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On 22/11/11 08:17, Peter Lloyd-Jones wrote: > Hi > > My back up computer appears to have packed up! > > There is so much advice on the net that I do not really know where to start. > > I "think" I have a faulty hard disk. > > I suppose I want to get to the hard drive and fdisk it? > > Look forward to any pointers. > > Thanks > > Peter L-J > Image the disk before you even *think* about doing anything else. Perform all recovery operations on the image itself rather than attempting to rescue the disk. Boot your favourite rescue CD and use ddrescue to dump it to a backup file. Do "dd if=/dev/sdX of=mbr.img bs=512 count=1" to copy out the MBR and partition table first to make sure you have the all-important information in case the disk doesn't survive the complete imaging: it will allow you to reconstruct at least the structure of the disk. Attach it to a write blocker if at all possible to avoid anything being automatically written to partition flags, even by a rescue CD. Do *not* attempt smart or badblock checks before imaging the disk, you will regret it. Mat -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq