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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Hard Disk Recovery... what if
Paul Alesse, Photographer
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Centereach | NY | USA | Posted: 1:52 PM on 10.10.09 |
| ->> I have read and researched the threads on recovering files from a failed HD. Programs I have used in the past include GetBackData for FAT with success, but this program among others are contingent upon the disk mounting from the USB. My question is... What if the external drive won't even mount and be recognized by the operating system. Is there any way to recover the lost data from the corrupt drive other than the obvious expensive route? |
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Steven Ickes, Photographer
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Mechanicsburg | PA | USA | Posted: 3:31 PM on 10.10.09 |
->> Try a bootable Linux CD or USB drive. I just used Ubuntu Remix-Rescue on a USB thumbdrive with the failed hard drive still in the tower. I was easily able to see and mount the failed drive and copy data across to a portable USB hard drive. I was also able to scan for hardware problems and in this case simply needed to repair the Master Boot Record with TestDisk (included in the distribution) and reboot into Windows.
The downside of Rescue-Remix is that it is all command line based, no pretty GUI. However, there are many bootable distributions out there that do provide a nice GUI interface if you're more comfortable with that. |
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Eric Canha, Photographer
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Brockton | MA | United States | Posted: 3:54 PM on 10.10.09 |
->> Paul first thing that I would do is to replace the drive's power supply. If you have an external with a coaxial power plug you'll need to put the HD in a new enclosure. If you have an external with a 5 pin mini din try replacing the p/s with a known good unit.
If that fails and you are feeling adventuresome you can swap the PCB on the failed drive with one from AN EXACT matching donor drive. You have to match revisions and F/W version. If that still fails then you are down to component level repairs and for that you'd want to send it out. |
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Clark Brooks, Photo Editor, Photographer
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Urbana | IL | USA | Posted: 3:59 PM on 10.10.09 |
->> Remove the drive from external case and put into you desktop as a slave. That has worked for me in the past. If the disk formatted in a different OS you can find recovery apps on the web that will recover a linux formatted drive even if you are running XP or VISTA.
HTH |
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John Blankfort, Photographer
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Monterey | CA | USA | Posted: 4:04 PM on 10.10.09 |
->> Paul,
First question to ask yourself about any data recovery job is how important is the data. If it’s important, then the more you mess with it… the less chance that you will get your data back. It’s that simple.
Just the act of the drive spinning will reduce your chances with a professional data recovery service.
That said, it might be worth pulling the drive out of the housing and seeing if your machine will recognize the drive. If not, then you have a hardware problem and no software in the world is going to fix it. |
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Jody Gomez, Photographer
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Murrieta | CA | USA | Posted: 7:20 PM on 10.10.09 |
->> Paul,
I am by no means recommending that you do this but... I had a hard drive fail on me (it smells like it burned up and wouldn't mount with the usb), so I removed it from the outer case, threw it in a zip lock bag (making sure to get all the air out of it when I sealed it), and put it in the freezer. I was only supposed to leave it in for a couple hours, but I forgot about it and left it in over night. When I finally took it out, plugged it in, and connected it to my desktop, I was able to recover everything on it.
I know it was a risky move, but I couldn't afford to send it in, so I figured I had nothing to lose.
Jody
PS - interestingly enough - that hard drive still works whenever I get curious and fire it up, and it's been two years. |
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Paul Alesse, Photographer
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Centereach | NY | USA | Posted: 7:56 PM on 10.12.09 |
| ->> Thanks for the help guys. This is one of those WD My Books that we are talking about here. As far as I can tell, I can't even see where you can remove it from the casing. No visible screws or anything. When I power it up, it makes that clicking sound that is characteristic of all My Books, but after a couple of clicks on a normal WD drive, it mounts and Windows recognizes it. This clicks, and clicks,and clicks. Stops for like 15 seconds and then tries to click and click again and then gives up. |
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John Riddell, Photographer
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Toronto | ON | Canada | Posted: 8:28 PM on 10.12.09 |
->> Paul,
The clicking over & over is indicative of a head crash. One or more of your heads are damaged and the clicking is the armature going back & forth across the media to find the boot sector.
Running it anymore risks you damaging the surface of the media holding your data.
If you're ready to spend $1000-1500 for professional recovery, there is little more that can be done.
Sorry. |
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John Mummert, Photographer
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Far Hills | NJ | USA | Posted: 8:50 PM on 10.12.09 |
->> Try Data Rescue II or III. You can download a trail copy and it will scan the disk and let you know what it can recover. If the files you want/need are recoverable then you can pay the $99 for the license. It worked for me for a drive OSX said it could not mount.
Thanks
John |
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