Alan_B

Originally you had no need to SHOUT in capital red letters - shouting is rude. We can all read here. If you need to know which API's are used perhaps you should pay for the Professional version which gives you access to the developers, but that is unlikely to give you access to proprietary information.

Supplementary This is the freeware Clone tool I use :- Lazesoft Recovery Suite 3.5 Home Edition, which is the top item, 25.5 MB on http://www.lazesoft.com/download.html The bottom left corner is "Disk Image & Clone" which gives various tools and wizards, and on the left is the "Drive Clone" section with options "Clone Disk" and "Clone Partition". Defraggler was preventing "Clone Disk" from locking the source VHD. N.B. My tests have focused on VHD's created by Lazesoft because this is faster and simpler than creating with Windows Disk Management, but the only difference I have seen between Lazesoft and W.D.M. created VHD's is in the placement of the MFT zone etc.. Lazesoft uses CNET as the freeware host, and you MUST use the very prominent button labelled "Download NOW" and then ignore the new screens with new DOWNLOAD buttons which will give you "extra gifts" So long as you wait you should get the 25.5 MB lsrshsetup.exe which is the real thing. An alternative site is :- http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Back-Up-and-Recovery/Lazesoft-Recovery-Suite-Home.shtml That also needs caution and due diligence - the most obvious DOWNLOAD button actually gives you CD burner software. Regards Alan

How about the new release http://forum.piriform.com/index.php?showtopic=40660

Windows stumbled and fell when booting, and it converted my Secondary HDD from GPT to MBR A Data Recovery Tool is told by Windows that this drive is MBR format with RAW files. It detects most of the partitions which I fondly remember. It also reports several 3 MB partitions which are possibly its best guesses of whatever it was between GPT partitions.

I only use the Portable version of Defraggler, and mostly to Analyze and observe the placement of Files. Defraggler is permanently located on an HDD partition. I am trying to Clone a 400 MB VHD to a 500 MB VHD, and Defraggler has done something that prohibits locking of the source VHD, and only after closing the Defraggler Application is the prohibition removed. For reckless experimentation it is far quicker and cheaper to add a VHD than install an HDD. I assume that Defraggler is just as possessive of HDD's and SSD's as it is of VHD's Throughout the above Defraggler is always idle and doing nothing, apart from when I am using it to analyze a VHD partition, and at no time does Defraggler conflict with any of the above actions. The problem only occurs when I try to clone one VHD to another Even when Defraggler does NOT have focus it is watching the system and immediately I attach a VHD then Defraggler adds it to the list of drives it has seen and which it prohibits from being locked. If I then give Defraggler focus and select a drive for action but then refrain from invoking any action, and then put focus onto the clone tool to clone a VHD, it is still prohibited from locking the source VHD until the Defraggler application is closed. I have not replaced Windows Disk Defragmenter. I have never used W.D.D. on this system, and I disabled the Disk Defragmenter Service when Windows was first installed. System drive C:\ is an OCZ SSD which I never defrag on principle, and I cannot remember defragging any HDD partitions since I had this Desktop P.C. Regards Alan

Version 2.17.898(64-bit) under Windows 7 Ultimate + SP1 prevents other applications from locking any drives or partitions, even when D.F. is supposed to be sitting idle and waiting for me to tell it what to do. I was trying to clone one drive to another, and the clone tool tried to lock the source drive and was unable. I remember that Acronis Partition Backup (which I no longer use) also needed to lock any partition it was backing up. I am sure that other Defraggler users may use other products for both the above purposes and also many other purposes, and they too may initially think that Windows is broken, until they finally discover that it is Defraggler which is giving them a bad day. Defraggler is supposed to have the ability to defrag Windows C:\ whilst running under Windows. It does not need to lock C:\ for its own exclusive purposes. Why should Defraggler issue a system wide prohibition against the locking of all drives which it has NOT been asked to deal with ? Now I have suffered the pain I know the easy solution. Why does Piriform put its users through a painful learning experience Please fix it Regards Alan

If you are cleaning expired certificates, should you compete the job by also checking for and deleting certificates that have been revoked ? ( Which for some people then raises suspicions that CCleaner might be phoning home )

What cloning software ? I do not see that you mentioned it, but what you have used may have led you in the wrong direction into depending upon VHD backups I have specified software which does the job with no problems. It simply installed on any partition/drive which you specify and runs under Windows. It includes the ability to create a WinPE Boot Disk for recovery when you computer cannot boot - BUT I DID NOT NEED OR USE THAT FACILITY. I spent a few hours testing and writing my last post. Why do you doubt my recommendation ? Lazesoft has VHD capability - BUT it can clone real drives as well if you have no dependable way of booting into a VHD. You can always try the Lazesoft WinPE Boot Rescue Disk to see if that will launch your VHD

Try Free Wiztree http://antibody-software.com/web/software/software/wiztree-finds-the-files-and-folders-using-the-most-disk-space-on-your-hard-drive/ This is extremely fast at locating all that consumes space in NTFS volumes and often you can right click on an item and select "Explore Folder" and it will take you where Windows Explorer would block access. e.g. It has just opened explorer at C:\System Volume Information\SPP\OnlineMetadataCache\{31c7a734-4c32-4e53-9e50-ebb3e86137e3}_OnDiskSnapshotProp 680 bytes (680 bytes)

Your memory is worse than mine - you previously said that you needed the new installation to fix OTHER problems.

