OS/2 Shareware BBS: 6 File/06-File.zip/phoenix2.zip/PHOENIX2.hlp

OS/2 Help File | 1995-10-31 | 28KB | 583 lines

ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1. General Help ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

File Phoenix is a data recovery tool which recovers files accidentally erased.
Both HPFS and FAT files are supported.

File Phoenix will scan a selected drive and list all files which are possibly
recoverable. You can then select one or more files and recover them to another
drive. File Phoenix forces you to recover the file to another drive since
writing to the original drive may corrupt the data you're trying to recover.

File Phoenix also allows you to:

     View the first 4096 bytes of a file before recovering it.
     View each cluster of an erased FAT file and decide whether you want to
      recover it or skip it. This is especially useful when recovering files
      whose clusters were not contiguous.

 Note:  Even if all bytes of an erased file are recovered, there is no
        guarantee that the correct bytes are recovered. That is, if a sector of
        the erased file was overwritten, the wrong data would be recovered. The
        less activity on the drive since the time the file was erased, the
        better the chances that the entire file will be correctly recovered.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2. Startup Parameters ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The following parameters can be specified when starting File Phoenix.

 -r
                This option forces File Phoenix to ignore the saved window size
                and position from the previous invocation. This is useful if
                you change the resolution of your monitor.

                That is, if you get a new monitor for your PC and you find that
                the File Phoenix window is too small or too large, close the
                application and restart it using the -r option. File Phoenix
                will then adjust the window size to the new resolution.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3. Selecting a Drive ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

File Phoenix will check your PC and find all available drives. It will then
select those drives from which it can recover erased files. File Phoenix can
only recover files from local drives (i.e. not re-directed LAN drives) and of
those only the ones formatted for FAT or HPFS.

Note that if you want to recover a file from a LAN drive, you could try to do
so by running File Phoenix on the file server PC. You should try this recovery
as soon as possible after deleting the file and stop the LAN server program
before attempting the recovery.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4. FastScan for HPFS ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The FastScan option applies only to HPFS drives. If you select FastScan, File
Phoenix will only test those HPFS sectors which are marked as "free" in the
HPFS free-sector bitmap. This will result in a large reduction in scan time for
drives that have little free space, a moderate reduction for drives with some
free space and little reduction for drives with a lot of free space.

If you do not select FastScan, File Phoenix will test all HPFS sectors to see
if they contain erased files. This results in longer scan times but may find
files that would otherwise not be found. For example, HPFS will pre-allocate
the sectors for a newly created file without clearing them (filling them with
binary zeros). Since these sectors would be marked as "allocated" in the
free-sector bitmap, a FastScan scan would not find the file that had occupied
the space previously.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5. Context (Pop-up) Menus ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

All File Phoenix functions are available from context menus as well as from the
menu bar. Click the right mouse button over any area on the File Phoenix window
to display the context menu.

Click the right mouse button over a file in the list of files to display the
file context menu. From this menu you can recover the file or view it.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6. The Phoenix Icon ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

You can use the File Phoenix icon beside the list of drives to start and stop
scanning of a drive. Just double-click on the icon to start scanning and
double-click again to stop.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7. List of Files ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Once a drive has been scanned, the list of recoverable files is is displayed in
the main window. The following information is displayed for each file in the
list:

     Name
     Directory
     Size
     Status


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.1. File Name ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The Name column is the name of the file which was deleted.

Note:  The first character of the file name for FAT files is shown as a
       question mark (?). This is because FAT replaces the first character of
       the file name with a special hexadecimal value to indicate that the file
       has been deleted.

 Note:  Only the first 15 characters of HPFS file names are shown. An ellipsis
        (...) is appended to the name if it was longer than 15 characters.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.2. Directory Name ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The Directory column is the name of the directory in which the deleted file
resided. This includes directories that had been deleted.

Note:  The first character of a deleted FAT directory is shown as a question
       mark (?). This is because FAT replaces the first character of the
       directory name with a special hexadecimal value to indicate that it has
       been deleted.

