Harddrives That Aren't Readable

[DasFox]

A friends hard drive died, and when I plug it into my pc and try to access it, it's not accessible.

If a hard drive dies as long as it's not a mechanical failure, but rather dead clusters, is there any software that can make the drive readable again so you can recover data off of it?

THANKS

 

[shortylickens]

File Scavanger. It worked for me.

After you get your stuff back do a format and disk scan and let it mark all the bad sectors.
Actually, I recommend you simply get a new drive. No sense in taking chances.

 

[RebateMonger]

I'm not sure what you mean by "it's not accessible". Have you tried the drive manufacturer's diagnostic software? If the drive is truly "not accessible", then software can't do anything for you.

If you can detect a hard drive and can read some sectors, then
GetDataBack
has a good reputation for recovering what's left. You install the drive as a secondary hard drive and run the program on a working system drive.

 

[DasFox]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger
I'm not sure what you mean by "it's not accessible". Have you tried the drive manufacturer's diagnostic software? If the drive is truly "not accessible", then software can't do anything for you.

If you can detect a hard drive and can read some sectors, then
GetDataBack
has a good reputation for recovering what's left. You install the drive as a secondary hard drive and run the program on a working system drive.

I plugged the drive into my desktop pc, started it up, clicked on My Computer then clicked on the drive, and I got a popup saying the drive is inaccessible, that's what I mean.

So at this point in time I'm not sure if it's inaccessible because of some mechanical failure or clusters dead that won't allow me access, and I was wondering if it was bad clusters if there was some type of data recovery software that could still make it accessible so I can pull off some data my friend forgot to backup.

THANKS

 

[shortylickens]

Go to ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS..... COMPUTER MANAGEMENT..... DISK MANAGEMENT and tell me what you see for drives.

If they arent showing up go to CONTROL PANEL..... SYSTEM.... HARDWARE...... DEVICE MANAGER.... and open the DISK DRIVES tree.
Tell me what you see there.

 

[DasFox]

Originally posted by: shortylickens
Go to ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS..... COMPUTER MANAGEMENT..... DISK MANAGEMENT and tell me what you see for drives.

If they arent showing up go to CONTROL PANEL..... SYSTEM.... HARDWARE...... DEVICE MANAGER.... and open the DISK DRIVES tree.
Tell me what you see there.

It shows up in system...

Here are some screen shots of it:

Device Manager:
http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/4180/f3pq2.jpg

My Computer - F Drive:
http://img122.imageshack.us/img122/8664/f1gd5.jpg

Disk Management:
http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/3391/f2jo6.jpg

 

[JackMDS]

Try this program, http://www.majorgeeks.com/Acro...ector_Suite_d2889.html

 

[DasFox]

Originally posted by: JackMDS
Try this program, http://www.majorgeeks.com/Acro...ector_Suite_d2889.html

THANKS, but "Try" doesn't sound very promising, I was looking for something more like, "Use this it will work"

I'd hate to have to install heaps of software through trial and error to find something, if there is something...

Like I said before if the drive doesn't have a mechanical failure and only dead clusters that make it inaccessible is there any software to make it accessible?

 

[shortylickens]

Originally posted by: DasFox

Originally posted by: JackMDS
Try this program, http://www.majorgeeks.com/Acro...ector_Suite_d2889.html

THANKS, but "Try" doesn't sound very promising, I was looking for something more like, "Use this it will work"
I'd hate to have to install heaps of software through trial and error to find something, if there is something...

Thats your problem. Not ours. Please fix your rectal/cranial inversion. You came in and asked for advice. Thats what we're giving you: Advice. If you wanna mail the drive and pay one of us to fix it for you I suspect that could be aranged as well.
We've already provided some suggestions. Try them or.....
You need to get up, open the door, breathe some fresh air and take the thing to a fix-it shop.
Anandtech isnt Kindergarden. Much like Jesus we help people who help themselves.
As far as the "heaps of software" goes, dont worry. There aren't heaps of software to fix your problem so you wont be able to spend a whole week installing programs and uninstalling them. One afternoon should be more than enough.
I told you File Scavanger worked for me. Try it yourself.
END RANT

P.S. Thank you for the pics, that was actually very helpful. I think my suggested software would really help you out here.

 

[JackMDS]

DasFox

There is a sure ways to get every thing back it would cost thousands $$$.

Accountants, and lawyers use these services since in there case it doe not matter how much is cost losing the content can mean losing their business.

If your friend is willing to pony, up I would give him a link.

Otherwise, try is only viable word/concept.

P.S Acronis Disk Director, and True Image, are two applications that No serious user should be without.

I was nice to you by pointing you to a trial. You can easily avoid uninstalling it and save 20 sec. by buying the two applications.

Here is a good price (first two), http://www.newegg.com/Product/...tion=acronis&x=17&y=33

 

[RebateMonger]

The safest thing to do is to grab whatever data you can, in a Read-Only fashion. I'd use GetDataBack, but it's certainly not the only software available. You can use the trial version if you just want to see what's recoverable.

After you've grabbed what you can, you can attempt to analyze and repair (if necessary) the drive using the drive manufacturer's diagnostics software.

