P2V from Lenovo Laptop to Recover PST
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@thanksajdotcom said:
Issue is the email was pulled from an ISP email, which uses POP3, not IMAP/
POP3, while silly, is not the issue. It is a setting from the end user to delete the files on download. POP3 can keep the files on the server. It's not a protocol issue, it is end user decisions.
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@thanksajdotcom said:
@scottalanmiller , if this was going to be an ongoing used machine, I'd agree with the licensing part, but this machine is going to be scrapped the moment I have the data I need, assuming I can get it. It's not ongoing.
Not a factor. Are you making a VM? Then you have violated the licensing. No grey area. No room for doubt. This is a license violation.
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@thanksajdotcom said:
@Dashrender said:
I would put the image onto a network drive, then boot your VM with the Clonezilla ISO do a SMB connection and pull the image back down.
That won't work here. Sadly. I'm creating the image now and are going to try and load it into either Virtualbox or Hyper-V.
What about it won't work? Where is your Hyper-V install? You can simply copy the Image and the Clonezilla to the Hyper-V host and use everything from there, you'll have to devise a way to give the VM access to the image file though.
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Train the user to use Outlook.com in the future. It is fully functional and if they are going to use POP3 anyway, there is no reason they need Outlook.
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@thanksajdotcom said:
@Dashrender said:
I've tried to recover from the old Outlook Express - the files weren't stored in any type of normal format. Real Outlook for example could not import from OE files.
Same issue that you have with Windows Live mail, etc.
A recovery decision made by the end user. The cost of recovery needs to be paid for by them...
They decided to...
- Use a ridiculous email service instead of a good, free one that is protected.
- To set POP3 to delete.
- To use Windows Live Mail (instead of Thunderbird or whatever).
- To forego backups.
Violating Microsoft licensing on their behalf now is not appropriate. Microsoft is not at fault here. I'm sorry that the customer did not realize that they were doing one bad thing after another, but they alone bear the fault here. Their failures do not make you, Staples or Microsoft required to violate licensing on the customer's behalf.
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@Dashrender said:
@thanksajdotcom said:
@Dashrender said:
I would put the image onto a network drive, then boot your VM with the Clonezilla ISO do a SMB connection and pull the image back down.
That won't work here. Sadly. I'm creating the image now and are going to try and load it into either Virtualbox or Hyper-V.
What about it won't work? Where is your Hyper-V install? You can simply copy the Image and the Clonezilla to the Hyper-V host and use everything from there, you'll have to devise a way to give the VM access to the image file though.
He can access the clonezilla image by booting the VM with a clonezilla ISO.
Also before you go through all of that hassle, check on the Drive and look in C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live Mail
The WLM Database should be located in there.
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From MS:
WLM stores emails as individual .eml files.
They are normally located in C:\Users<userlogin>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live Mail, but you can move the default location. -
@scottalanmiller said:
@thanksajdotcom said:
@Dashrender said:
I would put the image onto a network drive, then boot your VM with the Clonezilla ISO do a SMB connection and pull the image back down.
That won't work here. Sadly. I'm creating the image now and are going to try and load it into either Virtualbox or Hyper-V.
How can it not work there? If you have the image to look at it, then you can mount it. The two go together.
Because of the way the network is setup. It's annoying. I have no control over the backend either.
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EML files are plain text. No tools are needing for accessing these at all. Just recover to a CD and give to the customer.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@thanksajdotcom said:
Issue is the email was pulled from an ISP email, which uses POP3, not IMAP/
POP3, while silly, is not the issue. It is a setting from the end user to delete the files on download. POP3 can keep the files on the server. It's not a protocol issue, it is end user decisions.
The setting is set that way by default. I can't really blame a home user for not knowing.
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This really seems like it would be simple to mount this as a second drive on a different computer and migrate the files off of it. Really no need to break licensing to do this. Then walk them through the setup of a new Outlook.com or Gmail account.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@thanksajdotcom said:
@Dashrender said:
I've tried to recover from the old Outlook Express - the files weren't stored in any type of normal format. Real Outlook for example could not import from OE files.
Same issue that you have with Windows Live mail, etc.
A recovery decision made by the end user. The cost of recovery needs to be paid for by them...
They decided to...