 Note:  Only the first 15 characters of HPFS directory names are shown. An
        ellipsis (...) is appended to the name if it was longer than 15
        characters.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.3. File Size ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The Size column is the number of bytes of data contained in the file. File
Phoenix will recover this many bytes from the drive. Note, however, that there
is no guarantee that the correct bytes are recovered. That is, if a sector of
the erased file was overwritten by another file which itself was later deleted,
the wrong data would be recovered. The less activity on the drive since the
time the file was erased, the better the chances that the entire file will be
correctly recovered.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.4. Status ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The Status column indicates whether the file was recovered and, if recovery was
attempted, the results of the recovery. An icon is placed in the column after
recovery of the file has been attempted. A check-mark  indicates successful
recovery of all bytes. A sheet of paper with the lower-right corner missing
indicates that an error occurred during recovery and only some of the file was
recovered. A "Don't" sign  indicates that an error occurred during recovery and
none of the bytes were recovered. A "X"  indicates that the file has been
cleared. Two files overlapping each other  indicates that a duplicate filename
was found and "Replace files with the same name" was not checked.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8. "Scan" Menu Item ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The Scan menu item contains actions to start and stop the scanning of a disk
and to exit Phoenix/2. The following actions are available under the Scan menu
item:

     Start
     Stop
     Search
     Exit


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8.1. Start ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Select this menu item to start scanning the selected drive for erased files.
The list of erased files will be displayed in the main window when the scan is
compete. A progress indicator is displayed while the scan is in progress.

Note:  This menu item is disabled while a scan is in progress.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8.2. Stop ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Select this menu item to stop scanning the selected drive for erased files. The
list of erased files found before the scan was stopped will be displayed in the
main window.

Note:  This menu item is disabled if a scan is not in progress.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8.3. Search ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Select this menu item to search the free sectors of a FAT drive for text. A
dialog is displayed which allows you to specify the text to search for.

Note:  This menu item is disabled if a scan is in progress or if you haven't
       selected a FAT disk .


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8.4. Exit ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Select this menu item to exit the Phoenix/2 application. You will be asked to
confirm your desire to exit if a scan is in process.

Note:  You will not be allowed to exit if recovery of a file is in progress.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9. "Recover" Menu Item ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The Recover menu item contains actions which allow you recover or view the data
from an erased file. This menu item is only enabled after running a scan and
selecting one or more files. The following sub-menus are available under the
Recover menu item:

     Recover
     View
     Clear


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.1. Recover ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The Recover menu item allows you to recover the data from one or more erased
files that have been selected. If only one file is selected, then the Recover a
Single File dialog is displayed from which you can specify the name of the new
file. If more than one file is selected, then the Recover Multiple Files dialog
is displayed from which you can specify the directory in which to recover the
files.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.2. View ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The View menu item allows you to view upto 4096 bytes of a file before
recovering it. This menu item is only enabled if one file is selected since
only one file can be viewed at a time. The View the First 4096 Bytes of a File
dialog is used to display the file.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.3. Clear ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The Clear option allows you to clear the data from the erased file from the
harddisk.  The sectors containing the data from the erased file are
over-written with binary zeros thus preventing future recovery of the file
data.

Note that you should close all programs that are accessing the drive on which
the files are being cleared before clearing files. This is because Phoenix/2
uses low-level write operations to clear sectors, thus bypassing all filesystem
caches.  As a result, a program may be writing to a free sector through the
file system while Phoenix/2 is also writing to the sector.  If Phoenix/2 writes
after the program, the program's data will be lost. Phoenix/2 will check if any
other programs are using the drive and will allow you to close them before it
tries to write to the drive.

Also note that a cleared file will still appear in the list of files if you run
Phoenix/2 after clearing it. You can use the Phoenix/2 View option to see that
the sectors have indeed been over-written.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10. "View" Menu Item ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The View menu item contains actions which change the view of the list of files
in the List of Files window. The following sub-menus are available under the
View menu item:

     Sort
     Include
     Select


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10.1. Sort ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The Sort menu item allows you to change the order in in which the list of files
is presented. You can sort ascending by file name, directory name or file size.

Note:  The sort option you choose is saved and used for all subsequent displays.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10.2. Include ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The Include menu item allows you to filter the list of files so that only some
files are displayed. You can filter the files by file name and/or directory
name. The filters you specify are not cumulative. That is, the last filter you
specify will be applied to the entire list of files and not the previously
filtered list.

Select All files to remove the last applied filter which then shows all files
in the list.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10.3. Select ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The Select menu item allows to select all files in the list or deselect all
files. This saves having to select each file with the mouse if all files are to
be recovered.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 11. Recover a Single File ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

This dialog box allows you specify the drive and name of the file to which the
recovered data will be written (the target file). The recovered data cannot be
written to the same drive from which it was read. If this were allowed, OS/2
might write the new data in the same location from which Phoenix/2 was
recovering data.

