Recovering Data From a DEAD Hard Drive

[Supra]

Hey guys,

My HDD has been clicking a lot recently, and today it finally gave out. Moving the drive slightly would cause it to spin up and down furiously, and I actually had it to the point where it attempted to load Windows, but froze shortly after. I know it's the HDD because it's been on its way out for a while now. I tried tapping it with a small flashlight (I've had to do it before and it worked), but the tapping turned into.. well.. I beat the hell out of it. So now the drive is really noisy and obviously still won't boot, and now that I put a 2nd drive in, the other one isn't even picked up by Windows.

So is there any specialists that can salvage the information from an otherwise completely useless HDD? Other than using software like GetDataBack, because as I said, the drive isn't even detected by Windows anymore.

Any help you can offer is great!!

 

[wahnula]

The key is can the drive be detected in BIOS? If so all is not lost. Connect it to a working Windows machine as SLAVE and see if you can get your data out. Or, make a BartPE or Knoppix CD to see if you can browse the contents. Have an external drive ready to go in the event you can see the data. You will want to recover it immediately.

wahnula

 

[Supra]

Hey wahnula,

You don't miss a post do you Well what you say gives me a bit of hope because the BIOS can see the drive sometimes but not always. Unfortunately, I already put a 2nd drive in (Master) and set the dead one to slave, but it doesn't show up. I'm not sure what BartPE or Knoppix are, but I'll Google those when I get home to see if I can recover my data. Thanks for the post!!!

 

[felixc]

If the drive can't be seen by BIOS, then the control board may be dead. If you're lucky the data on the platters may still be there.

If your data is REALLY important and priceless, there are companies that can recover the data from your disk. They will try first to take the control board from another working drive of the same model. (something that you or a skilled technician may try if you have another identical drive to spare.) They can also move the disks to another working drive of the same model, if the problem is mechanical. They can recover the usable data, if the boot sectors are damaged. But there's a price for all this.

 

[Supra]

Hi felixc,

That's what I was wondering about actually - if someone could get my stuff through other means. It's not even the applications I'm worried about, but rather the source code. I have written tons of applications that are now completely untouchable, and the last time I backed them up was years ago. It's the stuff I've done since then that I really want back. Do you happen to know a reputable company that does this, given that I can't get it back through software? Also, do you know what something like this would cost? And how would they deliver the information back to you - a series of CD's? I will still try the software that wahnula suggested, but I'd like to have more info on this as a last resort. Thanks for your time felixc!!!

 

[burtsbees]

I've replaced control boards myself with luck, SATA, even different models. But is it clicks and sometimes only gets recognized, I'd say that part of the info on the platters is done...don't try to remove the platters and put them into another drive yourself---they are EXTREMELY snsitive to static, dust, not to mention fingerprints (been there, done that!).

Burt

 

[ArizonaGeek]

You can try Wahnula's idea but it isnt cheap for data recovery from a dead hard drive. The cheapest could be thousands of dollars depending on how much damage is done to the platters but I saw a laptop hard drive damaged in a house fire cost more than $10,000 to recover. You can do a Google search and see that starting cost is around $300 but it'll be a rarity for that cheap. You'll have to call or email some of these companies for a quote. I'd be curious to see what they quote you, $300 would be VERY cheap, at least since I last looked into it a year and half ago or so.

Good luck!

Cheers
Rob

The answer is always "PEBKAC!

 

[Supra]

Ouch! I don't think the data is worth that much

Well I did some research and came across

http://www.deadharddrive.com

which, likes burtsbees said, talked about switching control boards with the same firmware. However, also as burtsbees said, the drive isn't *completely* dead - just mechanically ;| I also read something about putting the drive into the freezer for a while. Apparently the cold makes the parts contract and sort of "fall into place" until it heats up again. I'm a little nervous about this, because frost could arc 2 contacts together, but I guess if I wrap it in something and put that in a plastic case, it's worth a shot. I think I'll just skip the data recovery process if that fails and try to forget the endless amount of programs I've coded ;'(

Thanks for your posts and stay tuned for the result!

 

[ArizonaGeek]

I also read something about putting the drive into the freezer for a while.

I've done this as well. I put a 40 gig hard drive in a large plastic baggie, sucked out as much air as I could and stuck it in the freezer for a few hours. Hooked it up and it still didn't work. But on the bright side I've heard quite a few success stories from this trick. If you have an external USB hard drive case you could try that as well.

Guess the lesson here is, back up, back up and back up!

Cheers
Rob

The answer is always "PEBKAC!

 

[Supra]

Well no go on the freezer attempt, but I only left it in for an hour, so I plan to do 2 hours tomorrow. Hopefully this works because damn do I want some of that data back!!

 

[jurgen36]

Leave it in the freezer ovenight. You might have done more dammage as before with only a very short time. Some people leave the drive in the freezer for two day's. Good luck

Jurgen

 

[michaelcoulter]

If you can get the drive to be picked up in the BIOS and you have an old copy of ghost (dos based) you should be able to ghost the drive and then copy what you want back from the old drive to a new drive.

Had to do this myself when one of my drives started going - and it worked without a problem (just make sure you have plenty of DVD's or anothe drive to ghost it to!!)

 

[ArizonaGeek]

Leave it in the freezer overnight. You might have done more damage as before with only a very short time. Some people leave the drive in the freezer for two day's. Good luck

Longer you leave it the better chance you have of getting your stuff back. I have a feeling it is beyond recovery at this point but leaving it in for a day or two can't hurt. Good luck!

Cheers
Rob

The answer is always "PEBKAC!