recover(CMD) 19 June 1992 recover(CMD) Name recover - recover readable information from a bad or defective disk Syntax recover [drive:][path]filename To recover all files on a disk when the disk directory is unusable, use the following syntax: recover drive: Description The recover command reads a file sector by sector and recovers data from the good sectors. Data in bad sectors is lost. All recovered data is restored to the root directory. _________________________________________________________________________ CAUTION Since the root directory can hold only a finite number of entries, some files may be lost. If you need to recover all files on a disk, recover them one at a time. Do not attempt to recover all the files in a directory or on a disk at one time unless abso- lutely necessary. _________________________________________________________________________ Parameters [drive:][path]filename Specifies the location and name of the file you want to recover. (Use this syntax to recover a single file.) drive: Specifies the drive from which you want to recover all files. Notes Limitation on [drive:][path]filename You cannot use wildcards (* and ?) with the recover command. You must specify either a file or a drive. Locating recovered files When you recover an entire disk, each recovered file is placed in the root directory in a FILEnnnn.REC file, where nnnn is a 4-digit number. The first recovered file is named FILE0001.REC, the next recovered file is named FILE0002.REC, and so on. Reentering lost data Since all data in bad sectors is lost when you recover a file, you should recover files one at a time. This method allows you to edit each file and reenter missing information after you recover the file. Recovering bad sectors Bad sectors reported by chkdsk were marked as ``bad'' when your disk was first prepared for operation. They pose no danger, and recover will not affect them. Limitations with networks and assigned drives The recover command cannot recover files on a network drive. recover also does not work on a drive formed by the assign, join, or subst command. recover vs. backup and restore The recover command does not work with the backup or restore command. You must use restore with backup files you created by using the backup command. Related command For information about checking your disk for bad sectors, see the chkdsk(CMD) command.