS (or its utilities) outside of the RBRX environment are enough to make the snapshot tables invalid. While these changes are correct and valid to the OS as it is currently seeing it - they are not correct to RBRX's internal tables.

Getting it to boot again is a good approach at the moment. But before doing that I strongly suggest imaging the disk, sector-by-sector, to prevent further damage from "surprise writes", like the CHKDSK mishap. One can then experiment in safety and comfort knowing that it would take only another re-imaging to get a fresh start. In fact this is a tenant of professional data recovery operations.

I'm somewhat familiar with how the 9.x series operated and I don't have direct experience with 10.x, therefore I couldn't meaningfully advise on precisely what to do next.

Sometimes file carving software is mentioned when discussing recovery from corrupt RBRX volumes. For many reasons this will have limited success, if any, on RBRX.

We've stopped using RBRX on our mainline systems. There's too much risk. And this risk will only increase as Windows (and other software) go through rapid update cycles. When you have two critical pieces of software being updated at a low level, but not being tested together, you've got the potential for disaster that only imaging can avert.

It also bothers me that such a basic function of a system (file and disk management) has to be updated this frequently anyway. I'm looking at you HDS. It begs the question of how many more latent problems exist, here, now, and will "get" somebody before the next patch comes out.

I can possibly understand entertainment software, media players, games, and things non-critical to the basic operating of a system undergoing frequent revisions as new features are introduced like game levels or new functionality. But to have to be correcting flaws in software that controls the saving and retrieving of data from the main store is just insane! This is something that needs to be done correctly from the beginning.

While I think the concept of what RBRX is doing is nice. The implementation as it stands is only half-way completed. There is no provision for imaging a snapshot off-disk or off-site. There is no recovery utility built into RBRX. There are no backup snapshots or alternate maps that can be called into play if something goes wrong.

Ladies and Gents, this is not backup software in the slightest. Genuine real backup software takes your data and places it onto another device entirely.

 

Hi Keatah

Well stated, and I agree 100% regarding RBRX. It truly is not a backup solution in regards to covering the bases properly, and in regards to a true safety net. The horror stories continue to build and it appears at least to me, that many problems began with the advent of version 10, and the ongoing task of working properly within Windows 8, etc., which can often break functionality in older windows. Great technology, but falls far short of a well rounded solution in my opinion. Bottom line, what you stated many have found out the hard way unfortunately.

i hope Froggie can help Rick, but it sounds like a difficult task indeed.

Thanks for your thoughts Keatah
Jim

 

Hmmm...this is not sounding too good...but I cannot give up...

Alternatively then...Can anybody recommend to me a utility that will completely, I mean completely reverse the damage the chkdsk has done? (put the folders back where they belong and rename the files back to the way they were BEFORE chkdsk)...Maybe I can at least get my system directories structured back properly that way. Or does anybody know if chkdsk has that kind of command (undo, reverse...etc.)...included in the utility?

That's why I was trying to restore my computer using the rollback baseline (taken a day or two before the update crash). There are thousands of files that I have nowhere and no idea where they go lost in those found.000 directories. That's not counting the other 80 gigs of data that was lost. But if I can restore my directory structure that would be better than nothing. I've been down almost 6 months now. Please continue to help out, I appreciate it. Thanks.

I found these. If anyone knows something better, win7 recent and accurate please let me know....in the meantime I'll continue to converse with Froggy.

https://www.raymond.cc/blog/how-to-recover-chk-files-created-by-chkdsk-and-scandisk/

 

Have you imaged your disk to help guard against further corruption?

 

Keatah your advice is great advice.

I've used rollback programs (various) and everything will go great at first; the convenience etc and the sense of personal kudos in using a cutting edge app is nice but sooner or later the pc will crash for some reason or other and will end up mangled if you are not careful, I don't think checkdisk helps in these sorts of situations, it just makes things worse in it's attempt to correct.
The first rule of when this happens is don't touch anything until you know what you are doing and don't let any program jump in automatically to help. Leave it alone. Go to a friends house or use another pc and do some research first.
This just a thought and is a long shot! but have you tried clearing the master Boot Record, using say bootitNG (next generation) or or bootit BM (bare metal) or something like that, seeing if your pc will boot, and then re-installing the rollback app. Save your original mbr just in case
FDISK /MBR was something that used to be useful to rewrite a bootable mbr in certain situations.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/69013

I've not had to deal with anything like this for a while so take everything that I say with a pinch of salt.

Don't take any of this as expert advice, it's just thoughts as to a way to get get into it.

 

I stopped using Rollback years ago, (as long ago that I was probably using XP or Vista and my Sony Vaio machine had a diskette drive as well as a CD drive) when after a few months of using it, it totally filled my disk without it being shown on my disk usage meter making my PC unuseable for most purposes "because of a lack of space". It was not possible to delete the stuff on the space because it was not visible to Windows.While it's a great program in terms of convenience and I'm sure it has been improved since I stopped using it, my experience was awful. I was using a Velocity Micro system at the time and their tech said that they had been getting a lot of calls from users with similar problems from people using it. I had to download a program onto a diskette (I forgot the creator but it is one of the major hard drive manufacturers)that was able to completely zero out my entire drive before I could use it again. Since so many people on this forum seem to be using it with no problem I had assumed that this type of issue had been resolved. Because of the headaches and hours/day it took to repair what it had done, you could not pay me enough to use Rollback.

 

FYI... the OP's system uses an UEFI-based BOOT sequence, which these days does not use the MBR, UEFI BOOTs directly into the EFI SYSTEM partition for their BOOT sequencing.

The OP has done nothing, to date, to try and change anything on the affected volume... the "mangle" was caused by an automatic ChkDsk that was fired off during his attempt to upgrade Rollback, it SHOULD NOT have happened. Even though Rollback neuters the Windows Repair Environment (WinRE.wim) installed in your OS partition (by renaming it to WinRE.dat), it apparently forgot (or didn't know about) the very same environment installed into the EFI SYSTEM partition by many Windows builders. I believe this is where the unscheduled ChkDsk came from.

The OP, to my knowledge, has not imaged his damaged disk yet... he has no external storage volume to do such, so he is being very careful at this time. BUT... we starting to run out of options at the moment. The ChkDsk mangle seems to be the biggest problem at the moment... he now has tons of "Folderxxx) folders full of Filexxx.xxx files in his baseline (put there by the ChkDsk. Even utilities that attempt to correct these types of leftovers only can find "most" of the file types associated, not FileNames. Even if one of these utilities reconstructed a good portion of the file types, he would still have to open everything up with a supported app to find out what the heck it really is. The worst part being this is the BASELINE data we're talking about... apparently there's still 80gB of snapshot data that hasn't even been discovered yet.

I'm not sure how this is gonna end up... but we'll keep trying until we reach the end of "Rollback Reconstruction Road."

 

Thanks for the update TheRollbackFrog
I'm not yet familiar with these new systems.