Need a Spinrite Alternative

[JonTom]

My PVR HD has crashed. Purchasing Spinrite isn't really viable as $90 for a $99 HD is a bit too much. I never bothered backing up the data because it's only TV - no real biggy if I cant get it back but...

I've been recording Revelations and Angels in America so that I can watch them without waiting for new eps - I hate that. Now I've lost those, as well as everything else.

Is there a trial/share/freeware alternative to Spinrite that may help me get the data off this drive before I RMA it?

 

[JonTom]

WinXP shows the HD if I install it on an IDE controller, but shows it as unformatted. If I hook it up via SATA, (as it was when it crashed) then XP will not complete booting, and I hear lots of searching on that drive.

SageTV was recording to the drive, which was nearly full. It may have tried to keep recording after the drive filled up - could this have caused the problem?

MaxBlast says the drive is faulty and needs to be RMAed. SMART says it is healthy, as does Disk Management.

Any ideas on how to get the data off the drive?

 

[n0cmonkey]

Try that R-studio stuff. This isn't really a hardware issue.

 

[CQuinn]

This thread might be of help.

I came across it while doing a google search on Knoppix data recovery, and the
thread there gives a few other options for possible recovery paths.

I assume this was on a Windows XP, NTFS partition?

The crashing of the drive is a hardware issue, you say MaxBlast reccommends RMAing the drive...
Do you mean that it ran the Powermax utility and gave you a Diagnostic Code to use for RMA approval?
If so, then you might as well start the RMA process while you are recovering the data from the drive.

Can you boot into safe mode with the drive on SATA?
(Do you have an SATA-ATA adaptor, or does this drive have both types of connectors?)

 

[JonTom]

Originally posted by: CQuinn
This thread might be of help.

I came across it while doing a google search on Knoppix data recovery, and the
thread there gives a few other options for possible recovery paths.

Thanks I will check it out.

I assume this was on a Windows XP, NTFS partition?

Yes

The crashing of the drive is a hardware issue, you say MaxBlast reccommends RMAing the drive...
Do you mean that it ran the Powermax utility and gave you a Diagnostic Code to use for RMA approval?
If so, then you might as well start the RMA process while you are recovering the data from the drive.

Sorry, yes PowerMax, gave RMA code.

Can you boot into safe mode with the drive on SATA?

Don't know and don't know why I didn't try :disgust:

(Do you have an SATA-ATA adaptor, or does this drive have both types of connectors?)

Adapter - Serrilel II (sp?) from Abit w/ NF7-S (one SATA drive only connected)

 

[corkyg]

This often works with any hard drive - I have fixed a few with it.

DFT