Hard drive crash problem.. TRAINZ files lost..need help !

HiBaller said:

I use these all the time. Amazon, as well as other retailers have them.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Rosewill...-0-Adapter-For-IDE-SATA-Device-Black/23148926

All you have to do is attach the dongle to the drive, and plug it into a USB port.

Bill

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Those work well too, I forgot about that.

When the motherboard on an old computer blew up, I pulled it out and filled the box's bays with a mix of IDE and SATA drives, then hooked all of them using these dongles to a USB hub inside the box, then I used it as an external "drive farm." Many of the drives were from even older Windows installations with problem much the same as the OP. Delete the operating system and you can use all the leftover personal files as you wish.

Bill

JCitron said:

Those work well too, I forgot about that.

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I'm going to go this route and get the external " dongel" USB cord that I can hook up to the old hard drive. I'd put one in the case, but it looks pretty well packed in there already.

Here's the original error message I got on the old hard drive that I was trying to find a remedy for:

The WOF driver encountered a corruption in the compressed file's Resource Table.
The DISM log file can be found at C:\WINDOWS\Logs\DISM\dism.log

Looks like that program you downloaded and installed messed with your internal resources before presenting you with the bogus "blue screen" and asking for your password. You would be well advised to change your password because this program may have sent it back home, opening you to exploitation should you use your password on another system.

As for the DISM error, you can go HERE and see what that's all about. Since you've unshipped your drive, the instructions are useless, but it dows describe what happened.

Bill

HiBaller said:

Looks like that program you downloaded and installed messed with your internal resources before presenting you with the bogus "blue screen" and asking for your password. You would be well advised to change your password because this program may have sent it back home, opening you to exploitation should you use your password on another system.

As for the DISM error, you can go HERE and see what that's all about. Since you've unshipped your drive, the instructions are useless, but it dows describe what happened.

Bill

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I've rarely had to use the password because I had the PC setup to not need to put it in when rebooting. I do remember my old password and I know it still worked up untila few nights ago when the trouble started. I'm not sure what changes that "RESTORO" downloaded fix it program did, but I do know that it didn't take my password on that blue screen. When I installed it, it never asked for a password to begin with. In the future, if I do get around to using another password to log in on, I'll make sure it's not the same one I used before.

I'm guessing once I get that dongel USB cable for the old hard drive, that the password problem created by RESTORO will still be there. I'm not sure how to deal with that yet.

Thanks for the link for that DISM error message I got On the night of the power outage, I found that same link for the Computer Club when doing a search on the error message. Unfortunately, this is where I found RESTORO.
I followed the instructions after the 1st two options didn't work, you'll see another option, and that's a link to download some software to fix the problem. This is the link for RESTORO which gave that blue screen which wouldn't take my password. Since I couldn't even boot up the computer in SAFE MODE any longer, that's when I took it to the computer repair place run by the Weasel brothers.

JCitron said:

RESTORO which to me sounds like some kind of surface cleaner used to remove grime off of car tires.

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For whatever reason, the name reminded me of something you'd take for constipation problems....but then gives you explosive diarrhea before constipating you even worse.

Well just had a look at Restoro's website or tried to with Firefox, it's blocked by Malwarebytes Browser Guard due to PUP activity. Used Pale moon and that got on to the site OK, repairs using files from it's online database of Windows files, why when you can get them direct from Microsoft using the reset or refresh options? Claims to be approved by Microsoft and an approved app which is not on the APP store so that's BS and Norton whom I wouldn't trust these days. And you have to pay for it to actually fix anything.

Has a lot of somewhat unbelievable good reviews from the usual click bait sites, apart from this site that has a lot of unhappy customers https://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/restoro.com

JimDep said:

. . . . .

I'm guessing once I get that dongle USB cable for the old hard drive, that the password problem created by RESTORO will still be there. I'm not sure how to deal with that yet.

. . . . .

Click to expand...

Probably not. RESTORO attaches itself to the boot sector. When being used as a simple plug-in drive, the boot sector isn't used as if it was part of the operating system. I'm not completely sure, but it may not be used at all when the drive is attached. In any case, the first thing I'd do is get all the files off the drive you want/need, then reformat the drive. Do a FULL format, not a QUICK. This should erase all traces of RESTORO. I read through some of the negative reviews that Malc found. Some of them are scathing. The ones praising RESTORO are unbelievable.

