Windows XP Offline File Restore Nightmare

barneysplash

Hi all

They say some things in life are painful but worth it - like childbirth,
learning to swim or supporting Liverpool. Well maybe not the last one.

I would appreciate any guidance or input from anyone who has been
through the hell of restoring offline files in Windows XP.

I've outlined everything I've tried below, and my next stop is lighting
a candle in a Church and saying a Novena to St. Jude.

Offline files - "more complex than the offside rule."
I have the lfiles from a laptop of a friend who has a load of files archived
as "offline files" in Windows XP and needs to recover them.

For several weeks, the laptop was storing any files they
saved as "offline". Anyway, they have stopped this and
the laptop is now saving the the network folders again.

However, there are loads of files saved as offline files
that they cannot access. This is because Windows XP
stores these in a special archive format.

Here is what I've learned, and what I've tried.


1. The CSC folder- "Hidden in plain sight - like a bad fart"
I have done some research and learned that the archived files
are in a hidden Windows folder called CSC.

Here's where it start to get tricky.

You cannot go to C/Windows/CSC - It is a hidden folder.
But not a normal hidden folder.

Normally, to show hidden files and folders, you usually got to:

• Tools Menu on any Window
• Folder Options
• View tab
• Click on "show hidden files and folders"
• Click Apply

I then go in to C/Windows and expect to see CSC - no joy!

From looking around online I found that if you go to:

• Start
• Run
• Type in %SYSTEMROOT%\CSC
• Press enter

Then the mystery CSC folder will appear.

For convenience, I've made a shortcut to this folder:

• Right click on desktop
• Go to New
• Click Shortcut
• insert %SYSTEMROOT%\CSC into the dialog box

a handy shortcut to this mystery folder will appear on the desktop.


In CSC are several folders:

d1
d2
d3
d4
d5
d6
d7
d8

and the files

csc1.tmp
00000001
00000002

The folders d1, d2 etc. contain the archived files in a compressed format.

The blogs and forums I've looked around recommend that you
take the contents of the CSC folder and copy them
to another computer running the same verrsion of Windows,
in this case Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3. I have done this.

Then you need to get a program to rebuild the archived folders into readable files -
it's called CSCCMD, and is rarer than GAA trophies in Louth.


2. CSCCMD Program "is it a version or an aversion?"

To access these files you use a program called csccmd.

There are two versions of this program, 1.0 and 1.1 and the 1.1 version program
of them has the "extract" feature that you need. Here is where I found version
1.1 and a general guide that got me started with trying to solve this problem:

http://www.tubblog.co.uk/blog/2008/08/21/recovering-offline-files-in-windows-xp/



3. Using the CSCCMD Program - "Rubbing my lamp but no Genie pops out"

Here's where it gets me stuck.

Some of the guides say You unzip the to the CSC folder in Windows, some don't -
they just say "Run from the command line"

I've tried both. but not got anywhere. From looking around online, I've found
the below commands and followed them to the letter, but no joy. Here is an
extract of what I tried today

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\user>cd\

C:\>cd\windows

C:\WINDOWS>cd\windows\csc

C:\WINDOWS\CSC> csccmd/enable
The command completed successfully.

C:\WINDOWS\CSC>csccmd /extract


C:\WINDOWS\CSC>csccmd /extract /target:c:\temp /recurse
The command completed successfully.

The files are supposed to magically start appearing in the folder C:\temp but
nothing happens. It's a bit like watching Ireland play football - a lot of fancy
fiddling with the promise of treasure, but you never get anywhere.

Any ideas?

5uspect

How is the tool supposed to know where these files are in the command prompt unless you tell it?

Try running the extract command from the same directory where the data is.

From here:

Use a working computer with the same version and service pack level of Windows XP.

Copy the %SYSTEMROOT%\CSC directory contents from the old hard drive to the same location on the working computer.

On the working machine, open a command prompt.

Type csccmd /enable

Create a target directory, for example C:\Restore

Type csccmd /extract /target:C:\Restore /recurse

Your files will be extracted from their compresses offline files format back to their original format!

Are the files in the original directory on the new computer?

barneysplash

5uspect wrote: »

How is the tool supposed to know where these files are in the command prompt unless you tell it?

Try running the extract command from the same directory where the data is.

From here:


Are the files in the original directory on the new computer?

Yes, sorry, forgot to say that. The original files are on the new computer.

5uspect

In the exact same directory?

barneysplash

5uspect wrote: »

In the exact same directory?

Yes it's the CSC hidden folder in Windows.

I had a look at that site too, it was actually the first site I went to.

Thanks for the effort

5uspect

The guide assumes that the original OS install is toast. Have you tried the extract on the original machine?

barneysplash

5uspect wrote: »

The guide assumes that the original OS install is toast. Have you tried the extract on the original machine?

Apologies, I mis-typed. I have the files from the laptop, but the
laptop is gone back to my friend.

5uspect

Well I would try the extract tool on the original machine as it doesn't appear to do much on your end.

Also here is the documentation for the command:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/884739
Use the /ENUM switch to see if your system actually sees any files.

barneysplash

Thanks for that will try it and post up the results