Disaster – Genius Needed 258


I am sorry for the blog hiatus, but I follow a method of historical research a bit akin to method acting! I am absolutely immersed in the world of Burnes. I am in Bhuj at tne moment, and yesterday was at Mandivi looking at the shipyards and harbours where Burnes procured his boats to sail up the Indus – they are still made today. Much larger than I had realised. In Mumbai I identified a “lost”, uncatalogued portrait of Alexander Burnes which I think is the finest of him anywhere. The owners did not know who it was. It is by Brockendon like the one in the royal geographical society but is quite different, with him in military uniform. It is by Brockendon, not a copy.

Today disaster. I have lost ten days worth of notes. I noticed this morning that I had two versions of the identical document of my notes open – an .ODT on open office. One was a much older version. Paradoxically they had the identical file name but both showed as saved – the save icon was blanked on each.

Having checked that the content was all there on the version on which I was working, and that it was saved, I decided the best thing was to close off the extraneous version. Disaster!! An error message came up saying open office would now close. On restart, document recovery brought up only the old version, minus ten days work. I had a moment of hope when I right clicked on the document icon and saw “restore earlier versions of the document” but clicking on that just brought up a ,essage that there are no earlier versions available.

I am heartbroken- these aren’t just notes that can be recovered from memory, but also painstaking transcripts of old manuscripts, some of which I probably can’t access again even if I had the time and money.

I can think of a dozen things I might have done to avoid this situation. Comments on how to avoid such happenings are not welcome in the current trying circumstance. The real question is, can anyone think of anything at all that might help? I am running Open Office on Windows 7.

I really cannot express how much in despair I feel. This trip has cost all my available cash and I have to come back soon as money is out.

[If any mods have hung around while the blog is quiet, I am getting an extremely small typeface, only on this site. Do we have a problem, or is it another computer glitch personal to me?]


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258 thoughts on “Disaster – Genius Needed

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  • Darren

    Not used windows for a long time but if you could avoid using the computer until you could get or a friendly UK person could image the drive and then look t a copy with a disc recovery program you might be ble to get the version before, o if you were saving say every hour you might get an hour old version back.

    However the more you use that computer the less likely it is as the disk space previously used might be overwritten long with the chance to get it.

    I think that is correct, based on my limited memory of Windows systems. best of luck…

  • DonnyDarko

    I use Open Office as well.It saved an updated version of a file whilst keeping original without update with original file name.
    Run search on Windows for files altered on the date you think you lost your work.It could be that your updated version has been saved but file name slightly altered with a (1) or “old” as happened with mine.
    best of luck !!

  • FireEater

    I think the best place to get expert advice on recovering your .odt file is to post a request for help in one of the forum communities for OpenOffice, e.g. http://user.services.openoffice.org/en/forum/

    The .odt is basically a ZIP-file and is separating the content, styles, metadata, and application settings into separate XML files.

    Make a copy of your .odt files and unzip them into an empty directory. You can open a XML-file with any editor like Notepad. If you are lucky, maybe only the metadata is corrupted, not the content.

  • tom

    First of all -the suggestions before are all quite useful, but before doing anything else- save your actual version under a new file name and don’t touch the original any more. At least not with OpenOffice.
    You might then create a working copy under another name from Windows Explorer and use this one to try to recreate document history. So you still have the originial data if anything goes wrong.

    You might also check temp files in C:\temp C:\Users\… and the like, if you are lucky you might find an autobackup – the guys at the official forums will most likely know the exact place where OpenOffice might put these data.

  • nuzothie

    The files should still be written somewhere on the hard drive on unallocated sectors. Recovery will be possible until these sectors over overwritten. There is software freely available that can find these sectors and recover the files. I hope that this is one of the cases where you can FishRestore, which would be by far the easiest.

  • Techno

    I think Darren is correct. The data can probably be forensically recovered but you have to stop using the computer to prevent it being overwritten in the meantime.

  • confused

    1. Immediately download free software program such as Recuva from Piriform. You can do this from a site like filehippo.com.

    2. Install Recuva (requires administrator rights).

    3. Start Recuva running as Administrator. If your user account already has administrator priveleges this is automatic when you click the icon; otherwise right click the icon and select run as administrator. The program has a wizard that comes up. On the wizard, the first thing to come up is file type. Click documents; it includes .odt. Click Next, then on the new menu specify the disk or partition where the file would be located. Use In a specific location. The default is C: and this would be where the file is if you haven’t done things like partition your disk. If you are saving your .odt files to another location (say, E:), specify it. Next click next and then start without specifying deep scan.

