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

[JimDep]

What was this so called fix it program? probably a very long shot but just in case there is anything known about it breaking things and if it's possible to undo whatever it did in some way.

Password not accepted in safe mode, see here: https://www.4winkey.com/windows-tips...-fix-it.html#4

Load of how to videos on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...ws+password+10

I'm not feeling that great at the moment, but hope to soon so I can get the energy to tackle this.

This fix-it program I downloaded is called RESTORO
Here's the link : ( as of right now I wouldn't recommend it)


https://www.restoro.com/pages/lwdu/i...irect&lpx=lwdu

[JimDep]

Most repair places have you sign a contract of some sorts. Buried down in the fine print is a disclaimer they MAY have to 'reinitialize" Windows. This means they'll reinstall a fresh copy and might even update it to current. This will, of course, delete your files. When you complain, they'll point to the escape clause. Most times, they don't even bother to see if they can revive a "dead" drive, they just go ahead and reinstall. I worked part time in such a shop and was nearly fired a couple of times for "wasting time trying to recover user files."

Bill

Thanks Bill. Yes I'm sure with that agreement they gave me when I dropped it off they gave themselves a protective shield. They were friendly and seemed ok until after my 1st visit. They were weasels in disguise. I'm not convinced that my original hard drive is as bad as they told me.

[JCitron]

They are BS'ing you about putting in your old hard drive with the new drive installed. The old hard disk, connected to another drive cable and power lead will mount and show up as another hard drive in your system such as drive "D:" or drive "E:", for example. You can read the drive using Windows File Explorer and get any data you have on that drive without booting it up and dealing with RESTORO which to me sounds like some kind of surface cleaner used to remove grime off of car tires.

The alternative to mounting the drive inside is an external bay. You can get those at BestBuy or online. These hook to your USB port and put your drive into the slot. The drive mounts just the same and there's no messing with cables inside the computer. File Explorer will see the drive just the same.

[pitkin]

I can't recall a name, but at one time there were "infect-on-mount viruses". I am not sticking up for the repair shop, but just saying......

[HiBaller]

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

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Rosewill-...Black/23148926

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

Bill

[JCitron]

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

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Rosewill-...Black/23148926

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

Bill

Those work well too, I forgot about that.

[HiBaller]

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

[JimDep]

Those work well too, I forgot about that.

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

[HiBaller]

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

[JimDep]

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

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.

[JimDep]

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

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.

[clam1952]

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

[HiBaller]

. . . . .

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.

. . . . .

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

[JimDep]

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.

[HiBaller]

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