I made a major ooops

Baddc053

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I'm hoping for help on this one, I messed up big time.
I was getting pretty bored on dialysis so I thought this would be a good time to try Bleach Bit. I was wrong...really wrong.
It seemed to be going very well, no errors that I could see. I watched for the entire 3 hours it took to run. Dialysis takes 10 to 12 hours so I had the time.
Long story short...I rebooted the laptop and I about cried...nothing. When I set up Bleach Bit, I didn't think I included anything important.

My question here is, could I dig out my original ISO image but instead of formatting the hard drive and all could I act like I'm just doing a test run, and then run Timestamp to recover system data?
Or will it be my bad luck and that's gone too?

Any other thoughts or idea on this? Other than never run Bleach Bit again?

I have the majority of my data on 2 external SSDs so if need be I will reinstall Mint again. I just wanted to avoid that.
Let me know please.
 


You should be able to do that. In the live environment, install TimeShift (which is what I'm guessing you'e calling Timestamp) and then point it at a backed up file for restoration.

That should work. If you're using something I've not heard of called "Timestamp" then I would imagine the process to be the same.

This assumes you're not using a distro where there's a TimeShift bug.
 
Bleach Bit is like a wrecking ball and can cause damage that can't be fixed...it's a bit late to say don't use it.
m1502.gif


Do you have Timeshift set up...If you do...you can boot to your live session and select a snapshot before you ran Bleach Bit...this will hopefully restore your system.
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This is how to do it...Boot to the Mint live session...type in the search box...Timeshift...you will see your snapshots...select the one you need and restore it.
m1212.gif
 
It appears you are using Linux Mint.
...follow @bob466's instructions above.
When you have Timeshift up and running....click on Settings....and then on Location.

Select the place where your Timeshift snapshots are stored.....then select the snapshot you wish to restore......Click on Restore and sit back for a cup of coffee or Tea...or water.......and simply allow Timeshift to do its thing
If it asks questions....just click on ok or next...other than that, do not interrupt it.

Keep talking to us....we can make the time pass more quickly for you
 
You should be able to do that. In the live environment, install TimeShift (which is what I'm guessing you'e calling Timestamp) and then point it at a backed up file for restoration.

That should work. If you're using something I've not heard of called "Timestamp" then I would imagine the process to be the same.

This assumes you're not using a distro where there's a TimeShift bug.
 
Yuppies, it's Timeshift..been a long day.
Will report back on if it works.
 
If you don't have Timeshift set up...then I'm afraid it's a clean install for you.
m1503.gif


I think now is the time to learn about creating an image of your Drive...so if anything serious happens you wont loose everything and have to Re-install the Distro.
m1213.gif


There's an excellent free tool called Foxclone...https://www.foxclone.com/ it creates an image of your Drive which is stored on an external HDD or SSD...should anything happen and that includes Drive failure...it's easy to put the image back with nothing lost.

Foxclone comes with easy instructions...just download the ISO (UK link)...burn it to a Flash Drive. Plug in an external HDD or SSD...create a folder and name it...boot to Foxclone...select your Drive and select the External Drive and the folder and away you go...easy.
m1211.gif
 
Bleach Bit is like a wrecking ball and can cause damage that can't be fixed...it's a bit late to say don't use it.
m1502.gif


Do you have Timeshift set up...If you do...you can boot to your live session and select a snapshot before you ran Bleach Bit...this will hopefully restore your system.
m1213.gif


This is how to do it...Boot to the Mint live session...type in the search box...Timeshift...you will see your snapshots...select the one you need and restore it.
m1212.gif
I'm crossing my fingers that it works.
When I tried rebooting it gave me an option or was it called restoring it, Somewhat like windows has where you can load the last working version. The list was over 4 screens long and wasn't sure which to do. The first 12 failed anyway. But windows equivalent never worked anyway.

I agree on the Wrecking Ball term.
If you don't have Timeshift set up...then I'm afraid it's a clean install for you.
m1503.gif


I think now is the time to learn about creating an image of your Drive...so if anything serious happens you wont loose everything and have to Re-install the Distro.
m1213.gif


There's an excellent free tool called Foxclone...https://www.foxclone.com/ it creates an image of your Drive which is stored on an external HDD or SSD...should anything happen and that includes Drive failure...it's easy to put the image back with nothing lost.

Foxclone comes with easy instructions...just download the ISO (UK link)...burn it to a Flash Drive. Plug in an external HDD or SSD...create a folder and name it...boot to Foxclone...select your Drive and select the External Drive and the folder and away you go...easy.
m1211.gif
I've always had Timeshift installed and running. I'm just unsure of what Bleach Bit decided to eliminate. If that is untouched I should be OK. I'll know in a few hours. Foxclone sounds interesting, is it similar to clonezilla? Or more fit for Linux?

Is there a safe program for cleaning a hard drive? Bleach Bit sounded like the cats behind, but certainly not.
I have a 5TB drive that needs attention, but need to be sure it does as promised. That drive is loaded with hard to find & obscure 60s music. Garage bands and one hit wonders...I don't want to goober that drive up. Already have it cloned twice.
 
