Hard drive crash...I need a file from it

[El Guaraguao]

toshiba 2.5" 80gb hdd

apparently its a common issue with this specific hdd -

http://www.datacent.com/datarecovery/hdd/toshiba/MK8034GSX+HDD2D38+80GB

I had the same symptoms listed in that article. Looks and sounds like a bad head. So I did some more searching to see if it is possible to recover some data off this broken hdd. I came across this site -

http://geekyprojects.com/storage/how-to-recover-data-from-a-broken-hard-drive/

Has anyone ever froze their hdd and able to recover data off the broken hdd?

 

[Zap]

Yes. It worked for me once, but not other times.

Here's something to consider. How much is that data worth to you? The reason is that ANYTHING YOU DO YOURSELF TO TRY RECOVERING DATA MIGHT PERMANENTLY LOSE IT. If it is super, super, super important to you, pay a professional to do the work. If you could live with not getting that file forever, then give it a shot.

 

[C1]

Recommended steps are:
- Cease all attempts at booting/using this drive
- I immediately boot from an imaging CD (Drive Copy or Partition Commander & toggle the drive to non-bootable status)
- Remove it from the notebook then install it in an external enclosure (better off an actual SATA or IDE controller)
- Plug the external enclosure into a known good computer to see if it will register & be seen so that you can copy as many files off as possible (in this case I would orient the drive upside down whenever it is running)

If the drive cannot be seen or it will not register, then you have traversed beyond probably what anybody can help you with except a formal & expensive data recovery service.

As a last gasp, I would hook the drive to a suitable internal controller & let the free download "SeaTools" have a look at it. (if you can afford it "SpinRight" is preferred.)

 

[Red Squirrel]

Just for a very quick ballpark figure a data recovery place will cost you from 500 to several k. In some cases, it's worth it, but only you can really decide. Some places will actually let you send the drive then they'll give you an estimate based on the circumstances. I would give that a shot, if the file is very very important and it happens to be a quick easy $500 job then it may be very well worth it.

 

[spotdog]

copy the old drive to another by sector to sector copy, then operate on the target drive, don't try to recover from the original drive directly. If you want to recover files by yourself, the precondition is that the drive can be detected.
Don't open the drive yourself.

 

[Russwinters]

Toshiba's don't respond well to freezer.

Please everyone, don't just go shoving your HDD into a freezer unless you can explain why the freezer makes a difference.


Basically the freezer is a coin toss (more like a dice roll, a 1000 sided dice roll where only a 546 will get you your data back)


It has to do with a few factors that take a really long time to explain.


Basically, if the file is important take it to a pro.

I can help with that, just PM me

 

[s1175290]

I've had luck with the freezer trick on a 2.5" laptop hard drive. I put it in a zip-lock bag for about 2 hours, and it worked for about 15 to 20 min. I did this about three times before I really started to worry about condensation.

Most of what I was after was music and media that I didn't really need, but wanted to retrieve.

 

[Russwinters]

Out of curiosity what brand HDD was this?

I suspect this 2.5inch you are talking about had a failing controller, and you could have likely cooled the controller chip down instead; so not to risk damaging the disks.

Or you could have replace the logic board + ROM/NVRAM (adaptives)



Regards,

 

[s1175290]

I tried to remember, but I'm not positive as it was about 2.5 years ago. The drive came out of a Toshiba laptop, but I'm almost positive it wasn't a Toshiba HD - I think Samsung but I'm not 100% positive.

 

[Russwinters]

Indeed, I am not familiar with Samsung 2.5inch HDD having rampant IC failure, but Fujitsu was having some big problems in 2006 with this, and people where putting them in freezer and they would come back to life for a short time, but of course when the CPU heated up again then it was dead again.

It was easily remedied without the freezer, you could make your own make shift heatsink and copy off the data safely.

 

[MunzMan]

Toshiba's don't respond well to freezer.

Please everyone, don't just go shoving your HDD into a freezer unless you can explain why the freezer makes a difference.


Basically the freezer is a coin toss (more like a dice roll, a 1000 sided dice roll where only a 546 will get you your data back)


It has to do with a few factors that take a really long time to explain.


Basically, if the file is important take it to a pro.

I can help with that, just PM me

How do we contact you?

MunzMan, you have responded to two very old threads. This one 8 years old.
Please make your own post in the storage sub-forum if you need help. Locking.
Usandthem