@drwho@masto.hackers.town @menelion@caneandable.social I genuinely wonder if using WSL2 would be a valid option here.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/wsl2-mount-disk#mounting-an-unpartitioned-disk

afaik you can have graphical environments with wsl2 but ddrescue itself is a cli tool.

@menelion I sometimes have had luck with Recuva, which runs under windows and is made by the same people who also made CCleaner. It works decently with NVDA and I assume JAWS as well. Of course I don't know if it will help you in this case, but hope it might.

@crazydutchy Thanks, will consider also.

@menelion good luck, I hope you will find something that works.

@menelion Of course, if the harddisk makes weird noises, and especially if its really important, you need to ask yourself how much risk you are willing to take, or when it may be time to look into professional file recovery. I know, that is likely expensive. I have gotten lucky a few times, but also unlucky, so just wanted to put that out there.

@menelion I'm not sure what your parameters are, but this is what I'd recommend:

Ubuntu and ddRescue. I'd go with five retries per error. Rip a file system image to the Ubuntu machine and only work on the image. Loopback mount the disk image and see what you can copy out of it.

What specific situation are you in? You said that you're not particularly well skilled with Linux (if I'm understanding you correctly), is there more?

@drwho I'm skilled in *command-line* Linux, like ssh to a server and do something. That's because I'm totally blind, and Linux desktop accessibility, especially from scratch and especially from live USB, is something questionable, so to say. I'm not saying it's impossible though, just needs more time and effort. Thanks!

@drwho@masto.hackers.town @menelion@caneandable.social Well from the post itself I think that one of the issues here is going to be accessibility. I know GNU Orca exists but I also know that's not really a drop in replacement for something like NVDA.

@puppygirlhornypost2 @drwho As far as I understand, it's kinda tedious to get to that USB disk through WSL2. I mean, I use it every day for development, but in this case just don't know, hence I'm asking.

@menelion

Yes, you should not work on the data directly on that disk, but make a copy first on another storage device, at the bit level.

If these are important documents I'd recommend to ask a professional.

I would recommend to look at photorec and their windows tool, if you're not familiar with the Linux desktop.

They have a guide for who to recover files
https://photorec.net/#getting-started

Most importantly: don't panic

Don't stress about the process, take your time.

Good luck 😊

@folfdk Thank you so much! I'll update the post, yes, I'm considering really this: copy the data and calmly work on the copy.

@menelion
Saw the freezer option and that may well work, though I was going to propose the opposite:

I had a system that had been running for years which I had to shut down to replace a card. When I powered it back up the hard drive was very rattly and crunchy. I thought maybe the spindle bearings needed to warm up first. I was able to spin up the drive and delay the boot process. I gave it 15 minutes and then booted it, it worked. Was able to backup and replace the drive shortly afterwards. Might work for you.

All other comments still apply: if you can get the drive turning, do a block copy to memory and extract the photos from there. Trying to do file-level recovery from the old drive will only put more pressure on it and increase the risk of failure.

Good luck

@DenOfEarth ?Thanks!

@menelion@caneandable.social There's this old tried and true method of sticking it in the freezer. You do have to be weary of condensation forming on the drive but I've heard countless ancedotal stories about it working even if just temporarily. I'd honestly try that and then use the time you have with the disk to back it up somewhere else.

I'd recommend against using tools like DDRescue unless you can't get anything else to work. If you can get a backup of the drive then you will have a way to try destructive tools out (you should probably back up the back up in that case, i wouldn't particularly recommend using the passport itself for that purpose).

@menelion windows? "Disk drill" is what you want... It's a crappy ui, but well scan the disk and save most files

@menelion One trick I've heard data recovery services use is literally sticking the subject drive in a freezer overnight before attempting recovery. I'm assuming this helps with drive read head clearance through the sheer physical contraction of parts.