Laptop Crashed - Re-installing RailMaster ?

[John Bogie]

My laptop crashed.

I had to format the hard drive. Lost everything.

 

I have re installed Railmaster from my CD and entered my activation key.

 

It just sits there, trying to connect and register with Hornby. Nothing happens.

 

But now I'm thinking I need to de-register before I can re-register the same copy.

 

How do I go about that please.

 

JB.

 

[RB51]

Send an e-mail to HRMS using [email protected] (just copy and paste that into your e-mail app) and explain what has happened. They will de-activate your account. You might also want to think about making an external backup of all your files for future occasions when the machinery lets you down. R-

[Chrissaf]

See also this previous thread

https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/forum/elink-registration/?p=1

.

Note also the comment in this linked post above about what files to back up in the future.

[John Bogie]

 That's the first time since using computers (1986) that I've had a hard drive let go.

 

I had 99% backed up. Just overlooked this one.

[96RAF]

The last HDD I lost was an external 3TB device used only for - you guessed it - my backups.

 

It registers in device manager as a storage device and the volumes can be populated and it shows in computer manager, but even the bare HDD in a caddy will not show files and it can not be formatted so it's now a magnetic brick.

 

Needless to say it has been rapidly replaced to allow new backups to be made, but do I need a backup drive to backup my backup drive......

[John Bogie]

 I don't use virus prevention software either.

 

Haven't had an issue in 30 years.

 

My computer runs faster too, 😀

 

The drive that I thought was the problem is over 10 years old and has been hammered.

 

All running again. Turned out to be a corrupt registry/boot/startup/damaged file in Win 7

[John Bogie]

 Caused by a rare earth magnet. ☹️

[Augustus Caesar]

Hard drives aren't always as dead as you think they are and certainly files can be retrieved from them quite easily if the drive is not giving over a 'ticking' or 'clicking' sound when reading it. If you hear this sort of thing then the hammer on the drive is being forced to move across the platten by the motor and is refusing to do so. These drives are extremely costly to fix with this problem (if at all) so once heard save your files and replace the drive... or lose it!

Using recovery software to get files back is a doddle and investing in one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sisun-Docking-Station-Reader-Black/dp/B009F7TXMK/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1491319008&sr=8-4&keywords=hard+drive+docking+station will certainly help in this.

The link is only to show what I mean and is in no way meant to be an advertisement for the said product... there are many available from different companies at different prices... this is purely an example.

Some recovery software is also free, like this one for example: http://www.easeus.com/datarecoverywizard/free-data-recovery-software.htm.

Again, only an example of what you can find. Research will help you find what is best for you.

I place this post to help those who want to attempt to recover valuable RailMaster files when they think they are lost forever.

[John Bogie]

 Thanks for the replies

 

All working again now 😀