I've been trying to recover the files on my laptop since I was stuck in a automatic repair loop. I finally got a puppy (slacko) working on my computer (Lenovo Y50-70) but I still can't get to my files. I tried installing racy puppy instead, but the result is the same.

I open the disk with my data on it and it looks like this but almost all folders aside from "Boot", "found.000", "NVIDIA", "Report", "System Value Information", "Windows", and "Zylom Games" appear completely empty. Which is to say, all folders with any relevant things I want to save are empty. They look like this when opening them.

At first I thought I might've accidentally deleted all of it somehow? I did try a partial reset when first encountering the loop. BUT when opening the pmount puppy drive mounter, it claims only 541 GB of 889 GB on the disk are available (like this), so clearly the files are still there somewhere??

So my question is why I can't see the files, and more importantly how I can remedy this? I'm only trying to recover my files. I was using Windows 8.1 prior to this if that's relevant.

Thanks for any help!
- Frida

What exact steps in detail did you take to get puppy linux working on your computer? How old is the puppy linux that you have installed on your computer? I get the impression that it lacks the necessary drivers to be able to read those volumes. Is it possible to remove the hard drive from that laptop without harming the laptop and hook it up as a slave to another computer? There are devices available that will attach to an SATA drive and make it look like a USB drive.

Hi, xode, thanks for replying!

I first downloaded Lucid Puppy 528.005 and installed it with Universal USB Installer onto a USB with 4 GB space. Since my computer was already in automatic repair, I tried to just choose the option to boot it from a USB, but it claimed my system wasn't capable of that. I then opened UEFI and changed the settings so that it would be able to boot from USB, and booted the Lucid Puppy. However, it didn't seem to be compatible with my system, as it completely froze on start-up, so I installed Slacko Puppy 6.3.0 (64-bit) which worked fine, aside from the file issue. I then installed Racy Puppy 5.5 to see if it made a difference. As I mentioned, the computer I am using is Lenovo Y50-70, I think this matches the specifications pretty well. I bought it in the beginning of 2015.

As for removing the hard drive, I am a little hesitant. I have very little experience with this kind of stuff, and my computer doesn't have a specific slot for the hard drive, like some laptops, just on panel which covers the entire back. I also don't think I can connect it to the computer I'm using right now, since it's a tiny baby laptop I got from school. I also don't really have the money to buy the equipment needed to transfer files directly from my hard drive. Like I guess it's an option, but it feels risky. I'd rather not try to pry open my laptop and purchase equipment for this one-time deal if it's possible to get this to work, yanno? Maybe as a last resort. Sorry if that's a lil lame.

Do you think another puppy or possibly another system would be more compatible? Let me know if anything in this reply was unclear.
- Frida

What exactly do you mean by "automatic repair loop" and what happened immediately prior to this occurring? Something must have gone wrong for the system to boot that way. Windows 8 automatically uses hibernation. Do you have hibernation off? No Linux system I am aware of will mount a hibernated windows system. The images you posted do not seem to indicate the windows system is hibernated but it may have a corrupted filesystem and need to have chkdsk run which will need to be done from windows or some windows software.

Do you not have the windows 8 installation DVD or the Recovery CD you created when you first booted. There should be a repair option when you boot either and either would have a much better chance of success on the proprietary windows system. You might also try something like the Ultimate Boot CD to repair windows if you don't have an Installation DVD or Recovery CD. Also, posting info on what led to your original problem might help some members here who are familiar with windows to point you in the right direction.

@yancek, right sorry, didn't think it was relevant to the problem I was having, so I breezed over it. Basically, my videocard wasn't working so I decided to restart, since that usually fixes it. However, when restarting, windows launched into automatic repair, but failed to repair windows, stating "log file: C:\WINDOWS\System32\Logfiles\Srt\SrtTrail.txt" as the issue. I tried to partially reset but this failed. I tried entering safemode, but everytime I tried, the computer just restarted and launched into repair again, hence "loop". I also ran the command prompts "bootrec.exe /rebuildbcd" "/fixmbr" "/fixboot", "chkdsk /r c:", etc. but to no avail.