    4. When the music stops, check whether your file is listed in the list. If not close the program and redo the wizard, this time clicking deep scan. Go have a cup of tea. Maybe even a meal. Maybe even go for a walk. When you’ve come back look on the list for your file. If all you see are numbered .odt files, you’re going to have to recover all of them and do a manual examination of each document, what it contains. You’re going to have to save the file(s) to a different disk–possibly a thumb drive/USB stick. Save the file(s). Open each and every document. You should be okay.

    5. The reason you shouldn’t be using your computer until you recover the file is the following. When you delete a file (any file), all Windows does is release the space. It isn’t overwritten. But the more you use your computer the more possible it is that some other write activity will be allocated the blocks that contain your missing file. Hence one or more blocks can be overwritten thus damaging the file you want to recover. If it hasn’t been overwritten, Recuva will find it and save it, so you should be okay.

    6. In future, after every work session, copy your work to a thumb drive. Keep the thumb drive around your neck. That way even a determined adversary or hard disk crash on the main computer or general computer failure or computer theft will find it a little more difficult to destroy your work.

  • Mary

    So sorry but isn’t it amazing that there is instantly so much useful help and advice from these kind readers of your blog. We really are ‘together’ here.

  • Leo

    If you happen to be using Win7 Professional or Enterprise/Ultimate, the Previous Versions feature may have a backup. Unfortunately it is nit in the normal Home edition so this probably doesn’t apply.

  • Mary

    If only the tale of Craig’s woes was an April Fool. Sadly not I think. Neither is this. The fools are in Istanbul.
    .
    As the Foreign Secretary with the boiled egg look sits down alongside Shillary and representatives of 68 other ‘nations’ in Istanbul today, further demonisation of President Assad will be taking place. Pressure on him to go will increase. Hague has just handed over another £500k to the rebel rabble which will doubtless be spent on weaponry.
    .

    Even Assad’s wife is being villified. In the Washington Post, a headline reads ‘While bloodshed continues, she shops for crystal encrusted shoes’. I thought they were talking about the likes of Karimov’s daughter. No. Not even Michelle or SamCam.
    .

    WESTERN PSY-OPS AGAINST SYRIA: When Mrs Assad’s “Shopping” Becomes a “Crime Against Humanity”

    http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=29993

    .

    Good opening spoof para!

    .

    PS The state broadcaster’s stooge Marr has got Hague coming on his chat show shortly. What a waste of airwaves and satellite time.

  • Clark

    Craig, you have my sympathy.
    .
    The above advice seems mostly correct:
    .
    1) The old version is probably still on your hard disk, but using your installed Windows system increases the risk that it will be over-written.
    .
    2) Confused’s advice above risks the lost data somewhat because the installation of Recurva writes to your hard disk.
    .
    3) If you can get an “image” of the whole drive made now, the lost version should be preserved in the image for recovery later.
    .
    However, all imaging techniques are not equal. Some do not record the contents of the “blank” parts of the disk, and these are not good enough. The ones that do will produce an image file as big as your whole hard disk. This will be much bigger than a writable DVD. You would probably have to buy an external hard disk to keep it on.
    .
    Using your machine without disturbing the lost data:
    .
    Your machine could be booted with a GNU/Linux “LiveCD”. By default, these do not write to the hard disk, thus permitting the use of your machine without disturbing the contents of the hard disk. Note: a LiveCD can write to your hard disk if you ask it to, so don’t do that, and don’t choose any “Install” option for the same reason. Anyone with a decent Internet connection can download the image for the Ubuntu LiveCD from here:
    .
    http://www.ubuntu.com/download/ubuntu/download
    .
    It’s a big file (about 700 megabyte) so broadband is needed to download it. It can then be written onto a CD to make a bootable LiveCD. I would guess that most Indian computer shops would know how to do this. There is no charge for the software, and a blank CD costs about 20p.
    .
    A LiveCD works in the computer’s RAM, the contents of which are lost at power-off or when the machine is restarted. Thus, to save any work from a LiveCD session, the most convenient method is to use a USB memory stick.
    .
    Please keep us informed. If you wish to attempt recovery of the lost version before you come home, I can post instructions here.

