NTFS/Dynamic Disks....disaster recovery bascis

[Adcadet]

Hey all -

I seemed to have forgotten the basics of disk management in Win2K/XP and the implications for disaster recovery.

NTFS is a much more robust FS, and includes many security features from what I remember. But can I take an NTFS disk out of my computer (if it dies), and plug it into my wife's computer and be able to read it?

OK, what if that NTFS disk is a dynamic disk (as opposed to basic)? In that case, isn't the partition table managed by Windows, and the disk will be unreadable if plugged into a different OS?

 

[Mercutio]

The volume information is stored within the filesystem. You can remove the disk, install it in a different machine, and read all the simple volumes on that disk.

 

[Adcadet]

thanks for the quick reply Merc, but I'm confused. Do you mean that in a basic disk (simple) the FS is stored and the disk and can be read from any computer that it's attached to?

 

[Mercutio]

There's a bit of terminology:
Partitions are containers of filsystems on Basic Disks.
Volumes are containers of filesystems on Dynamic Disks.

Simple Volumes are those contained by a single disk drive, without any fault tolerance or array-like properties.

Simple Volumes can be read by any computer that speaks "dynamic disks". The tiny amount of overhead in dynamic vs. basic disks (2MB) includes the information about volumes contained on that (physical) disk.

Also, dynamic disks with FAT32 and FAT partitions are possible, if not terribly useful (no FT, spanning or dynamic resizing).

 

[Pradeep]

The volume information is stored within the filesystem. You can remove the disk, install it in a different machine, and read all the simple volumes on that disk.

Assuming you haven't enabled EFS. You may have to "import" the disk via Disk Management.

 

[Adcadet]

The volume information is stored within the filesystem. You can remove the disk, install it in a different machine, and read all the simple volumes on that disk.

aight....from your last post I now get the impression that as long as I'm not spanning drives (using multiple physical HDs or partitions to emulate a single partition), I should be just fine taking my dynamic disks (which all contain a single partition....or more correctly, a single volume), and plugging it into any other computer and reading the data (provided the OS can understand NTFS).

 

[Adcadet]

The volume information is stored within the filesystem. You can remove the disk, install it in a different machine, and read all the simple volumes on that disk.

aight....from your last post I now get the impression that as long as I'm not spanning drives (using multiple physical HDs or partitions to emulate a single partition), I should be just fine taking my dynamic disks (which all contain a single partition....or more correctly, a single volume), and plugging it into any other computer and reading the data (provided the OS can understand NTFS).

 

[Adcadet]

EFS? What is this EFS you speak of?

 

[Pradeep]

Encrypting File System. i.e you have encrypted your directories and/or whole disk. Chances are if you don't know what it is, you aren't using it.

If you are using it, you need to backup your private key and move it to the other computer. If you don't, and you hose your Windows install, your data is buh bye.

 

[Adcadet]

ah. Then no, I'm not using EFS. At least I hope not. I sure don't remember turning it on ever.

 

[Mercutio]

... and to do that:
Log in as "Administrator"
Hit admin tools,
Local Security Policy (secpol.msc)
Public Key Policies
Encrypting File System
Select the username whose key you want to back up.
Right-click to export.
Choose to export to a PKF file and include certificates, then select a destination. Filesize should be about 2K.

Keep your key someplace safe. You can import it on another machine by simply opening the PKF file.

Note: DO NOT mess with EFS unless you understand the ramifications of doing so (ie, the possibility of having a whole bunch of files you can't open).

 

[Adcadet]

under encrypting file system, it says "there is no policy defined," which, I assume means I am not using EFS and thus can yank all my HDs (all have a single partition that I care about) and put them in another WinXP machine and recover the data.

 

[Mercutio]

Correct. If you were using EFS, there would just be some files you couldn't read without that Recovery Key. The hard disks and the data on them would still be generally readable.

 

[honold]

unless your pc is stored in a safe efs is usually a risk with no reward

 

[Adcadet]

does a bunker count?

I wonder if Sadam Hussein's computers were running EFS....

 

[Buck]

How is this for a partial definition of EFS?

Encrypting File System (EFS): A feature in certain versions of Windows that enables users to encrypt files and folders on an NTFS volume disk to keep them safe from access by intruders. For most users, this is a delayed Recyle Bin maneuver.

 

[honold]

How is this for a partial definition of EFS?

Encrypting File System (EFS): A feature in certain versions of Windows that enables users to encrypt files and folders on an NTFS volume disk to keep them safe from access by intruders. For most users, this is a delayed Recyle Bin maneuver.

lol