Samsung netbooks usally ship with Samsung Recovery Solution, which is a branded version of Clonix WinClon. It only works on Samsung netbooks with a special recovery partition present. I have used this software once to create a backup of the windows partition of a netbook, which I had to return for repair. Since I just got my money back, I needed to decide between the same model (which was even more expensive than before, as I remember correctly) or a newer and better one. So I have chosen to buy the newer one. Although I did not know if my backed up Windows would work smoothly or even boot on this completely different system, I still wanted to recover the partition to copy the interesting files manually. However, the new netbook came with Recovery Solution 5 and did not recognize my backup files.
After some unsuccessful attempts, including trying to install SRS4 in a virtual machine (Admin Tool did not complete installing recovery environment, which may depend on special Samsung system functions), I created a backup with SRS5 and compared the files with my old backup. It seems, that there are only two bytes in user1.wcl, which are necessary for version matching. They are at 0x28 and 0x29. The backup from SRS4 is filled with zeroes at this position, while the backups from SRS5 contain the bytes ACh and 98h. So I replaced the zeroes with ACh and 98h in my old user1.wcl and replaced the SamsungRecovery folder on my external HDD with my old (but patched) backup. SRS5 now listed my old backup instead of the new one and was able to restore it. It all worked very well and Windows was even bootable (despite missing some drivers). This enabled me to copy the files (although the files left where less interesting than I believed - but at least I can now delete the backup files and free up some space).
Finally I rolled back a sector-by-sector copy of the hard disk (not made with SRS) to restore the actual state of this netbook. NOTE: remember to format (not just quick format) your disk before recovering with any backup software to avoid troubles with the file system (would have saved me some time, if I had not missed it).
Conclusion: SRS/WinClon performs very well and fast, but gets tricky if you change or mess up the system. It should be more flexible.
Hello, my laptop was stolen and i made a backup with SRS 4 (.woo,.wcl,*.w01....). I buy a new samsung laptop, but SRS 5 is installed. The only difference is that bytes ?
ReplyDeleteIt worked for me.
DeleteI do the same as you, but i have more different bytes between the two files....
DeleteI copy the header, the wcl is recognized. But i have an error when trying to open the first w01 file....
I could only find differences by version at 0x16 and 0x17 as well as 0x28 and 0x29. It was sufficient to patch only at 0x28 and 0x29. Alle other bytes were either always different or always constant. Which byte sequences do you have at these positions in your SRS4 and SRS5 backup files (user1.wcl)? For my comparison I have created several backups with SRS5 and also extracted init.wcl from the recovery partition. However, I only had one SRS4 backup. If you cannot figure it out, I could provide you with more data or you just send me your header(s) so I can look into it. Hope this helps.
DeleteThanks for your answer.
DeleteMy SRS4 backup was made on an external hard disk, and i make a SRS5 backup on laptop hard disk. Maybe thats the reason (path to the files are not good in wcl file) ?
But it's strange, when i succeed to see SRS4 backup in SRS5, it hangs to restore on a file open box : cannot find user.w01 file (path is laptop recovery partition), i try to change to the hard disk drive SRS4/user.w01. But it don't works. After that MBR was corrupted.....
user_1_SRS4_Header.wcl :
Delete9D A0 00 00 1A FC 00 00 50 5F 30 31 5F 30 30 00 00 00 00 00 01 00 01 04 00 00 10 0A 00 09 00 00 00 EC DC CC BC 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 32 37 2F 30 37 2F 32 30 31 32 7C 32 37 2F 30 37 2F 32 30 31 32 7C 4E 52 35 32 30 7C 45 6E 74 72 65 72 20 75 6E 65 20 64 65 73 63 72 69 70 74 69 6F 6E 2E 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 33 C0 8E D8 8E C0 8E D0 BC 00 7C 8B F4 BF 00 06 B9 00 01 FC F3 A5 EA 1B 00 60 00 0E 1F 06 E8 95 00 07 80 3E 97 01 01 74 75 80 3E 97 01 02 74 00 C6 06 94 01 00 E8 04 01 BE BE 01 B3 04 F6 04 80 75 0F 83 C6 10 FE CB 75 F4 CD 18 BE 5D 01 E8 FC 00 BB 00 7C 06 53 50 55 8B EC C7 46 02 00 00 5D 50 55 8B EC C7 46 02 00 00 5D FF 74 0A FF 74 08 06 53 50 55 8B EC C7 46 02 01 00 5D 50 55 8B EC C7 46 02 10 00 5D 16 1F 8B F4 B4 42 CD 13 83 C4 10 EB 00 CB C6 06 95 01 00 E8 A0 00 EB 00 BB 00 7C 06 53 B8 01 02 B5 00 B1 05 B6 00 B2 80 CD 13 C6 06 94 01 01 CB B8 00 F0 8E C0 33 C0 8B F0 BB FF FF 26 81 3C 53 77 74 08 83 C6 01 4B 75 F3 EB 1A 26 81 7C 02 53 6D 74 02 EB EE 26 81 7C 04 69 40 74 02 EB E4 83 C6 06 E8 01 00 C3 1E 57 26 8B 14 26 8A 44 03 EE 26 8B 44 07 8E D8 26 8B 44 05 8B F8 C7 05 43 58 C7 45 02 5C 00 26 8A 44 02 EE B1 02 8A 65 05 80 FC FF 74 13 80 FC 80 76 0E C7 45 02 5D 00 80 EC 80 88 65 05 EE B1 01 26 8B 14 26 8A 44 04 EE 5F 1F 88 0E 97 01 C3 BB 00 06 B8 01 03 B5 00 B1 01 B6 00 B2 80 CD 13 C3 AC 3C 00 74 0A B4
