Lost files after using "Last Known Good Configuration"

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Tom,

When you changed the password, you probably should have rebooted. A normal
reboot would have placed this as your Last Known Good Configuration.
Unfortunately, you went into hibernation without rebooting. I'm not sure why
you couldn't reboot normally then but because it didn't reboot normally the
Last Known Good Configuration was prior to the password change, hence, your
computer doesn't even know the excel file was even created. Anyway, that's
my theory. I found this link explaining the Last Known Good Configuration
option.

http://www.petri.co.il/last_known_ [...] p_2003.htm

Drew




"Tom D" <tomdoster1.yahooDOTcom> wrote in message
news:1834D317-C7B9-4E8D-9BE9-DFB35ACD1235@microsoft.com...
> When rebooting Windows with the "Last Known Good Configuration" option,
> does
> the operating system delete any user files? I'm missing some files after
> rebooting with this option, but maybe there are other reaons I can't find
> the
> file. Here's what happened:
>
> When coming out of hibernation mode I was asked to by Windows to change my
> logon password. This is a normal requirement on my system. I changed the
> password, recorded it in a password-protected Excel spreadsheet on the
> same
> machine, and then did some work. I later put the machine back in
> hibernation
> mode. Because I was changing the pw in public, I did things fast, so I
> didn't
> do a good job of commiting the pw to memory, consequently I can't logon to
> Windows. I tired booting with the "Last Known Good Configuration" option
> thinking that maybe, just maybe, my old password would work: it didn't,
> and
> know that I think about it I can see why it would be a bad idea if it did.
> The good news is that I did record the pw in an Excel spreadsheet. The bad
> news is that for some reason I don't see that password file on my c:\
> drive
> when I boot the machine with a bootable DOS diskette from Active Data
> Recovery Software for accessing NTFS partitions on Windows XP. I do see
> lots
> of other files except some that I know I had created in the past few days.
> The odd thing is that I do see recent files on my d:\ drive.
>
> So, does using "Last Known Good Configuration" delete recent user files?
> Could there be a problem because I appied "LKGC" when coming out of
> hibernation without fully logging into Windows.
>
> If "LKGC" does delete the files are there any utilities that might find
> the
> deleted files or put my configuration back to the state it was in at the
> time
> I changed the password (that is to go forward and possibly recover the
> lost
> files)?
>
> I purchased a copy of Recover Lost Data 2005 from StompSoft at my local
> Office Depot thinking that if I can get my ThinkPad disk drive into
> another
> machine at work I might have a chance of recoverying the files if Recover
> is
> any better than Active.
>
> Thanks,
> Tom D

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

The file I placed the password in has been around for many years; I simply
updated an entry in the file and then saved it.

After changing the password I got on to an 'internet cafe' wireless system
to connect to my company's intranet. The I instant-messaged a colleague,
saved the chat-log, and maybe did a couple other trivial things, and then
logged off.

A few other files that I had created since the last time I installed any
drivers are gone.

The only reason, I think, that I can't logon is because I can't remember the
password.

The only reason I tried LAST KNOWN GOOD CONFIG was to see if my old password
would work. The link you provided says: "Using Last Known Good Configuration
restores information for the registry subkey
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet. Additionally, if you updated any
device drivers, choosing Last Known Good Configuration restores the previous
drivers."

Do you think that going to LKGC would prevent me from seeing files that I
created or updated during the last session?

Thanks,
Tom D


"Drew Tognola" wrote:

