Creating a live USB + Data recovery

Hi (probably Rocky),
I have been trying for several days to figure out how to restore data from a reformatted hard drive. (I can describe how this happened or point you out to other pages on which I described it -- partly on this forum.) Finally I found a programme called TestDisk and PhotoRec, that is/are supposed to do the job, IF I can install them into a linux live USB.
At first I wanted to do this with Knoppix, because I had used Knoppix before to recover data from Windows; I have Knoppix ISOs on a USB stick and on two DVDs. (Knoppix 5.1 runs just fine on my computer; Knoppix 6,0,1 Adriane just brings up an empty LXDE screen that will not respond to any command or click and has absolutely no start bar and no icons on the screen.) So I looked for directions to create a live USB of Knoppix. It seemed that the only way to do so was with programmes such as Unetboot, linuxliveusb.com (if one has windows) or launchpad.net/usb-creator.
After much ado I found out that the way to install Unetboot onto my computer is by giving the following command in Terminal:
sudo apt-get install unetboot

I did so. The programme required 4.3 MB on my hard drive, and I gave it permission to do so.

Then I moved on to the task of creating a live USB. Creating a Knoppix USB from my image would have required me to tell it to get the image from one usb-stick and to put it on a second usb stick (since I was not certain whether it would reformat the stick that it was writing to). (I did not know how to tell it which was which.) So instead I ended up telling it to make a Ubuntu Stick out of its own list of distributions. For some reason this did not work, so I tried Mandriva instead ("one of the most complete Linux distributions"). In order to make my live usb, the programme wrote about 9 GB to my /tmp folder, which probably means nine more GB of data that I cannot recover from before.
The computer WILL start with this Mandriva Live USB, but all I get upon startup is the question, to where I would like to install Mandriva. It seems I cannot test Mandriva without installing it. USB is not one of the options given, and I do not want to install any more distributions to the hard drive.
In the middle of all this, someone told me that making a Ubuntu - USB is very easy: All you have to do (supposedly) is to start the computer from DVD and to tell it to create a USB stick. So I also spent three hours today downloading a ubuntu iso for DVD (the most complete) onto a USB stick (so as not to write anything to my hard drive). From this I created a startup DVD. I can start the computer with this, but cannot creat a live USB from it.
I think I am going to overwrite most of the lost information and/or go crazy, before I figure out how to do this. (And I would like to know how to do this in order not to have the same problem the next time this happens.)


*** Alternatively, you could solve the following mystery for me: Before wiping out my info and reinstalling Mint to my entire hard drive, a friend talked me through backing up my information to USB. Upon examining the info on that USB stick, the only two directories that are NOT in the backed up info are .mozilla and .tomboy -- and that is where nearly all of the lost information was located.

I hope I have included all relevant information in this entry, and not too much irrelevant info. . .

Yours,
Janelle

LOL. The Lone Linux user at DAL.

Which wasn't backed up from reading

Because test disk is for trying to put back together fragmented data from a formatted drive. Man , I have never had to do what you are trying to accomplish. I back up what I want kept on external Hardrive whenever I need to resize, reformat, or delete partitions in Linux.

I have made numerous Live USB Linux Pendrives from Ubuntu to Puppy Linux. Knoppix I kinda stay clear of on Pendrives but I keep A Knoppix Live CD handy just because I can.

I am kinda confused here. Why do you need a Live USB to run Test Disk and PhotoRec. You can install them running a Live CD. They won't stick on a reboot though whether live USB or CD because Live Distros aren't persistent Installations. Is it because the computer you are trying to recover from has no CD or DVD drive?

If it was me. I would burn and boot a UBUNTU 8.04 LTS Live CD. I would connect up said computer via Land Line before booting up said computer from Live Ubuntu 8.04 cd. I would go and make sure I was properly connected to the internet first. Then I would open Synaptic Package Manager under Administration and to be on the safe side I would install or check to make sure they are installed

ntfs3g or ntfs-3g (I can't remember which at the moment) It is for reading windows files in Linux in case you are trying to recover windows files.

Then do a install of Test Disk while running Live. I assume you have looked at Test Disk website on how to run it and how to point it to the partition you wish to recover. I would try it alone first before trying Photo Rec.

If no satisfaction running Test Disk. Then Install and try Photo Rec. You can install Photo Rec right after you install Test Disk. Just DON"T REBOOT THE COMPUTER after installs. You will lose any changes with a reboot. OK?

Plug in the external Drive of your choice(Pen drive,SD Flash, External IDE or Sata), Formatted as FAT32 (works for ntfs) for starters unless you have a different file system like EXT3 or Reiserfs or something exotic that you are trying to recover from the formatted partition/drive you are trying to recover from. And then dump whatever Test Disk or Photo Rec recovers to that external drive. You can format external drive(before you dump recovered files to it) also to whatever file system you wish to use running gparted in Live mode session also.

You got a can of worms to deal with from what I have read so good luck.

Let me know if a Live USB is your only alternative here. I will try and coach you thru making a live USB, (you shouldn't have to install anything to hardrive on computer you are trying to fix)You will need 2 external drives. One for installing Live Iso to to run in computer.
Another for collecting data you are trying to save.

I have the Linux version of Unetbootin on My Ubuntu Desktop(but I am on my IBM Laptop running Antix 8.2 which I am responding with right now). I do know that my version allows the downloaded live iso to go right to the USB stick and install syslinux as the boot loader. I will post a screenshot of it later to show what I mean. I am out of town at the moment so give me some time to get back to you when I get home.

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I’ll keep using Linux until they pry it from my cold dead fingers.