For next time, when you have an external drive, you can boot from a live Linux CD or DVD and copy the surviving files to the external drive.  I have used Mepis Linux, although development seems to have stopped, it still works:

mepis.org

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The Wisdom of bagginsbill:

"Oh - the manual says that? I have never read the manual - this must be why."
“I could buy better software, but then I'd have to be an artist and what's the point of that?"
"The [R'osity Forum Search] 'Default' label should actually say 'Don't Find What I'm Looking For'".
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