This is a multipurpose and very powerful tool which I have used with success for some time. http://www.lazesoft.com/lazesoft-recovery-suite.html You need the top item, which is Free for private Home use, or for business use you get the Professional version at $27-95 which has even more capability. Caution - for the Free version you are linked to CNET which requires cautious clicking to ensure you only get the 25.5 MB download. I have just been advised of a feature I had never needed or inspected. It can clone and shrink from a large VHD to a smaller VHD. Bottom left corner is "Disk Image and Clone" On the left side are all the tools/options/wizards you need :- Disk Tools section, next to last item, "Create VHD" It created :- 4500 MB at R:/#-R-VHD/4500.vhd = 4.39 GB 1500 MB at R:/#-R-VHD/1500.vhd = 1.46 GB 2900 MB at R:/#-R-VHD/2900.vhd = 2.83 GB 1800 MB at R:/#-R-VHD/1800.vhd = 1.76 GB To the 4500.vhd I restored a 3.39 GB D:\ from a Macrium image backup. The used space was 761 MB Defraggler shows the MFT is in the final 34% of the disk I fear that might be unmovable so I start by cloning down to 2900 MB On the Left Side under "Drive Clone" I chose "Clone Disk" Select Source Disk - chose "4 Disk 4.72 GBMsft Virtual Disk" and tick "Specify Partitions to Copy / Next Selected Disk2-h_Portable,(D:). NTFS 3.39 GB /next Select destination Disk - chose "6 Disk 2.83 GBMsft Virtual Disk /next Tick option "Shrink partitions size on target disk" ( Different Disk signature pre-ticked for convenience ) / Next End result = 2.785 GB F:\ with all user data followed immediately by the MFT zone in the first 34 % of the disk. The last 64% of the disk was completely free space. Then I tried Cloning from the 2900 MB "6 Disk 2.83 GBMsft Virtual Disk" down to the 1500 MB "Disk 5 1.46 GBMsft Virtual Disk", but this failed perhaps I would have been lucky the second time - perhaps my Malware Blocker wrongly kicked into action. I retied cloning down from 2900 MB "6 Disk 2.83 GBMsft Virtual Disk" to 1800 MB at R:/#-R-VHD/1800.vhd = 1.76 GB That was perfectly successful. I had been advised to use the option "Shrink partitions size on target disk" I noticed above this the option "Fit partitions to entire disk". By using this option I was able to directly clone down from "4 Disk 4.72 GBMsft Virtual Disk" to "5 Disk 1.46 GBMsft Virtual Disk" For some of my tests there were warnings of Disk Signature collisions after a Clone, and the option to restart Windows - which I always declined. Only once did did Windows fail to fix the collision and so automatically put the latest Clone "Offline" When I launched Windows Disk Management and put the Disk "Online" then Windows fixed its signature and all was well. Please note that some Lazesoft operations require that it "Lock" a drive, and if you have an application that prevents locking you have to close that application. Defraggler is one such application. Please note that Lazesoft needs to be closed before placing the computer in SLEEP mode. I have very briefly explored this Clone capability on a small VHD If you have problems I suggest reading the Help and visiting the site FAQ's or emailing their Support.

Earlier versions are here http://www.filehippo.com/download_defraggler/history For more detailed advice on any specific problems please start your own topic - the solution for one person could do harm for another.

Yes and NO Yes if you file is in a quiet partition under your control, and it is not be constantly re-written by Windows re-writing itself or Browser profiles and caches being update. NO if it is on C:\ Then you might be lucky - but Windows is working against you.

Scandisk errors ? That sounds like pre-Windws XP, which an all-versions Windows 7 installation Disk is unlikely to repair. If RoboCopy and Unstoppable Copy are defeated by either access control limitations or low level sector corruptions that scandisk cannot fix I would guess those problems would also impede Defarggler. When I first started using Windows XP, before I dual booted with Windows 7, I needed access to "C:\system reserved partition\tracking.log" and I gained read/copy access by using the "DOS command CACLS" Windows 7 includes CACLS, but ICACLS is preferred. If you employ ICACLS you just possibly might overcome some weird and wacky VHD access restrictions. I cannot myself advise on how to do this.