- Use a ridiculous email service instead of a good, free one that is protected.
- To set POP3 to delete.
- To use Windows Live Mail (instead of Thunderbird or whatever).
- To forego backups.
Violating Microsoft licensing on their behalf now is not appropriate. Microsoft is not at fault here. I'm sorry that the customer did not realize that they were doing one bad thing after another, but they alone bear the fault here. Their failures do not make you, Staples or Microsoft required to violate licensing on the customer's behalf.
You need to stop overthinking these issues. In reality, you are wasting alot of time for a user that probably isn't going to pay $100 for a recovery.
This home user has no idea how much trouble you are going through to do all this, and they probably won't learn anything. Recover the data if you can do it quickly, if not explain the pitfalls and educate the user for the future. This probably isn't the best way to allocate your time at Staples especially during the Holiday Season.
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@thanksajdotcom said:
Because of the way the network is setup. It's annoying. I have no control over the backend either.
Well, easy peasy then. It isn't your issue and legally you have no right to continue. Explain to the customer that Staples does not provide the tooling required to recover files and give the box back to the customer. Tell him that any corner computer store can recover his files in minutes and send him on his way.
If Staples is blocking you from doing this, why are you looking at putting them in line for a Microsoft licensing violation? Don't even EVER think of going down this path.
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@thanksajdotcom said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@thanksajdotcom said:
Issue is the email was pulled from an ISP email, which uses POP3, not IMAP/
POP3, while silly, is not the issue. It is a setting from the end user to delete the files on download. POP3 can keep the files on the server. It's not a protocol issue, it is end user decisions.
The setting is set that way by default. I can't really blame a home user for not knowing.
There is no one to blame. It's not about "blame." Every decision here was the end user's and the end user's alone. That doesn't make them a bad person. But it does NOT make the issue yours, Staples or Microsofts. Walk away, NOW. This is exactly the kind of overstepping that has gotten you in trouble time and time again. Quite literally, if I was a manager and knew you were considering this, I'd walk you out the door right this second. This is a completely justifiable firing offense. No warning needed. There is no condition under which you should continue given what you have explained to us.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@thanksajdotcom said:
Because of the way the network is setup. It's annoying. I have no control over the backend either.
Well, easy peasy then. It isn't your issue and legally you have no right to continue. Explain to the customer that Staples does not provide the tooling required to recover files and give the box back to the customer. Tell him that any corner computer store can recover his files in minutes and send him on his way.
If Staples is blocking you from doing this, why are you looking at putting them in line for a Microsoft licensing violation? Don't even EVER think of going down this path.
You have to remember that Staples is a retail store. They really don't want you to handle projects that take you hours for very little payoff. You gotta do what is best for your company because they are the ones that pay your bill.
People don't go to Staples because they are looking for the best techs in the industry, they go there because they are cheap.
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Here is the status right now:
- Customer did the dumbest chain of things, it's their data, whatever. No one is to "blame." But this is the customer's issue and theirs alone.
- Staples explicitly does not allow (technically perhaps) data recovery in this way.
- The only path you believe that you have is to violate MS licensing and make Staples culpable for intentional violations.
Those are the three things we have to work with. Stop. Think. No amount of clear thinking should lead you to keep working on that box unless you come up with an alternative approach. It is totally clear what you need to do next.
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@brrabill shudders quietly in his chair
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@IRJ said:
You have to remember that Staples is a retail store. They really don't want you to handle projects that take you hours for very little payoff. You gotta do what is best for your company because they are the ones that pay your bill.
And no matter how board you are and how much free time you might have.... violating MS licensing as a support practice puts Staples at risk unnecessarily. There is zero reason for them to be at risk in that way.
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@IRJ said:
People don't go to Staples because they are looking for the best techs in the industry, they go there because they are cheap.
Going to Staples for this kind of data recovery is just another "the customer made this decision" component. They decided to go to someone that is not a recovery shop and lacks the tools to do this properly. Again... their decision. Nothing wrong with that but you can't live in a world where you and Staples assume all costs and responsibility and shield end users from their own decisions.
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On a PERSONAL level I help people like this all the time. Not breaking licensing but try to recover data from their drives.
But of course a company should not get involved in any illicit activity.
