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Broken Hard Disk
Hi,
I hope that someone can help. I have a hard disk (20GB) that has stopped working. I dont think it even spins up and it is not recognised when booting. fdisk does not seem to recognise it either. I have tried it in more than one PC using different ide cables. Is there anything I can try to allow me to salvage the data? Now here is a lesson in backing up our data! Thanks |
#2
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"TS" writes:
Hi, I hope that someone can help. I have a hard disk (20GB) that has stopped working. I dont think it even spins up and it is not recognised when booting. fdisk does not seem to recognise it either. I have tried it in more than one PC using different ide cables. Is there anything I can try to allow me to salvage the data? Now here is a lesson in backing up our data! No doubt. There are data forensics people who (for a price) can get in there and retrieve your information. Keep in mind their pricing is set with a mind toward businesses who can clearly justify hundreds or sometimes thousands of dollars recovering such data that's irreplaceable and has a tangible hard dollar value. There's also software where you can do this yourself, but it's priced painfully as well. Best Regards, -- Todd H. http://www.toddh.net/ |
#3
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"Todd H." wrote in message ... "TS" writes: Hi, I hope that someone can help. I have a hard disk (20GB) that has stopped working. I dont think it even spins up and it is not recognised when booting. fdisk does not seem to recognise it either. I have tried it in more than one PC using different ide cables. Is there anything I can try to allow me to salvage the data? Now here is a lesson in backing up our data! No doubt. There are data forensics people who (for a price) can get in there and retrieve your information. Keep in mind their pricing is set with a mind toward businesses who can clearly justify hundreds or sometimes thousands of dollars recovering such data that's irreplaceable and has a tangible hard dollar value. There's also software where you can do this yourself, but it's priced painfully as well. Somehow I doubt software will help if the hardware has completely failed. First thing to do is to get the drive functioning so the system can recognize it. Then, if still necessary, software can be used to recover as much data as possible. If the same model, functioning drive can be found the drive controller PCB can sometimes be changed to restore the drive to enough functionality to recover most if not all of its data. Good luck. -- callsignviper The truth is out there. You just have to look in the right places and ask the right questions. |
#4
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"TS" wrote in message t...
Hi, I hope that someone can help. I have a hard disk (20GB) that has stopped working. I dont think it even spins up and it is not recognised when booting. fdisk does not seem to recognise it either. I have tried it in more than one PC using different ide cables. Is there anything I can try to allow me to salvage the data? Now here is a lesson in backing up our data! Thanks In PCWORLD (June 2003) they suggested using Ontrack's Data Recovery Center(www.ontrack.com) this cost then over $100. two other last-gasp suggestions they had where 1.)Place the disk in a ziploc freezer bag and pop it into the freezer for an hour. Cooling the disk can subtly change geometry of the head and platters, enabling the drive to pick up data for a brief period of time. Just have a new harddrive installed and some mirroring software like Norton Ghost ready to go to make a one-shot transfer of the old disk's contents. 2.)If the above does not work, with slim hope this might. Remove the cover of the harddrive with a Torx driver, then give the drive heads a gentle tap. Hook the drive to your system with the cover off and see if you can access the drive. hope this helps |
#5
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"TS" wrote in message t...
Hi, I hope that someone can help. I have a hard disk (20GB) that has stopped working. I dont think it even spins up and it is not recognised when booting. fdisk does not seem to recognise it either. I have tried it in more than one PC using different ide cables. Is there anything I can try to allow me to salvage the data? Now here is a lesson in backing up our data! Thanks here is a site has articles on recovering data http://www.howtorecoverdata.com/ including better instuctions on the freezer bag trick. |
#6
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"jamotto" wrote in message om... "TS" wrote in message t... Hi, I hope that someone can help. I have a hard disk (20GB) that has stopped working. I dont think it even spins up and it is not recognised when booting. fdisk does not seem to recognise it either. I have tried it in more than one PC using different ide cables. Is there anything I can try to allow me to salvage the data? Now here is a lesson in backing up our data! Thanks In PCWORLD (June 2003) they suggested using Ontrack's Data Recovery Center(www.ontrack.com) this cost then over $100. 2.)If the above does not work, with slim hope this might. Remove the cover of the harddrive with a Torx driver, then give the drive heads a gentle tap. Hook the drive to your system with the cover off and see if you can access the drive. Opening the drive cover and exposing the heads/disks to the usually dusty (can't be totally eliminated without a clean room) conditions inside a home is probably the worst thing that could ever be done to a hard drive that has any hope of data recovery. The heads in modern hard drives ride on an incredibly thin cushion of air over the disks. Any dust that might get caught between a head and a disk may easily destroy any reasonable, at home, data recovery attempt and possibly even at companies with clean rooms designed for hard drive disassembly and data recovery. Chapter 10 of Upgrading and Repairing PCs, 13TH Edition, has a very good description of modern hard drive design and operation. -- callsignviper The truth is out there. You just have to look in the right places and ask the right questions. |
#7
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"callsignviper" wrote in message news:KxYLb.16480$sv6.45821@attbi_s52...
"jamotto" wrote in message om... "TS" wrote in message t... Hi, I hope that someone can help. I have a hard disk (20GB) that has stopped working. I dont think it even spins up and it is not recognised when booting. fdisk does not seem to recognise it either. I have tried it in more than one PC using different ide cables. Is there anything I can try to allow me to salvage the data? Now here is a lesson in backing up our data! Thanks In PCWORLD (June 2003) they suggested using Ontrack's Data Recovery Center(www.ontrack.com) this cost then over $100. 2.)If the above does not work, with slim hope this might. Remove the cover of the harddrive with a Torx driver, then give the drive heads a gentle tap. Hook the drive to your system with the cover off and see if you can access the drive. Opening the drive cover and exposing the heads/disks to the usually dusty (can't be totally eliminated without a clean room) conditions inside a home is probably the worst thing that could ever be done to a hard drive that has any hope of data recovery. The heads in modern hard drives ride on an incredibly thin cushion of air over the disks. Any dust that might get caught between a head and a disk may easily destroy any reasonable, at home, data recovery attempt and possibly even at companies with clean rooms designed for hard drive disassembly and data recovery. Chapter 10 of Upgrading and Repairing PCs, 13TH Edition, has a very good description of modern hard drive design and operation. mmm, should have worded the suggestion differently thanks for pointing this out. Use the above option ONLY if A.)all other options have been exhausted. "VERY IMPORTANT" B.)You intend to not use the drive after this action is performed (read it's going in the trash if it does not work or if it does work) C.)If you have ANY uncertainties refer back to option "A" |
#8
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