> Tom,
>
> When you changed the password, you probably should have rebooted. A normal
> reboot would have placed this as your Last Known Good Configuration.
> Unfortunately, you went into hibernation without rebooting. I'm not sure why
> you couldn't reboot normally then but because it didn't reboot normally the
> Last Known Good Configuration was prior to the password change, hence, your
> computer doesn't even know the excel file was even created. Anyway, that's
> my theory. I found this link explaining the Last Known Good Configuration
> option.
>
> http://www.petri.co.il/last_known_ [...] p_2003.htm
>
> Drew
>
>
>
>
> "Tom D" <tomdoster1.yahooDOTcom> wrote in message
> news:1834D317-C7B9-4E8D-9BE9-DFB35ACD1235@microsoft.com...
> > When rebooting Windows with the "Last Known Good Configuration" option,
> > does
> > the operating system delete any user files? I'm missing some files after
> > rebooting with this option, but maybe there are other reaons I can't find
> > the
> > file. Here's what happened:
> >
> > When coming out of hibernation mode I was asked to by Windows to change my
> > logon password. This is a normal requirement on my system. I changed the
> > password, recorded it in a password-protected Excel spreadsheet on the
> > same
> > machine, and then did some work. I later put the machine back in
> > hibernation
> > mode. Because I was changing the pw in public, I did things fast, so I
> > didn't
> > do a good job of commiting the pw to memory, consequently I can't logon to
> > Windows. I tired booting with the "Last Known Good Configuration" option
> > thinking that maybe, just maybe, my old password would work: it didn't,
> > and
> > know that I think about it I can see why it would be a bad idea if it did.
> > The good news is that I did record the pw in an Excel spreadsheet. The bad
> > news is that for some reason I don't see that password file on my c:\
> > drive
> > when I boot the machine with a bootable DOS diskette from Active Data
> > Recovery Software for accessing NTFS partitions on Windows XP. I do see
> > lots
> > of other files except some that I know I had created in the past few days.
> > The odd thing is that I do see recent files on my d:\ drive.
> >
> > So, does using "Last Known Good Configuration" delete recent user files?
> > Could there be a problem because I appied "LKGC" when coming out of
> > hibernation without fully logging into Windows.
> >
> > If "LKGC" does delete the files are there any utilities that might find
> > the
> > deleted files or put my configuration back to the state it was in at the
> > time
> > I changed the password (that is to go forward and possibly recover the
> > lost
> > files)?
> >
> > I purchased a copy of Recover Lost Data 2005 from StompSoft at my local
> > Office Depot thinking that if I can get my ThinkPad disk drive into
> > another
> > machine at work I might have a chance of recoverying the files if Recover
> > is
> > any better than Active.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Tom D
>
>
>

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Thanks. I'm beggining to think that there may be a problem in the software
I'm using to read and undelete the files from my ThinkPad hard drive. Again,
the tools I'm using come on a bootable diskette from Active at www.ntfs.com.
I've tried and tried and tried this boot diskette on my home computer (which
is working just fine) in some tests where I create and erase files. When
booting with this software and running the READNTFS and UNERASER programs
there are just some files the programs simply don't see, including those
files I specifically deleted for the test. They deleted files do show up
however when I run Active's UNDELETE demo program which I installed from the
same site. Now I just need to get the hard drive into a working machine as a
second hard drive so I can access the data. Maybe I won't even need to
install the UNDELETE program (Windows).

Thanks for confirming that LAST KNOWN GOOD CONFIGURATION should not have
deleted my files.

I'm not familiar with the XP CD repair option, but even if I were I think
somehow the 'Administrator' (or is it really 'Admin') on my machine is one
and the same as my personal logon (id is my name) - I think I setup my
machine so that my ID is actually an administrator id. Besides, I tried my
old password with account 'Administrator' and it doesn't work.

Our support services organization should have a copy of the repair CD so
I'll see what they say.

Thanks,
Tom D


"Trax" wrote:

> "Tom D" <tomdoster1.yahooDOTcom> wrote:
>
> |>When rebooting Windows with the "Last Known Good Configuration" option, does
> |>the operating system delete any user files? I'm missing some files after
> |>rebooting with this option, but maybe there are other reaons I can't find the
> |>file. Here's what happened:
>
> "Last Known Good Configuration" is just a registry rewrite - it goes
> to a backup (store'd in the registry) from the last time your computer
> boot'd normally.
>
> Your file should still be available. Maybe you save'd it to a
> different place.
>
> You could always use the XP CD repair option and go in as Admin - then
> change your password.
> --
>
> http://www.honeynet.org/papers/bots/
>