My Firefox and Chrome both denied access to the RESTORO site. Same reason: PUPs.

Good luck, Jim.

Bill

Thanks Bill ! I wish my PC would have given a RESTORO warning. I'll look into all the info you provided and see if I can make some progress. Now it looks like I just need to get that USB / dongle cord delivered to get started. Much appreciated.

I do a lot of PC repair and other stuff for friends and family. If the OS is really messed up, some of the time, I can demonstrate Linux and win a convert. I have four laptops running different distros of Linux, so I can show what they do. Most people are amazed at how "Windows-like" it is. What really grabs them is it's free. If they decline, I reinstall Windows and use the code on the label. If they don't have one, then things get sticky and a re-install isn't possible.

I have (just counted them) 12 of those dongles in use right now--six of them in the PC box I mentioned before. They're great as they will attach to an IDE or a SATA easily. Even the smaller IDE drives in laptops have a connector on the dongle.

Bill

Update:

The USB cord with the dongle arrived today, which was supposed to be this one:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Rosewill...-0-Adapter-For-IDE-SATA-Device-Black/23148926

but Walmart sent me the wrong cord. The one I received had a USB 3 , C style end on it instead of the normal USB end. Walmart won't replace it, only give me a refund because it's a 3rd party dealer. Now I need to find another one with the right plug.

It's seems I've been hitting on a stretch of bad luck here lately.

You've certainly had your share, Jim. You've probably already thought of it, but if you re-order from Walmart, you'd probably get the same thing again. Consider Amazon. They sell them as well. It's where I get mine.

Bill

Thanks Bill,
It's been a long stretch now since I've been able to get back into TRAINZ and work on my route.
Much obliged for your help.
Just curious, what years did you serve in the Navy ?

I enlisted in 1961 and retired in 1980. Had 5 tours in Vietnam, but one was on a ship for a year in Vietnamese waters and one for a year in Thailand (then a war zone as well). Some time in the Philippines, Azores, three years in Japan, and 7 years at Skaggs Island, California. I retired from there.

Bill

Thank you for serving. You were there from the beginning and saw it through. What a transition everything was going through during those years. I was in Bangkok in '73 and remember the security and tensions were very high. Armed guards with machine guns all through out the city and especially at the airport. I also remember well our aircraft carriers in the region.

I've got a old IDE Hard drive / USB adapter that hooked up to a power supply. Do you know if another power supply is needed for the SATA / USB cord ?

No external supply needed, Jim. It's powered through the USB port. The arrangement I have with the "HDD box" I made uses a wall wart, but it's only for the six-port USB hub inside it. The internal box PSU runs the drives (and the dongles).

My tours were: '64 (USS Oxford -0 spy ship), '65 DaNang, '66 Saigon, '67 PhuBai, and '74 Udorn AB, Thailand.

Bill

This is the original hard drive. The last dongle / USB I received didn't fit. The plug in female end was too large.
Can you tell by this picture what cord I need to order ?
Thanks again

I'm detecting some confusion here, that's just a standard SATA connection the dongle has on plug that fits across both sockets, the two on the left.
When fixed internally in a PC the larger socket is for the power lead and the small one for the sata connector, with a dongle it's a combined plug.
I thought the problem was it had a USB C plug for plugging into the PC not the drive instead of a USB2 A type or better and faster USB3 A type, USB2 plus are white, USB3 are blue and plug into the same coloured socket on the PC. don't plug anything onto the 4 pin connector on the drive it will probably blow something up, think it's for testing by the manufacturer.


The Dongle Bill Linked will be fine as it has a USB A plug or as you don't need IDE but just SATA then one like this would do, sorry its Amazon UK link but you can see what you need https://www.amazon.co.uk/USB-SATA-A...ial&sprefix=sata+adapter,industrial,57&sr=1-3

Here's a visual depiction of the hookup:



Bill

Thanks, Malc. The dongle you linked to would work for a smaller 2.5 laptop drive, but not a bigger 3.5 HDD. The problem is the power. There had to be a separate power connection to run a 3.5 HDD. The dongle you order, Jim, should have three things:

1) the dongle itself. It has 2.5 IDE on one edge, 3.5 IDE on the other edge, and a SATA port on the end away from the USB cable.

2) A short SATA cable (the red on in my picture - could be black or any other color)

3) A power supply (may or may not have a switch like mine shows)

If you don't have this, that could be your problem.

BIll