user_1_SRS5_Header.wcl:
DeleteBE A0 00 00 A7 DC 00 00 50 5F 30 31 5F 30 30 00 00 00 00 00 01 00 01 05 00 00 10 05 00 04 00 00 00 C9 39 78 7C EC 8C AC AC 98 00 00 00 32 00 39 00 2F 00 30 00 38 00 2F 00 32 00 30 00 31 00 32 00 7C 00 32 00 39 00 2F 00 30 00 38 00 2F 00 32 00 30 00 31 00 32 00 7C 00 4E 00 33 00 30 00 30 00 45 00 34 00 41 00 7C 00 45 00 6E 00 74 00 72 00 65 00 72 00 20 00 75 00 6E 00 65 00 20 00 64 00 65 00 73 00 63 00 72 00 69 00 70 00 74 00 69 00 6F 00 6E 00 2E 00 00 00 0A 00 00 00 40 92 AF 01 B0 04 02 00 01 00 00 00 35 00 00 00 50 00 72 00 E9 00 70 00 61 00 72 00 61 00 74 00 69 00 6F 00 6E 00 20 00 64 00 65 00 20 00 6C 00 61 00 20 00 72 00 65 00 73 00 74 00 61 00 75 00 72 00 61 00 74 00 69 00 6F 00 6E 00 20 00 64 00 75 00 20 00 6C 00 6F 00 67 00 69 00 63 00 69 00 65 00 6C 00 20 00 73 00 79 00 73 00 74 00 E8 00 6D 00 65 00 2E 00 2E 00 2E 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 40 92 AF 01 B0 04 02 00 01 00 00 00 35 00 00 00 33 C0 8E D8 8E C0 8E D0 BC 00 7C 8B F4 BF 00 06 B9 00 01 FC F3 A5 EA 1B 00 60 00 0E 1F 06 E8 95 00 07 80 3E 97 01 01 74 75 80 3E 97 01 02 74 00 C6 06 94 01 00 E8 04 01 BE BE 01 B3 04 F6 04 80 75 0F 83 C6 10 FE CB 75 F4 CD 18 BE 5D 01 E8 FC 00 BB 00 7C 06 53 50 55 8B EC C7 46 02 00 00 5D 50 55 8B EC C7 46 02 00 00 5D FF 74 0A FF 74 08 06 53 50 55 8B EC C7 46 02 01 00 5D 50 55 8B EC C7 46 02 10 00 5D 16 1F 8B F4 B4 42 CD 13 83 C4 10 EB 00 CB C6 06 95 01 00 E8 A0 00 EB 00 BB 00 7C 06 53 B8 01 02 B5 00 B1 05 B6 00 B2 80 CD 13 C6 06 94 01 01 CB B8 00 F0 8E C0 33 C0 8B F0 BB FF FF 26 81 3C 53 77 74 08 83 C6 01 4B 75 F3 EB 1A 26 81 7C 02 53 6D 74 02 EB EE 26 81 7C 04 69 40 74 02 EB E4 83 C6 06 E8 01 00 C3 1E 57 26 8B 14 26 8A 44 03 EE 26 8B 44 07 8E D8 26 8B 44 05 8B F8 C7 05 43 58 C7 45 02 5C 00 26 8A 44 02 EE B1 02 8A 65 05 80 FC FF 74 13 80 FC 80 76 0E C7 45 02 5D 00 80 EC 80 88 65 05 EE B1 01 26 8B 14 26 8A 44 04 EE 5F 1F 88 0E 97 01 C3 BB 00 06 B8 01 03 B5 00 B1 01 B6 00 B2 80 CD 13 C3 AC 3C 00 74 0A B4
I have analyzed your headers and think your version of SRS4 was somehow different to mine. Still, the file structure seems to be the same and the only differences are a few more bytes prior to 0x28. You should try to replace the bytes from 0x21 to 0x29 with the following sequence: C9 39 78 7C EC 8C AC AC 98. Leave everything else untouched.
DeleteWith the bytes replaced I can get your file recognized by SRS5.
Concerning your file paths:
If you create a backup with SRS5 you can select your external HDD as storage path. Then just rename the new SamsungRecovery folder to something else and copy or create a SamsungRecovery folder with your SRS4 backup files. SRS5 will recognize your old backup instead of the new one. All related files must be within the same folder.
Please keep me updated on your progress.
Thanks for your answer, i was on holydays. I'll try your solution as soon as possible.
DeleteI finally succeed to install SRS4 and get my files. It took a couple of hours.
DeleteThanks Again
Can i restore the files on an external hard drive ?
ReplyDeleteNo, SRS always restores to the first hard drive in the system. Make sure you create a backup if you need the data.
DeleteHi, I have a problem with my samsung notebook, it became with windows 8, but as i didnt like it, i decided to downgrade to windows 7, before that i made a backup in a external drive, the files that were saved are: preview, init.w01, init.w02, init.03, init.wlc, init.woo and wincloninit.srs. I deleted all recovery partitions, now i want to come back to win8, but when i boot the external drive its says that there is any recovery partition and nothing happens. Could you please help me with this. Thanks! sorry for my bad english
ReplyDeleteI like your style of writing. You break it down nicely. Very informative post. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteGateway - Refurbished - 15.6" Notebook - 4 GB Memory - 320 GB Hard Drive - Silver Black
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