Freenas usb failed. how to get my data?

[Koohwen]

I'm not sure where to post this.
I set up a freenas system for my dlna years ago and understood what I was doing then, but now I have no idea. Now I am a newbie again.
I used a NAS hard drive in an ancient intel computer (with no cd drive) and freenas on a usb drive. The usb failed. I have been trying all week to do a fresh install on a new usb drive, but the system is really old now and doesn't meet minimum RAM standards. It keeps getting stuck/hanging when trying to install and now I have corrupted all the usb drives in the house (Freenas installs have made them useless with less than 512kb available)
I have lost all knowledge of how to perform computer basics and I just want to access my files on the drive.
I have a newer computer that was gifted to me and I was planning on switching everything over before the usb failure happened. I wasn't going to use freenas when I switched computers as it is now over my head. (The new computer has windows 8 installed so I was just going to use that.) If I swap out the NAS now will I lose my data? Do I need to access it with Freenas? Or is there a way around that?
Could someone kindly point me in the right direction?

 

[Inxsible]

I set up a freenas system for my dlna years ago and understood what I was doing then, but now I have no idea.

Do you know if you used UFS or ZFS? What version of FreeNAS were you on ? Did you have a backup of the FreeNAS configuration?

 

[Koohwen]

The last version I remember was 8.something. I don't know if I backed up the configuration. If I did, I don't remember where I put it. I think maybe I used ZFS.

 

[Inxsible]

The last version I remember was 8.something. I don't know if I backed up the configuration. If I did, I don't remember where I put it. I think maybe I used ZFS.

Try getting a hand on an old installer. Don't use the latest as the minimum hardware requirements have changed. Although, without a configuration backup, I am not sure how much it will help.

Servers, including FreeNAS, are usually not an "install it and forget it" kind of a deal. It requires regular maintenance and backup.

 

[Inxsible]

Here's the archive of FreeNAS all the way back to 8.2.0. Check which one will install first.

https://archive.freenas.org/

Also, don't go about clicking stuff too. You should ask questions on the forum before doing anything if you are unsure, as doing something wrong will guarantee losing the data even if there is a remote chance of getting your data currently.

 

[PhiloEpisteme]

I used a NAS hard drive in an ancient intel computer

How many data drives did you have in your machine?

 

[Koohwen]

Servers, including FreeNAS, are usually not an "install it and forget it" kind of a deal. It requires regular maintenance and backup.

I agree. Which is why I had planned on getting everything moved when I realized I couldn't keep up.

How many data drives did you have in your machine?

Just the one.

Here's the archive of FreeNAS all the way back to 8.2.0. Check which one will install first.

Thank you.

Also, don't go about clicking stuff too. You should ask questions on the forum before doing anything if you are unsure, as doing something wrong will guarantee losing the data even if there is a remote chance of getting your data currently.

Ok. Thanks. When I get another usb drive I'll start here.

 

[Koohwen]

I can't just plug the drive into the new computer and use windows to retrieve somehow? Or what about turning the data drive into an external hd with one of those adapter things?

 

[PhiloEpisteme]

I can't just plug the drive into the new computer and use windows to retrieve somehow? Or what about turning the data drive into an external hd with one of those adapter things?

You could plug the drive into another machine running ZFS and try to import it that way, assuming you're using ZFS per the discussion above. I would advice that you try to recover your data through FreeNAS though as it will know exactly what import options and flags to set etc. I would advice against using any kind of external HD adapter whatsoever. They can be flaky and add another hardware layer between your drive the the OS introducing more opportunity to corrupt data or totally trash your drive.

I agree with @Inxsible, before you do anything feel free to post here for advice etc to help avoid any accidental mishaps. If you're data drive is in good physical working order and you didn't use encryption or you have all of the keys backed up it is very possible you can get your data back. First step IMO would be to try to get FreeNAS installed back on that machine with the older version posted above.