Need help with data recovery please

Gulelin

Junior Member
Jun 21, 2005
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Hello, and thanks for reading this.

I had a RAID 1 set up via my mobo's onbaord RAID controller, a SIL3114. Something happened which cause Windows to crash on this PC, and I'm not sure what. I remember seeing a message that something failed to install on "E" (which was the RAID drive letter). I rebooted and Windows was done. I was able to repair the installation, but afterwards the RAID wasn't available. I rebooted, told the utility to rebuild the RAID using one of the disks, then got to desktop. The RAID was functioning, but Windows doesn't show the driver letter.

I have played around with this quite a bit, and I still haven't messed with one of the drives (the other was formated through experimentation). I am pretty sure the data is there, but I can't seem to get at it. I can initialize the disk in Disk Management, but Windows won't try to read it unless I format it. I downlaoded this VirtualLab software that promised free data recovery, and according to the program the data is all still there, not even marked as deleted. I just can't get at it. The program wants outrageous amounts of money to get the data back, and I don't even know that it will work. It *looks* like the right files, but I have no gaurantee that they'll be uncorrupted if I fork out the cash.

Can anyone help? I am wondering if there is another way to get at this data that I am not thinking of.

I currently have the single drive that I haven't messed with set up as a JBOD in the RAID, but the drive still can't be initialized without a format. It doesn't show up this way as accesable, and if I try to hook it up as a regular drive I get a boot failure message.
 

Laputa

Golden Member
Jan 18, 2000
1,775
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So the Windows installation is on the RAID volume or it's on a separate drive? Assuming it's on a separate drive. Formatting the 2nd drive in the RAID will likely tosted one half of your chance of getting your data. Then initializing the other one means that you are likely going to get a RAW recovery. I hope it's not a Zero out initialization. If this RAID is actually a stripe set, the data is tosted since the other half is history. Hope yours is a real RAID 1 and you can probably get that with Get Data Back, but it's likely going to be a RAW where all the files may lost it's names and parent folder info.
 

Gulelin

Junior Member
Jun 21, 2005
6
0
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It was a RAID 1 setup (mirrored), and the OS install was on a seperate disk. I'm not really concerned about the file names and parent folders so much as I am about the digital photos. I had photos that aren't backed up elsewhere on that RAID (it was mirrored, that was the point), and I want those back more than anything.

I assume that Get Data Back is a recovery program? I'll go out and look for that...thanks for your help!
 

corkyg

Elite Member | Peripherals
Super Moderator
Mar 4, 2000
27,370
239
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A RAID 1 array can be broken up and run as a single drive. If you have another HDD, install the OS on it, then connect each of the former RAID 1 drives as a separate HDD and you should be able to recover your imagery. Whatever you do, don't format either former RAID 1 drive.

Yes, DataBack is RAID recovery software.