Anyways, the last remaining option is a full reset, but I really don't want to lose my files, so I looked for a way to get access to my files so I could just move them and then reset.

I've never had a Windows installation DVD and regardless, my computer does not have a CD-ROM drive.

edit: to be clear, the computer was working perfectly until the video card stopped working (and even that had worked perfectly the night before). I don't think I did anything to prompt the failed video card either, since I played a game the last thing I did before goin to sleep, and then tried to start playing again in the morning, having done nothing in between, and was told the games "failed to detect video card"

The video card is now working with Puppy right, otherwise you would not be able to post the images you did. I don't have any idea what the widnows error you reported means. You might try googling that error specifically.

@yancek I am using a different computer to post and the photos were taken with my phone. Anyways, the issue wasn't really with the video card, that was just an error that sometimes happens. Usually a restart fixes it, it's just that this time the restart triggered automatic repair for whatever reason. As I mentioned above, I have been googling it and the solutions I found and tried did not work. But regardless that's not what I asked for help with, I was just providing the background you asked for. The only goal I have now is being able to access and move my files, as I mentioned in my initial post.

From what you are describing here, I am getting the impression that your laptop could fail completely on you at any time. My recommendation is that you get another reliable computer and then try to recover your files from the hard drive in your laptop by hooking it up to that other computer.

2 members found this post helpful.

Frida - I realize you want to limit any hardware tinkering, but I tend to agree with xode above. Sounds like your hard drive is failing. If this turns out to be the case, best to stop trying to repair it and see if you can recover any files using rescue utilities. I personally use ddrescue when it comes to these situations, however recovery can take a long time depending on the size of the hard disk. The process involves accessing the disk from a linux session booted from another media (CD, DVD, USB) and running ddrescue to create a rescue image that you can then mount and recover files from. You must have a 2nd drive attached to the computer at least as large as the damaged internal drive, in order to create the rescue image.

I encourage you to read up on this process if you decide that hard drive failure is in fact your problem. It may sound complicated, but it isn't really - just long.

Let us know how it goes and if you have any other questions.

I have been running various Linux systems for 15 years, and seven years ago settled on Puppy Linux.

Am now settled on runnning Puppy Linux Tahr 6.0.5, from a flash-drive, from 16GB up to 256GB,
with extra storage provided by more flash-drives,
and have box full of temporary 32GB backups of the SaveFiles (date-time-stamped) for when I am tinkering.
Also, I use a USB 320GB and USB 500GB hard-drives for long-term backup.

I have been running Puppy various versions, from FlashDrives , for at least seven years.
Have used both the old SaveFile SFS and the SaveDirectory SFS.
Now I have switched back to the SaveFile method, which is directly compatible with use on my XP laptop.
I have made many backups of my Puppy savefile as I like to tinker with parts of the BASH code.
My Back-up copies of the SaveFiles (date-time-stamped) are on flash-drives ,
and all the backups have tested OK via reboot and power-up-boot to the extra temp flash-drive..

During that time, I have transferred (plugged-in) my USB flash-drives to three old computers, with success.
My oldest computer will not read my Linux files, however, Puppy Tahr reads/writes NTFS format 100%.

During that time, running on FlashDrives, I removed the XP hard-drive, and have never missed it.
Then I switched to a Dell LapTop with a 3G Hz speed, and XP system,
then altered the XP MasterBootCode and the loader files, so that I can boot from the XP side or USB side.

The point is :
the USB flash-drive method has worked exactly as I expected,
and I suggest it to you give it a try.

You can always go back to XP hard-drive based system,
OR
you can buy another XP computer for your work/games, as others have suggested.


I suggest you consider making a Linux install (frugal type) to a flash-drive ( 16 GigaByte size ) .

I know this is not a "direct" solution to your problem,
however, having been in engineering for a lifetime,
I like "alternative methods" to keep things going,
while I work on a "direct solution".

I will check back in a month to see how this thread is going.
and I do wish you good fortune in your use of Linux.
Linux is more serious fun than a barrel of MicroSoft Monkeys.

Glen Ellis website at www.GeoCities.WS/glene77is