A quick UseNet search of your posted error message shows some people recommending something as simple as a Chkdsk f: /R command. But any repair attempt COULD cause more problems. I'd play it safe and see what I can grab first. That's what I did for my last client, even though it APPEARED that a FixMBR command from the Recovery Console might have fixed the thing.

 

[DasFox]

Originally posted by: shortylickens

Originally posted by: DasFox

Originally posted by: JackMDS
Try this program, http://www.majorgeeks.com/Acro...ector_Suite_d2889.html

THANKS, but "Try" doesn't sound very promising, I was looking for something more like, "Use this it will work"
I'd hate to have to install heaps of software through trial and error to find something, if there is something...

Thats your problem. Not ours. Please fix your rectal/cranial inversion. You came in and asked for advice. Thats what we're giving you: Advice. If you wanna mail the drive and pay one of us to fix it for you I suspect that could be aranged as well.
We've already provided some suggestions. Try them or.....
You need to get up, open the door, breathe some fresh air and take the thing to a fix-it shop.
Anandtech isnt Kindergarden. Much like Jesus we help people who help themselves.
As far as the "heaps of software" goes, dont worry. There aren't heaps of software to fix your problem so you wont be able to spend a whole week installing programs and uninstalling them. One afternoon should be more than enough.
I told you File Scavanger worked for me. Try it yourself.
END RANT

P.S. Thank you for the pics, that was actually very helpful. I think my suggested software would really help you out here.

Wooo Cowboy, CHILL!

I said THANKS at the beginning of my reply. I'm a pc geek a I know the deal with forums and advise, I was just hoping I'd run into someone that has been down this road before, it's not anything unusual, so that is why my reply.

Anyhow I'll try Acronis, they do make good software.

THANKS THANKS THANKS ....

 

[shortylickens]

Forgive me, I have George Costanza's "ANGRY LITTLE MAN" syndrome.

 

[DasFox]

Originally posted by: shortylickens
Forgive me, I have George Costanza's "ANGRY LITTLE MAN" syndrome.

LMAO, that's GREAT!

Hmm I think I get that too from time to time...

So is Acronis still the best shot guys?

THANKS

 

[vailr]

Another approach would be to find another identical drive, and swap out the drive's circuit board.
That's going on the assumption that: the drive is OK, but the controller circuit board is bad.

 

[DasFox]

Originally posted by: vailr
Another approach would be to find another identical drive, and swap out the drive's circuit board.
That's going on the assumption that: the drive is OK, but the controller circuit board is bad.

Don't have another drive...

 

[0roo0roo]

heh u need the monies to buy another identical drive for the .1% chance that it will work

next time use corbian/syncback to keep double copies of stuff you want protected over two physical drives. makes inevitable hd death less painful.

 

[DasFox]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
heh u need the monies to buy another identical drive for the .1% chance that it will work

next time use corbian/syncback to keep double copies of stuff you want protected over two physical drives. makes inevitable hd death less painful.

THANKS 0roo0roo syncback looks nice.

Oooo Freeware version too.

http://www.2brightsparks.com/syncback/syncback-hub.html

 

[0roo0roo]

yup, its saved me on occasion.
google up googles harddrive study if you haven't already seen the horror

 

[Synomenon]

Something that might help is "SpinRite". It's not free, but it has helped me bring dead drives back temporarily so I can recover the data on them.

 

[DasFox]

Originally posted by: IsLNdbOi
Something that might help is "SpinRite". It's not free, but it has helped me bring dead drives back temporarily so I can recover the data on them.

What SpinRite from GRC?

So far I have used FileScavenger, and I was going to also try GetDataBack, any other suggestions?

THANKS

 

[DasFox]

Anyone on my last reply? SpinRite is good?

THANKS

 

[RebateMonger]

Here's an article about SpinRite from a data recovery standpoint:

Why Spinrite is not on my list.

The site, http://myharddrivedied.com, is run by a recovery and forensics person. There's some interesting information about drive recovery there, along with links to several videos on YouTube.com that discuss hard drive failures.

SpinRite has been around a LONG time. I was using it to "repair" failing Seagate drives in 1987. As the author suggests, I wouldn't use it for data recovery because it scans and writes to the failing hard drive.

 

[Narmer]

http://www.recovermyfiles.com/

 

[DasFox]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger
Here's an article about SpinRite from a data recovery standpoint:

Why Spinrite is not on my list.

The site, http://myharddrivedied.com, is run by a recovery and forensics person. There's some interesting information about drive recovery there, along with links to several videos on YouTube.com that discuss hard drive failures.

SpinRite has been around a LONG time. I was using it to "repair" failing Seagate drives in 1987. As the author suggests, I wouldn't use it for data recovery because it scans and writes to the failing hard drive.

Ahh good stuff thanks, I'm not going to use it, because the hard drive has some sort of failure to it.

So far I have only used File Scavenger on it, and it couldn't recover quite a bit of it due to corruption.

Where is this NTFSExplorer that the author mentions in that SpinRite article, I'd like to look at this.

THANKS