I have never heard of anyone booting into a VHD and attempting to defrag the free space of the LIVE contents of the Virtual Windows C:\ that is running. If that is your case I guess you are a pioneer in uncharted waters. Otherwise please give a Windows Disk Management screenshot showing full details of all the drives and partitions of :- The Live Windows System which is running Defraggler ; The VHD system FROM WHICH you attempt to copy ; The Target device/drive TO WHICH you attempt to copy.

I have no experience of booting from a VHD. If you have booted from your VHD, then I would certainly expect whatever version of Windows was inside would impose access restrictions on its own files C:\PerfLogs and C:\$Recycle.Bin If you boot a normal computer and mount your VHD then I would expect the files to be copied would be on any drive OTHER THAN C:\ I strongly recommend screenshots from Windows Disk management to show exactly what you have got and what you are attempting. I have only used Free Teracopy 2.7 for copying the contents of folders, and I have copied more than one set of folders at a time.

Your fears are groundless Years ago as a beginner on a dual Boot laptop with both Windows 7 and XP, when WINDOWS XP was running in C:\ it saw an UNPROTECTED WINDOWS 7 residing in Q:\ (or whatever I had specified) and I had full Read/Write/Delete access to all that was on Q XP only protected things like its very own C:\system reserved partition. When WINDOWS 7 was running in C:\ it saw an UNPROTECTED WINDOWS XP residing in Q:\ (or whatever I had specified) and I had full Read/Write/Delete access to all that was on Q WINDOWS 7 only protected things like its very own C:\system reserved partition. I am sure that if you have attached your VHD and Windows can see its contents it will NOT being protecting ANY of its contents - everything can be copied by ANY tool. I do not suggest Teracopy for any superior ability to penetrate access restrictions, BUT because I have experienced a simple unrestricted file copy result in a corruption - the file size was correct but the hash checksums were wrong. TeraCopy has the feature that it computes all hash checksums for each file as it makes the copy, and then it reads each copy from the destination and computes its hash checksum and compares with the original source checksum, and then you can clear the list of good matches and concentrate upon recopying all that went wrong. Incidentally You really should NOT have used a VHD as a backup Macrium Reflect creates partition Image backup files that are much smaller than the original partitions, and if you have significant free space in the original then you can restore to a smaller partition size with all the same files - but reduced free space. Additionally, Macrium is able to EXPLORE or BROWSE an image backup, with a checkbox to "Enable access to restricted folders" and that allows full read/copy capability for all files and folders. It is just possible that you may be able to use Macrium to make a backup of the contents of your 120 GB VHD, and then create a much smaller VHD and have Macrium restore its 120 GB image into that much smaller VHD. I know this works with "REAL HDD/SSD" I assume this should work with "VIRTUAL HD"

You seem to be wasting time and effort. If you can mount the VHD and Defraggler can actually see the files, Why can you not use something like Teracopy to copy all the files (without including free-space) to a smaller VHD (or any other storage system) ? As a bonus the copies should be defragged in the process.

Mozilla have given up a hopelesss battle against superior competitors for an unwanted and failing metro experience. That is my interpretation of and https://blog.mozilla.org/futurereleases/2014/03/14/metro/

Welcome to the forum. I would guess your fault. You have posted a screen-shot "recuva_next.jpg" of the object "D:\disk_image2.vhd" Neither Recuva nor Defraggler can do anything useful with the OBJECT "D:\disk_image2.vhd", because that object is no more appropriate than a Screenshot of the object. BUT If you MOUNT that VHD (Virtual Hard Drive) object and if Windows Disk management can see that it contains NTFS or FAT partitions, THEN both Recuva and Defraggler should also see the partitions and be able to process their contents.

Agreed - excepting that a long time ago C:\ was getting full so the photos were moved to the external. Since then I am sure that more files have been added to C:\ and reduced the free space, hence he may save SOME photos into whatever free space remains on C:\, but if he wants to attempt recovery of all that Recuva can offer he needs to drastically delete what he holds on C:\, or acquire another drive.

Perhaps it could hold two SIM's and choose which one to use depending upon whether it is in Windows mode or Android mode. FREEDOM

Piriform staff recognize that registry cleaning is more hazardous than file cleaning, hence the offer of making a backup.

This give the user a free choice of whether NSA records his conversations via Android back-doors or Windows back-doors.

Are you aware that 64 bit Palemoon suffers from inadequacies in the 64 bit operating system and graphics drivers, and that often when Firefox works better it is because Firefox is only 32 bit, and generally where 64 bit Palemoon has a problem the 32 bit version avoids that problem ? I only use 32 bit Palemoon on my 64 bit Windows 7 and have no problem. I have never heard about HTML tags ALT and/or TITLE, but I guess this would be common knowledge on the Palemoon forum, and the Palemoon developer is normally solving users problems every day. Many simple problems are resolved within a day of posting. Have you tried their forum ? http://forum.palemoon.org/