http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/33387/ho ... m-windows/
You will need this program:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/ext2read/files/
On Linux Mint and Ubuntu you have a file called 'casper-rw'. This is where all your files are kept if you made a persistent usb stick or sd card -
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2566 ... tant-on-us
That program works with other file systems other than casper-rw, for instance I recovered data from a FatDog64 install. It works with all the major linux filesystems, but that is the easy part, the fact that it works with casper-rw is the best bit.
When you make a persistent usb you imagine that the files will be kept in a folder called 'home' or whatever as is the usual convention, but it does not work like that with Mint (or Ubuntu which Mint is based on). It creates this file that contains not just your home partition but other linux stuff too.
Only when it is mounted and read is it converted into those bits. So, if you are wondering where all your files are that you didn't back up (naughty naughty) then this is yer man.
So, load up ex2explore and select open (make sure you are running as admin) then navigate to your usb stick or sd card and select 'casper-rw' - then double click on it and it will open it and you can then save it somewhere else. This program is amazing, I never knew it was possible, in fact lots of people don't realise it is. If you search the net this question is asked a thousand times and even experienced linux heads say 'it's not possible' or 'mount --303 alidf0ma geiibberriishh j == -0 olloop ' you fool! Everyone knows that fuckwit, don't trouble me again, I'm sleeping under a cave!! Grr...
So that is the easy bit. But what if, you are SOOL like me, and you have a corrupted file system?
Well, this is what you need to do.
You can try copying the file (we will assume we are still talking about casper-rw here for clarity), that is if the usb stick loads in the first place. Mine would load then you try to access it and it poofs, take it out put it back in again..
So when you get it there in your windows explorer - try to copy it. You will find it copies a bit then stalls then hangs your system. So you can't do that. You can try doing a sector by sector backup with your fave partitioning back up software, but it will either not load (while it is reading the disks on the system) or it will stall and hang your OS. Macrium Reflect failed with this (then again that doesn't even deal with usb so remember that) and also Paragon was a no go. Even my beloved new software of TeraByte Image for Windows or Image for Linux failed miserably.
Even loading up Linux OS would not even read the drive. The only way possible was with Windows. That's right, I tried about five different Linux distros from partition magic to linux mint to debian, none of them read the bloody disk.
So, we are in windows, we can read the disk, but it will not copy 'casper-rw'. Now I tried with Easus ToDo by doing a disk backup and that did not work either (I have spent nearly 48 hours trying to do this), BUT if you select the file backup IT WILL copy a corrupted file. I got this idea ironically enough from a post that someone made in the 'ghost thread' over at 'computers' here on kvr. ToDo does sector by sector backup but not for files. Who cares. It copied the bloody thing is all. Now when it was copied, it disappeared - poof! I had to run the program again and then it reappeared. All kinds of weirdness and shenanigans with this. And be warned - this shit locks up and hangs your system like a mofo.
It would not be unfair to say that this really is a hack in the truest sense of the word. Are you still with me? Of course you are. The only reason anyone within their sane mind that would be reading this is if they had a linux partition that they wanted to restore from within windows. Whoopy do if you can do it from within linux, but good luck with that if it won't even read the disk. Linux is a traitor to itself!
Now, with the 'casper-rw' on your physical HD, you can navigate to it and open it. And if it isn't too badly damaged it will be read and you will be able to save. But, there is a downside, if you had a corrupted filesystem like this in the first place, it depends how badly damaged it is. Mine was not too badly damaged, which means it was damaged a bit. So even though I recovered all the files, when I went to open them they looked like encrypted gibberish. So those files are lost. Only a few, but they is gone and dey ain't never comin' back. But on the whole it recovered 85 percent of the filesystem perfectly.
Shoulda backed up properly in the first place. My bad. I just got confused and bit off more than I could chew.
If you use usb or sd card for your linux distros, THEY WILL GET CORRUPTED EVENTUALLY. That is if the device does not blow up in the mean time. These distros seem to be hard on them. I have had 2 usb sticks gone kaput and 2 SD cards fail all within a matter of days. My time with this little experiment is over now. Then again, I have been running them pretty flawlessly for a year or two. There may even be something wrong with my system. I don't know. I read somewhere that it has to do with journaling or whatever and there are constant accesses made to the 'disk' and this shortens life span. I buy good quality gear coz the cheap shit is just unbearably slow, still, I got a good run out of them, but all good things come to an end.
Especially as, the last 2 days that I have spent backing up my system have been a waste of time coz when I was trying to do a new Mint install it wiped my new 2TB hard disk of about a TB of backup. I am now in the process of recovering it with a wonderful little utility called Easus Data Recovery Wizard Free (yes by the same company). And so far it seems to be working. I will find out in another six hours if it actually restores my stuff or if I have to spend another 2 days backing up again. Bless those wonderful Chinese people for making such awesome software for free. It's not just the Germans.
You can get that and the Easus ToDo free backup utility at their site.
http://www.easeus.com/backup-software/
http://www.easeus.com/datarecoverywizar ... ftware.htm
The ToDo backup is a newer version than the one I have, but it should still work. I have version 3.5. I installed version 4 but did not like it.
If you run into problems and you absolutely can not do what I have outlined here, then hit me up.
That's it.
You now know how to read you linux partitions from within windows and how to save them and back them up in a meaningful fashion even more practical than disk imaging. And you know what programs to use to recover a corrupted filesystem.
Me? My credentials? I'm just a fuckwit who left a 2TB HD plugged in when I was formatting usb sticks. NOTHING I say should be taken seriously.
I can make a thread about my experiences with Windows [I've been a Windows "geek" for almost 20y] and there are dozens of those when I wasn't able to recover files from a NTFS partition. It's all in the eyes of a beholder. So it happened to you, so what? Cool down and blame it on your carelessness.
