Nearly dead hard drive, need a little help.

Streeteh · 07-09-2009, 12:55

My sisters laptop hard drive has sadly bitten the dust. I have a replacement on the way but i'm currently going through the chore of trying to retrieve whatever i can from the old drive. Windows won't let me even access the drive, it shows in my computer but the capacity isn't visible and explorer hangs when i double click/right click on the drive.

I tried a trial of some software called recover my files which did actually manage to get into the hard drive and even allowed me to view some of her photos and music files so the hard drive definitely isn't completely dead. Unfortunately recover my files seems to be designed for recovering deleted files; it won't let me just copy existing files away to another drive. Ideally i need some software that will access the drive much in the same way as recover my files but will just let me copy the files to another drive. A small price would be ok but ideally some free software would be perfect (recover my files costs a whopping $70 so it's kinda out of the question on that front too)

Cheers in advance for any advice.

Mark · 07-09-2009, 13:06

If you are in any way familiar with Linux, then the first thing to do is to clone the entire drive (or at least as much as you can), with a tool like dd_rescue. You can then attempt recovery from the clone.

The reason for doing this is simple - firstly you want to access the failing drive as little as possible, and secondly you have a backup in case a recovery attempt makes things worse. Direct attempts at recovery from the failing drive might just kill it for good.

From there, there are various tools you can use to attempt to get the files back. Daz is more of an expert in that area than I am.

Daz · 07-09-2009, 13:36

Can only echo Mark really. Do nothing to the drive that doesn't involve making a full clone of it, then ideally make a copy of the clone, then you can get to work.

Trinity Rescue Kit is a good distro that comes loaded with pretty much all the tools you'll need, and some decent documentation. It also has some useful startup options, like mounting all the disks it can find and sharing them over the network automatically.

If you're happy to try some Linux tools then it certainly wont cost you anything.

Streeteh · 07-09-2009, 13:46

Cheers guys, looks like i'm reinstalling ubuntu

Admiral Huddy · 07-09-2009, 13:59

I have a copy of PE builder handy with Recuva which you can boot from CD. Very handy when recovering data.

Daz · 07-09-2009, 14:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Streeteh

Cheers guys, looks like i'm reinstalling ubuntu

Dont need to install it, could do it all off a live CD

Not that I wouldn't encourage it's use you understand

Streeteh · 07-09-2009, 14:27

Just had a quick go with Trinity Rescue Kit, impressive piece of kit but it effectively gave up on the drive. I'm considering doing the same tbh, i've been telling her to buy an external HDD and backup her stuff for over a year now but she's ignored me. Fortunately i backed up all her photos and documents about 2 months ago.

Gonna call it a day and look into getting linux up and running again tomorrow for one last big push. Thanks for the advice guys, i may well end up back in here clueless once again.

07-09-2009, 12:55	#1
Streeteh Vodka Martini Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Kingston Posts: 862	Nearly dead hard drive, need a little help. My sisters laptop hard drive has sadly bitten the dust. I have a replacement on the way but i'm currently going through the chore of trying to retrieve whatever i can from the old drive. Windows won't let me even access the drive, it shows in my computer but the capacity isn't visible and explorer hangs when i double click/right click on the drive. I tried a trial of some software called recover my files which did actually manage to get into the hard drive and even allowed me to view some of her photos and music files so the hard drive definitely isn't completely dead. Unfortunately recover my files seems to be designed for recovering deleted files; it won't let me just copy existing files away to another drive. Ideally i need some software that will access the drive much in the same way as recover my files but will just let me copy the files to another drive. A small price would be ok but ideally some free software would be perfect (recover my files costs a whopping $70 so it's kinda out of the question on that front too) Cheers in advance for any advice. __________________ PSN & Live! ID: Streeteh

07-09-2009, 13:36	#3
Daz The Stig Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Swad! Posts: 10,713	Can only echo Mark really. Do nothing to the drive that doesn't involve making a full clone of it, then ideally make a copy of the clone, then you can get to work. Trinity Rescue Kit is a good distro that comes loaded with pretty much all the tools you'll need, and some decent documentation. It also has some useful startup options, like mounting all the disks it can find and sharing them over the network automatically. If you're happy to try some Linux tools then it certainly wont cost you anything. __________________ apt-get moo

07-09-2009, 13:46	#4
Streeteh Vodka Martini Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Kingston Posts: 862	Cheers guys, looks like i'm reinstalling ubuntu __________________ PSN & Live! ID: Streeteh

07-09-2009, 13:59	#5
Admiral Huddy HOMO-Sapien Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Chelmsford Posts: 6,692	I have a copy of PE builder handy with Recuva which you can boot from CD. Very handy when recovering data. __________________ I just got lost in thought.. It was very unfamiliar territory. Techie Talk \| My gaming Blog \| PC spec \| The Admirals log

07-09-2009, 14:27	#7
Streeteh Vodka Martini Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Kingston Posts: 862	Just had a quick go with Trinity Rescue Kit, impressive piece of kit but it effectively gave up on the drive. I'm considering doing the same tbh, i've been telling her to buy an external HDD and backup her stuff for over a year now but she's ignored me. Fortunately i backed up all her photos and documents about 2 months ago. Gonna call it a day and look into getting linux up and running again tomorrow for one last big push. Thanks for the advice guys, i may well end up back in here clueless once again. __________________ PSN & Live! ID: Streeteh

07-09-2009, 13:06	#2
Mark Screaming Orgasm Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Newbury Posts: 15,194	If you are in any way familiar with Linux, then the first thing to do is to clone the entire drive (or at least as much as you can), with a tool like dd_rescue. You can then attempt recovery from the clone. The reason for doing this is simple - firstly you want to access the failing drive as little as possible, and secondly you have a backup in case a recovery attempt makes things worse. Direct attempts at recovery from the failing drive might just kill it for good. From there, there are various tools you can use to attempt to get the files back. Daz is more of an expert in that area than I am.