You should specify the fully-qualified path for the new file.  If you don't,
the directory from which you started Phoenix/2 will be used as the starting
point for the relative path you specify.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 11.1. Drive ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Select the drive to which the recovered data should be written. All available
drives at the time you started Phoenix/2 will be listed except the drive from
which the data is being recovered. The recovered data cannot be written to the
same drive from which it was read since OS/2 might write the new data in the
same location from which Phoenix/2 was recovering it.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 11.2. Recover File Name ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Specify name of the file to which the recovered data should be written. You
should specify the full directory name since relative path names will be used
when creating the file. Thus if you omit the directory information, the file
will be written to the directory from which the Phoenix/2 program was started.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 11.3. Replace File if Exists ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Check this button if you wish to replace the file specified in the "Recover
File Name" entry field if it already exists. If you do not check this button
and the file exists, Phoenix/2 will display an error message stating it cannot
create the target file.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 11.4. Prompted Recovery ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Check this button if you want to use the "Prompted Recovery" window when
recovering a file from a FAT drive. The FAT file system stores the data for a
file in clusters. These clusters are stored individually in the first available
location on the drive and linked together by the file allocation table (FAT).
This means that the clusters may not be stored on the drive in contiguous
clusters (i.e. the file may be fragmented).

When a file is erased from a FAT drive, the linking of the clusters is lost.
The only approach which can be used for recovery is to start from the first
cluster and to recover each cluster next to it which is not in use. Sometimes
this results in the clusters from a previously erased file being recovered
instead of the clusters for the selected file.

The prompted recovery dialog allows you to view each cluster and decide if you
want to recover it. In this way you can skip over the clusters which were not
part of the selected file.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12. View the First 4096 Bytes of a File ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

This dialog allows you to view up to 4096 (4K) bytes of a file before
recovering it. The data can be viewed as ASCII characters (text) or binary. In
binary mode, the hexadecimal value of each byte is shown as well as the ASCII
character it represents (if it can be displayed).


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12.1. Font ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Press this button to display the OS/2 font selection dialog. This dialog allows
to to select a font to be used to display the data in the "View" window, the
"Prompted Recovery" window and the "About" window. The font you select will be
saved and used in all subsequent uses of Phoenix/2.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12.2. View Data as ASCII Characters ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Select the ASCII button if you wish to view the data in the window as ASCII
characters (text). Note that some characters may not be displayable or may be
displayed as graphic symbols.

This selection will be saved and used the next time you display the View
dialog.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12.3. View Data as Binary ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Select the Binary button if you wish to view the data in the window as binary
bytes. The left-hand side of the window displays the hexadecimal value of each
byte, grouped in 4-byte sets. The right-hand side of the dialog shows the ASCII
character if the byte can be displayed as an ASCII character. Bytes that cannot
be displayed as an ASCII character are shown as a period (.).


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13. Prompted Recovery of a FAT File ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

This dialog allows you to view each cluster of a FAT file before recovering it.

The following buttons are available on this dialog:

     Recover
     Skip Fwd
     Skip Back
     No More
     Go
     Clear
     Search
     Font

 The FAT file system stores the data for a file in clusters. These clusters are
 stored individually in the first available location on the drive and linked
 together by the file allocation table (FAT). This means that the clusters may
 not be stored on the drive in contiguous clusters (i.e. the file may be
 fragmented).

 When a file is erased from a FAT drive, the linking of the clusters is lost.
 The only approach which can be used for recovery is to start from the first
 cluster and to recover each cluster next to it which is not in use. Sometimes
 this results in the clusters from a previously erased file being recovered
 instead of the clusters for the selected file.

 The prompted recovery dialog allows you to view each cluster and decide if you
 want to recover it. In this way you can skip over the clusters which were not
 part of the selected file.

 The prompted recovery dialog is also used to view the results of the search of
 a FAT drive.

 The data in the cluster can be viewed as ASCII characters (text) or binary. In
 binary mode, the hexadecimal value of each byte is shown as well as the ASCII
 character it represents (if it can be displayed).


