Hard drive data recovery

dolly · 07-08-2006

I had a hard drive fail yesterday. Wouldn't boot at all.
I have now put a new system on another drive and have been trying to access the data off the drive that failed.
When it is on the secondary IDE channel, it is recognised as a drive but when I try to access it, it says the drive needs to be formatted first.
When it is in an external (usb) box, it is recognised and just freezes the system.
Does anyone know of any decent (free or cracked) tools that could help me get the data of this drive. My CD list is on there, countless photos of the kids, address book, documents, emails, favourites etc.

Dolly

GaRHaR · 07-08-2006

Cracked...not a chance of finding that info on here

But there is a nice easy program
takes a while to recover the data, but if you put it on the second IDE channel, you should be able to access it

Then i suggest you throw the HDD away, and get a new one.

http://www.tech-pro.net/active-backup.html

This software is supposed to be pretty good. They used to do a program i've used called GetBack, but they discontinued it, for this "more powerful" program (according to them) Give it a try, and see if it recognises the drive.

Good Luck.

dolly · 07-08-2006

Thanks GaRHaR

Dolly

ih8bills · 07-08-2006

Before you go spending money on a recovery program... I would try running Windows Setup from the CD... if the drive spins up- it could be as simple as a hosed Master-Boot-Record.... if you can get it to boot for 1 last time you could easily pull all the special stuff off there.
You could use the recovery console or setup itself (do a repair install). If the drive's not COMPLETELY shot (won't spin up) you should be able to get that data...

If it is not mechaninically working --you can STILL recover those files-- but at that point it becomes "how much are you willilng to spend" Data recovery services are expensive.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...060300147.html

Before it failed-- were you hearing any strange noises (grinding/buzzing/clicking) anything out of the ordinary??

joe5 · 07-09-2006

You could have a look at these:

http://www.partition-recovery.com/
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/fil...d,22917,00.asp
http://www.r-tt.com/
http://www.winplanet.com/file/28237.htm
http://www.stellarinfo.com/
http://www.ontrack.com/
http://www.grc.com/spinrite.htm
http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/uk/download.htm

07-08-2006	#1
dolly Bronze Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 4	Hard drive data recovery I had a hard drive fail yesterday. Wouldn't boot at all. I have now put a new system on another drive and have been trying to access the data off the drive that failed. When it is on the secondary IDE channel, it is recognised as a drive but when I try to access it, it says the drive needs to be formatted first. When it is in an external (usb) box, it is recognised and just freezes the system. Does anyone know of any decent (free or cracked) tools that could help me get the data of this drive. My CD list is on there, countless photos of the kids, address book, documents, emails, favourites etc. Dolly

07-08-2006	#2
GaRHaR Tech Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Western Australia Posts: 6,068 PC Experience: Elite PC Guru	Cracked...not a chance of finding that info on here But there is a nice easy program takes a while to recover the data, but if you put it on the second IDE channel, you should be able to access it Then i suggest you throw the HDD away, and get a new one. http://www.tech-pro.net/active-backup.html This software is supposed to be pretty good. They used to do a program i've used called GetBack, but they discontinued it, for this "more powerful" program (according to them) Give it a try, and see if it recognises the drive. Good Luck. __________________ < Prework \| PSU Calculator \| PCHF Rules \| Microsoft Knowledge Base \| Guru 3D \| Toms Hardware \| Blackle.com - Spread the word! >

07-09-2006	#5
joe5 Elite Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Netherlands Posts: 9,025	You could have a look at these: http://www.partition-recovery.com/ http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/fil...d,22917,00.asp http://www.r-tt.com/ http://www.winplanet.com/file/28237.htm http://www.stellarinfo.com/ http://www.ontrack.com/ http://www.grc.com/spinrite.htm http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/uk/download.htm __________________ - PCHF Team. - (NL) - Mal-ware Eradicator! - - Online AV Scans - HijackThis! - Bootdisk.com - ATF-Cleaner - Stinger - 'Prework' - 'Afterwork' - PCHF Rules - Donate to PCHF. And get>

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07-08-2006	#4
ih8bills Tech Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: coastal Rhode Island Posts: 4,633 PC Experience: More Stubborn than any PC	Before you go spending money on a recovery program... I would try running Windows Setup from the CD... if the drive spins up- it could be as simple as a hosed Master-Boot-Record.... if you can get it to boot for 1 last time you could easily pull all the special stuff off there. You could use the recovery console or setup itself (do a repair install). If the drive's not COMPLETELY shot (won't spin up) you should be able to get that data... If it is not mechaninically working --you can STILL recover those files-- but at that point it becomes "how much are you willilng to spend" Data recovery services are expensive. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...060300147.html Before it failed-- were you hearing any strange noises (grinding/buzzing/clicking) anything out of the ordinary??