Hard Drive Failure - HELP!

Magellan

Magellan

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Mike
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My sons built a new PC this week using new parts that he bought and some from his existing PC that were up to scratch. Included in this was buying a new Sata Hard Drive but he also wanted to use his 2 existing IDE Hard Drives.

He got the PC up and running with Windows installed on the Sata drive but had problems with the IDE’s. Windows said they weren’t formatted and Partition Magic labelled them as “Bad”. Thinking it was to do with his new system we put one in my system with a view to move the data off on to one of my hard drives, format his, then move the data back across and put the hard drive in his machine. When we tried this my machine said the same as his about them, Windows saying they needed formatting and Partition Magic saying they were “Bad”.

Obviously something’s gone wrong and the drives are corrupt but the data on them is very very important, Uni Work, Web Designs etc etc. Is there anyway of recovering the data at all? Any help is welcome.

Thanks in advance.
 
if the disk is showing up in MyComputer it might be worthwhile running a disk check on it and checking the recover bad sectors option...takes a while but I've had it recover disks long enough to get some if not all the data from them.

this might be of use as well:
http://www.sysresccd.org/Main_Page
 
You may be able to format the drive/s and get them working again, if you do then RescuePro which comes with Sandisk memory cards is very good at finding those deleted files though it's aimed at digital media. you can buy it seperately here http://www.lc-tech.com/buynow/rescueprobuynow.html but there are lots of other makes out there too.

I had a similar problem last year when a hard drive failed, it wasn't worth sending it off to a professional to get the data back and I found it impossible to find software to 'repair' it, a few that claimed to be able to couldn't even find/access it.

The only advice I can give now is a bit late but never never never trust anything important to a hard drive, make backups regularly.
 
You could try and get your files back by using one of the HDD file recovery programs, before or after you format it. I can recommend 'GetDataBack' ас I've used in the past, and it did its job exceptionally well. Try before formatting your hard drive. Here is the link to the latest version, 3.3: http://www.download.com/3000-2094_4-10750057.html
If your drive is formatted as NTFS, you'll need an NTFS version (link above), and FAT32 otherwise (http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Back-Up-and-Recovery/GetDataBack-For-FAT.shtml).
I believe even the trial version allows you to look at some of the files on bad HDD and (possibly) recover them.
 
Bit of a daft question but did he have them configured as a RAID system before ??
 
No, no RAID.

He's sorted it now, he did some research and found out it was most probably a partition that died making the disc unbootable but not loosing the data.

He’s now using a program called testdisk to copy the files he needs to another hard drive before formatting the old one and putting the files back on it. He’s also going to back everything up to disk finally.

Thanks for the help people.
 
tbh i'd bung it back into the machine it orginally came from and boot it up using a Linux LiveCD. Something like Knoppix would do the trick and then copy it all over.

Trust me, it works a treat. :)
 
why are people suggesting to format the drives then recover the data?
if you dont know the answer - dont guess (or post bad advice)


if the disk is showing up in MyComputer it might be worthwhile running a disk check on it and checking the recover bad sectors option...takes a while but I've had it recover disks long enough to get some if not all the data from them.
Click to expand...
this is good advice

if you can put the disks back in the computer they came from and read then then do so - then copy them - do not format them - if you have done so your data is gone unless you want to spend £000's getting it back
 
sportysnaps said:
why are people suggesting to format the drives then recover the data?
if you dont know the answer - dont guess (or post bad advice)


this is good advice

if you can put the disks back in the computer they came from and read then then do so - then copy them - do not format them - if you have done so your data is gone unless you want to spend £000's getting it back
Click to expand...

The format would repair the bad sectors then you can use recovery software to recover the uncorrupted stuff.
 
Hi all!

