Is data recovery necessary? Could a time-shift help protect your /home folder? Linux considerations.
Is data recovery necessary? Could a time-shift help protect your /home folder? Linux considerations.
This was my earlier comment, I haven’t taken any action yet and I just had a thought. I think I could use ddrescue but I really want to keep the HDD unchanged—rsync isn’t great here because it can’t handle bad sectors. Then I’d wipe and repair the drive with bad sectors.
I think this is exactly why ddrescue exists... Copying 1 TB will take a while, nothing you can do about that. What do you mean "preserve the HDD as is"?
It could be several versions of one file and six different ones, but Puppy Linux Live is the choice I’d make. The ability to choose which files are saved and what media they’re stored on gives options not found with dd. Just make a Live CD or USB, change the BIOS settings to boot from it, and start using it. Save wherever it makes sense. If needed, you can also fix the hard drive yourself!
It's similar to the gnome extensions. The browser settings (I use Vivaldi and I lost the encryption key so I can't just sync it) make me feel stuck. I really don’t want to waste time setting up bookmarks, history, and configurations like 100mbps half duplex, XRander, etc. I prefer using Linux just for efficiency—mainly for studying and learning Python. For me, HDD refers to those data and configuration files. I’m not sure of the exact term, but since I’m new, even after a year on Linux and Windows only for gaming, my /home folder holds all my installed software files. If you want to upgrade to a bigger HDD, you can copy your entire /home partition using rsync to a new drive. Then edit the script with Vim or Vi so the OS boots from the new drive as its /home folder. You don’t need to reinstall or shut down the computer—just restart once after changes. Everything remains unchanged, and the system will run normally. I’ve done this twice, it’s pretty straightforward once you follow the guide. This is what I’m trying to understand—I just want to try something new without spending hours on setup, especially with exams coming up in four months.
Bad areas are problematic zones, and they signal trouble. Yes, this explains why you might move /home to another partition or drive, allowing updates or reinstalls without affecting your data. You mentioned rsync won’t work due to these bad spots, leaving no real choice. ddrescue offers a way to limit retries if errors appear, preventing long waits on small files. Over the next few hours, copying files at this pace should be manageable. Reinstalling software when needed might actually be quicker than worrying about everything after the exam. Since your home is affected by these bad areas, copying it directly could be risky—files might get corrupted and fail afterward if repairs aren’t possible.
Puppy It operates with root access, making offline file handling ideal. Extremely adaptable. The newest version is built on 20.04 LTS. Not suitable for all users, but enjoyable for me! A wealth of software packed into one tool. Give it a try! Another useful alternative might be Clonezilla Live and selecting the "interact to correct found errors" option. This feature works well when backing up your hard drive in compressed form, which I’ve found helpful before.