Is there a safe program for cleaning a hard drive?
short answer....No
I have tried many of them and they all end in disaster.

I'm crossing my fingers that it works.
When I tried rebooting it gave me an option or was it called restoring it, Somewhat like windows has where you can load the last working version. The list was over 4 screens long and wasn't sure which to do. The first 12 failed anyway. But windows equivalent never worked anyway.
I am not sure what you mean here. Yes, Timeshift is similar to system restore in windows. The fundamental difference is that Timeshift works
Take us through the steps you took
. You have a usb stick with your OS on it...correct?
You plugged it in and booted to that usb stick....correct?

WHat happend then.....what did you do?
 
I'll know in a few hours.

I hope that is not an indication of how long it is taking Timeshift to run.

G'day @Baddc053 and welcome to linux.org, albeit under difficult circumstances. :)

Signing off for my evening now, but sing out if you need me, I am pretty fluent with Timeshift.

@Baddc053 you could tell us a little more, when you have time about

...and I about cried...nothing.

As in, is the Mint usable or compromised and how (errors and so on)

and where was Timeshift storing the snapshots, eg one of the SSDs or the WD Passport?

For the helpers, the OP has another Thread here

https://linux.org/threads/portable-hard-drive.42672/#post-174310

Cheers

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz
 
Bleachbit is fine as a disk cleanup tool. You just need to be careful with what options you select when choosing what to delete. Especially if you run it as root!

Usually bleachbit will warn you if you select an option that is potentially dangerous, or that may have unintended side effects.

I’ve used bleachbit for years (albeit infrequently) and have never had a problem with it. And hopefully never will!

Before cleaning up the system, it’s always worth taking the time to preview the files that bleachbit will delete and keep an eye out for anything that you might actually want to keep, or that might bork your system if it goes missing!

Also, if you’re using an SSD - you may want to avoid certain options, to prevent unnecessary disk wear - like overwriting free space, or secure deletion of files, which overwrites deleted files numerous times.

With most modern, journaled file-systems, deleting files by overwriting them numerous times isn’t a guaranteed way of completely erasing all trace of them anyway!
 
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I hope that is not an indication of how long it is taking Timeshift to run.

G'day @Baddc053 and welcome to linux.org, albeit under difficult circumstances. :)

Signing off for my evening now, but sing out if you need me, I am pretty fluent with Timeshift.

@Baddc053 you could tell us a little more, when you have time about



As in, is the Mint usable or compromised and how (errors and so on)

and where was Timeshift storing the snapshots, eg one of the SSDs or the WD Passport?

For the helpers, the OP has another Thread here

https://linux.org/threads/portable-hard-drive.42672/#post-174310

Cheers

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz
Thank You.
And (Big drum roll here) Timeshift worked. Nearly everything is back to normal. Only glitch I had was to go back to a date that wasn't goobered up. In doing so, I got lucky and at the same time Bleach Bit went away.
Life is good!

Timeshift took about 30 minutes with all my re-tries.
 
Fantastic news !!

Well done !
 
Stacer is reasonably safe. It only removes files that are okay to remove, in my experience.
 
Thanks, I'll try it.
I had life too easy with windows, but prefer linux much better, forcing me to learn. Terminology is the toughest part.

Now I've tried GIMP for image editing, I just can't grasp it, what would you suggest that is similar to IrfanView? I really liked that, but nothing I've found decent is Linux compatible.
 
if you have a 64 bit program forIrfanView? you could always try and see if it will work in Wine
 
what would you suggest that is similar to IrfanView?

What do you want to do? There's XnViewMP that's proprietary but awesome. If you're editing screenshots, there are things like Shutter. Hell, if you're using a distro that supports Snaps, there's IrfanView:

 
short answer....No
I have tried many of them and they all end in disaster.


I am not sure what you mean here. Yes, Timeshift is similar to system restore in windows. The fundamental difference is that Timeshift works
Take us through the steps you took
. You have a usb stick with your OS on it...correct?
You plugged it in and booted to that usb stick....correct?

WHat happend then.....what did you do?
It worked fine, it's only error was probably operator error, I chose entries that must have been too recent and had same issues as what created original problems. I went further back (pre Bleach Bit) and it was like I was celebrating my birthday or something, everything was like a fresh install.
 
if you have a 64 bit program forIrfanView? you could always try and see if it will work in Wine
I'm 64 bit, but have never had luck, good luck I mean, with WINE. My first attempt with it was with IrfanView. Nothing got ruined and no smoke bellowing out...but nothing happened. I thought that I had won the lottery until nothing happened.
 
What do you want to do? There's XnViewMP that's proprietary but awesome. If you're editing screenshots, there are things like Shutter. Hell, if you're using a distro that supports Snaps, there's IrfanView:

Pretty much I only want to edit basic images. Crop/Resize/Borders nothing high tech. Some programs do most of that , but bordering is the issue. IrfanView had all that and was very user-friendly.
I've ran a old school UFO website, for years...I started on a VIC_20 so it's almost 30 years. If I'm not messing up my computer...that's where my spare time is spent. Pretty internet, everything was dial up and slow.
 

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