The posts on here last night; were actually my son (I was at work) I had told him in the past that there are some pretty clued up people on here. He, like most people his age thinks everything will just plug in and go. I think he was about to put a hammer through his new toy when he came on here. :bang:

He’s been up most of the night; transferring files, formatting, transferring back. It will take him most of the weekend to complete it I think, he lost two 200 GB drives and the software he’s using will only do so much at a time. Even then there are some other issues with the new machine he'll have to sort.

I would just like to add my thanks to everyone who responded so quickly and with good advice (as usual)

Thanks

Mike
 
sportysnaps said:
why are people suggesting to format the drives then recover the data?
if you dont know the answer - dont guess (or post bad advice)
Click to expand...

From successful experience.

Don't assume that other people don't know what they are talking about just because you don't agree with the answer.
 
I really wouldn't recommend formating a disk as part of the recovery process...depending how this is done it could render any previously recoverable data un-recoverable. A quick format would help in the re-creation of the MBR (this though would be better achieved by fixing under DOS with the fdisk /mbr command) but could have the consequence of making recovery take longer than necessary.

Formatting doesn't necessarily repair bad sectors either, it merely marks them as bad and doesn't subsequently use them when writing to the disk - if a sector on the disk can be repaired it is usually only done by deleting any data it contains, irrecoverably.
 
Update time: - He managed to recover all the files he wanted, but when he re-formatted the drives they were still seen as corrupted by both windows and partition magic. He has decided he does't trust them and has scrapped them and ordered another Western digital SATA 500 GB to replace them. He had already bought one of these; intending to run the two old ones along side it.

Mike
 
what make of drive are they?

Have a look on the manufacturers web site to download their drive test utilities which will scan the drives and report back on their condition. Also before binning them check that they aren't replaceable under warranty - if there is an error the software sometimes gives you an error code that the drives could be replaced under - sometimes the warranty can be more than the standard year.

Worth a shot?
 
He suspects that while preparing to shut down his old PC for the last time, he made an error whilst using partition magic to resize some existing partitions and create a new one ready to receive windows on the new computer. He didn’t reboot after making the changes; he just turned it off. We’ve used partition magic for years and this is the first cock up, but you always have to reboot to complete the changes you’ve made, could this be right?
 
It seems strange that two drives treated the same both died at the same time?


Mike
 
Magellan said:
He suspects that while preparing to shut down his old PC for the last time, he made an error whilst using partition magic to resize some existing partitions and create a new one ready to receive windows on the new computer. He didn’t reboot after making the changes; he just turned it off. We’ve used partition magic for years and this is the first cock up, but you always have to reboot to complete the changes you’ve made, could this be right?
Click to expand...

using partition magic to resize partitions that already have data on can be fraught with problems depending on the location of the data and how full the drive is...

yes, you do have to re-boot to affect any changes as this is the only time the BIOS can read the MBR to get sizes of partitions etc.
 
Magellan said:
It seems strange that two drives treated the same both died at the same time?


Mike
Click to expand...

a little odd, yes, but could just be an unhappy coincidence - perhaps the old machine didn't want to go quietly!
 
They were a bit tight on space, he had to move files from one to the other before making the changes. I still think the main problem lies with the 'not rebooting' issue.
His impatience has realy cost him! I went to the council tip today, he told me to take the remains of his old PC. He's just realised his latest football manager game was still in the disc drive. :puke:
 
Magellan said:
They were a bit tight on space, he had to move files from one to the other before making the changes. I still think the main problem lies with the 'not rebooting' issue.
Click to expand...

I think it will more than likely be because they were tight on space - I think PM likes a lot of space to be able to make partition size changes effectively.
 
Magellan said:
Update time: - He managed to recover all the files he wanted, but when he re-formatted the drives they were still seen as corrupted by both windows and partition magic. He has decided he does't trust them and has scrapped them and ordered another Western digital SATA 500 GB to replace them. He had already bought one of these; intending to run the two old ones along side it.

Mike
Click to expand...

Not meaning to teach one to suck eggs but "backup data" to more than one drive and do it often, even new drives fail.
 
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