Thanks, Lee, and everyone else. We've gotten several good leads on how to deal with it. I won't report back right away because the two of us at KBS Computer Services are working on other deadlines right now. Unless someone tells us otherwise, we're assuming the files we want won't actually be needed until next semester or thereabouts. Now I have another question. I'm wondering if anyone knows of a retractable ethernet cable assembly that can be hung from a ceiling. We're connecting another field lab to our network. It's a converted barn/garage -- not new construction. It's a low budget place and not high-tech. Things are somewhat makeshift but the people using it have gone to some trouble to make it neat and orderly. So I don't want to just slop a solution together for them. Like a lot of lab spaces, the lab counters form islands in the middle of the room. The power cords are retractable pulldowns that are hung from the ceiling. I am wondering if it would be possible to do something similar with ethernet cables. I've found lots of retractable ethernet cables on the net, but they're flimsy, lightweight things for travelers who are trying to avoid cable clutter. I haven't seen anything that's intended for an application like I have in mind. I suppose one could say this is what wireless is intended for. We are planning to put MSUnet Wireless in the building, too, but there are applications for which the authentication process would get in the way. We need to provide some hardwired connections, too. Has anyone seen anything along these lines? John Gorentz At 03:35 PM 11/6/2008, Lee Duynslager wrote: >I've had good luck making an image of a damaged or repartioned drive to >another drive install it in my desktop and then running getdataback for NTFS >from runtime software. > >http://www.runtime.org/data-recovery-software.htm > >There's a free version you can try to see what it can find and preview the >data. Then buy the software after you test it if you like it. > >I bought that software for $79 and get free updates for life. It has saved >my customers bacon on at least eight occasions. > >As long as the drive is reconizable by the bios and not totally crashed you >can likely get data off of it. > >LD > > > >-----Original Message----- >From: MSU Network Administrators Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On >Behalf Of John Gorentz >Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2008 10:13 AM >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: [MSUNAG] Data recovery service > >Has anyone used Data Recovery Service (517-351-2371, on Grand River Avenue) >lately? We've used them a couple of times over the past several years, and >now would like to get in touch with them again. But we're having trouble >making a call to that number, as well as to at least one other phone number >with a 517-351... . (We're near Kalamazoo-Battle Creek, in the 269 area.) >We don't get a message saying the number has been disconnected, just that >the call cannot be completed. This has been going on since late yesterday. >Our Nextel phones give the same result. The so-called "information >services" are not providing us with any information. So we don't know if >there is some sort of phone problem, or if Data Recovery Services not only >went out of existence but obliterated the usual trail of information, or >what. > >The problem with the disk is that IBM's rescue and recovery deleted the >partitions when we just thought it was supposed to write to one of them. >One of those partitions contained what we thought was a good disk image >backup of the files on the disk. We think that disk image is the only >thing that would have any chance of being useful to us. We're not sure if >there are data recovery techniques that can deal with that situation, but >wanted to ask Data Recovery Services (or some such people) what they think. > > >It's not something that would be worth thousands of dollars to do, but it >might be worth a few hundred. > >John Gorentz >Computer Services Manager >W.K. Kellogg Biological Station