  • confused

    Clark is correct that there is the risk of over-writing the file; however, the chances are low. One solution is indeed to use a boot CD the way he says. The grand ultimate solution is to unscrew the Hard Disk from the computer (not something they taught you at FCO I imagine), put it into a hard disk box (cheap) that turns it into an external disk drive, then install Recuva on ANOTHER computer (can’t do it on the old one since it doesn’t have a disk anymore), and then run Recuva from the other computer pointing it to the now external hard disk that is connected from the box by a USB plug. This stuff is easy for a techie, but you’re not in London. Not that they’re aren’t techies in India (!) but it’s a foreign country and what do you know? This stuff is simple for a techie. Best wishes.

  • confused

    Just an addendum. The only problem with a bootable CD is that it’s not certain that it will have software to recover deleted files. Even forensic bootable CD’s can’t be assumed to have such software automatically.

  • Clark

    Craig, I’ve e-mailed to the various addresses I have for you. Obviously, read them from a computer other than your laptop if at all possible.

  • Clark

    Confused, I agree that the risk of loss is fairly low; any use of the installed Windows system increases the risk.
    .
    Any major GNU/Linux distro will include the package “testdisk”, which can recover lost files. If it’s a Debian-based distro, the following command will download it from the repository and install it, even into a LiveCD session, so long as there’s an Internet connection:
    .
    sudo apt-get install testdisk

  • angrysoba

    I think the main point is that you mustn’t use the computer that the data is lost on as you may overwrite it.
    .
    It happened to me a couple of times that I lost all my data (probably those darned Zionists eh? – *swivel-eyes, swivel-eyes*)
    .
    A friend told me I should use a programme called “Spinrite”.
    .
    When I used it it worked really well.
    .
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpinRite

  • Clark

    SpinRite is an excellent program from Peter Gibson, but not quite the right software for this as (1) it is primarily intended for recovery from physical hard disk damage rather than files lost by deletion, and (2) it writes recovered data back to the disk drive being examined, where it could overwrite the data we’re searching for.
    .
    Craig’s computer (i.e. hardware) can be used without risking the lost data, but the system installed on his hard disk cannot, i.e. Craig’s Windows 7 should not be started until the file has been recovered.
    .
    File recovery is likely to produce masses of recovered files without their original names. The Ubuntu LiveCD approach enables these files to be inspected, as the Ubuntu CD includes OpenOffice for opening the recovered .odt files.
    .
    Peter Gibson revealed several security flaws in various versions of Windows, and also set up the useful Shields Up! website that can scan your system for security holes:
    .
    http://www.grc.com/intro.htm

  • angrysoba

    Ah! Okay, thanks for that Clark. I was hoping you could give your opinion on SpinRite as I know very little about these things.

  • Clark

    “Peter Gibson” – I mean “Steve Gibson”, duh. I think Microsoft bought out his company in the end to shut him up about security flaws in Windows; see the section “Was MICE added to Windows intentionally?”:
    .
    http://www.grc.com/wmf/wmf.htm
    .
    SpinRite used some very clever techniques to attempt recovery of data corrupted by physical defects on the disk surface, but the latest version was released in 2004, and hard disk technology has moved on since then. It’s a specialist tool for data recovery experts to use on certian older hard disks, and way beyond (and slightly unsuitable for) the undelete functionality required for this job.

  • Alex Takacs

    As other have pointed out you should *STOP* using your current machine (as doing so will decrease the chance of recovering your file) and seek expert advice. There is still good chance that the “right” version still lies on the disk but the more you use your machine the bigger the risk to loose it forever.

  • crab

    Did you check the open office menu, File>Recent documents, for another copy of the document? Open office should not be able to accidentally edit the same file in two instances, so a duplicate copy would explain how you appeared to being doing this.
    .
    If there is no other copy in oo menu file>recent documents, there is but a *slim* chance that a careful technical recovery process will recover the file, but undertaking this yourself or following instructions here has a really high chance of frustration and spoiling what slim chance there is.
    .
    My advice is to check those recent docs in the open office menu (not windows recent docs), and if no other copies are there, shut down the laptop and consider it untouchable until you can get it to someone who can do a safe scan of the hard drive -on the off chance the file was not overwritten in the apparently buggy incident, or afterward by your webcache etc, while the laptop has been used.
    .
    Proceed as though it has gone – use your mind/pencil.

  • Abdul Jarndyce

    Other side of the hard disk, meanwhile:
    .
    Bradford’s electoral riot—how forgotten corner of diddled Britain shoved its anger up party hacks’ to-do list:

    http://bit.ly/HuON35

  • Abdul Jarndyce

    And particularly for listeners abroad, this being Sunday, a Desert Island Discs Special: Donald Rumsfeld
    .
    bit.ly/zplhOU

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