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.1. Recover ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Press this button to write the data in the window to the target file. The next
cluster will then be displayed.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.2. Skip Fwd ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Press this button to skip over the cluster displayed in the window and display
the next free cluster.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.3. Skip Back ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Press this button to skip back to the previous free cluster. Note that this may
be a cluster that has already been recovered.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.4. No More ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Press this button to stop recovering clusters for this file. The dialog box
will be dismissed and you will return to the main dialog. The clusters
recovered so far will be saved in the target file.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.5. Go ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Press this button to recover the rest of the clusters using the normal recovery
technique. That is, you will not be prompted for the remaining clusters.  They
will be written to the target file using the same technique used by the
non-prompted recovery method.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13.6. Search ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Press this button to search the free clusters of the drive for a text string.
You will be presented with a dialog box where you can specify the text to
search for. The search starts from the current cluster being viewed.

This button is changed to Stop when a search is in progress and can then be
used to stop the search before it completes.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 14. Recover Multiple Files ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

This dialog box allows you specify the drive and directory to which the
recovered files will be written. The recovered files cannot be written to the
same drive from which they were read. If this were allowed, OS/2 might write
the new data in the same location from which Phoenix/2 was recovering data.

You should specify the fully-qualified directory for the new files.  If you
don't, the directory from which you started Phoenix/2 will be used as the
starting point for the relative path you specify.

Note that since the FAT file system deletes the first character of the filename
when it erases it, Phoenix/2 will use an x as the first character of the
recovered file.

You can recover the directory structure of the files by selecting the "Append
original directory names" option. This option will append the original
directory name of the file to the name you specify on the "Directory" field and
write the file into that directory. Phoenix/2 will create the directory tree
for the file if does not already exist and you selected the "Create directory
if required" option.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 14.1. Directory ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Specify name of the directory to which the recovered files should be written.
You should specify the full directory name since relative path names will be
used when creating the file. Thus if you omit the full directory information,
the file will be written to the directory from which the Phoenix/2 program was
started.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 14.2. Replace files with duplicate names ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Check this button if you wish to replace files with duplicate names when
recovering files. If you check this button, the last file recovered with a
specific name will be the one written to the disk.

If you do not check this button and duplicate filenames are found, the
duplicate files will not be recovered and an error icon will be shown in the
"Status" column. You can then recover these files individually and either
specify a new name or write them to a different directory.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 14.3. Append original directory names ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Check this button if you wish to append the original directory name of the file
to the the one you specify in the "Directory" field. This options allows you to
recover the directory structure as well as the file.  Phoenix/2 will create the
directory tree for the file if does not already exist and you selected the
"Create directory if required" option.

An example of the use of the option is:

        Drive:               E:
        Directory:           \temp\recover

        Original directory:  \myfiles\os2\16bit
        Filename:            foo.bar

        The recovered file would be:

        e:\temp\recover\myfiles\os2\16bit\foo.bar


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 14.4. Create directory if required ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Check this button if you want Phoenix/2 to create the directory tree for
recovered files if the directories don't exist. If you don't check this option
and any of the directories in the original list for a file doesn't exist, the
recovered file will be written to the directory you specified in the
"Directory" field.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 15. Include Specifications ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

This dialog box allows you specify the files to be displayed in the "List of
Recovered Files" window. By restricting the list of files displayed, you can
more quickly select the files you want to recover.

For example, if you which to recover all files deleted from a specific
directory, you can

   1. Specify that only files from that directory should be displayed.
   2. Use the Select menu item to select all displayed files.
   3. Recover all the files using the "Multiple Files" dialog.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 15.1. Files ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Specify the filename to use as a search mask when selecting the files to be
displayed in the main window. You can use an asterisk (*) as a wild card
character to select all files that begin or end with a specific set of
characters.

For example, fenx* will select all files that begin with "fenx".


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 15.2. Directories ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Specify the directory name to use as a search mask when selecting the files to
be displayed in the main window. You can use an asterisk (*) as a wild card
character to select all directory names that begin or end with a specific set
of characters.

For example, \phoenix\* will select all files from the "phoenix" directory.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16. Search the Free Space on a FAT Drive ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

This dialog box allows you specify the text to search for in the free sectors
of a FAT disk. Type the text to search for and press Search. The search is case
sensitive so you must type the text exactly as it was in the file you are
searching for.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16.1. Search Text ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Specify the text to search for in the free sectors of a FAT drive. The search
is case sensitive so you must type the text exactly as it was in the file you
are searching for.