Lesson learnt

L

level200

Suspended / Banned
Messages
69
Edit My Images
No
My Hard disk has died on me :'( I have lost everything, even all my photos (raw) since I started photography.

Note to myself: back up!, back up!, back up!, back up!

John
 
level200 said:
My Hard disk has died on me :'( I have lost everything, even all my photos (raw) since I started photography.

Note to myself: back up!, back up!, back up!, back up!

John
Click to expand...


Are you sure its dead ? - lots of so called disk failures are just soft failures and most if not all of the data can be recovered.


if it still spins up i have a set of forensic / disk tools that i have success with.
 
don't despair, all is quite possibly not lost. As long as the drive surface hasn't been ploughed, there is a good chance that lots of the data can be recovered.

There are loads of places that do this sort of thing, not used one myself but a mate has just been very pleased with this lot...

www.disklabs.co.uk
 
Ouch, stories like that make me cringe. I hope you remember in future, I've got a friend who religiously refuses to backup anything and is consistantly suprised by dataloss.....

I'm just in the middle of buying a couple of 500Gb Western Digital or Samsungs to stick in my rig at home, just for backup purposes....
 
level200 said:
My Hard disk has died on me :'( I have lost everything, even all my photos (raw) since I started photography.

Note to myself: back up!, back up!, back up!, back up!

John
Click to expand...

If you want to post it to me I will try and save them for you. PM me and I will send you my address.

Phil
 
I'm really sorry to hear this, but don't despair.

Same thing happened to me a year or so back, 2 flippin' days before the new external hard drive I had on order arrived! :bang: I'd ordered it because of a horror story about not backing up and losing everything (double :bang:)

One of my tecchie pals not only sorted it but said that there's rarely a time when everything isn't recoverable from a hard drive. He's worked for large computer manufacturers for years, so I assume he knows what he's on with.

Good luck :)
 
If it's an IBM Hitachi and has th click of death, freezing the drive usually gives you enough time to get the data off it.

Or if its the contoller board that has died, and identical controller board off a doner drive can save the day.

Whats the make and model of the drive and what are the symptoms (is it spinning / cliking / grinding?)

Chris
 
A lesson for all of us who do not back up their files, and now that I have read of this happening I am going to buy myself an extra hard drive or whatever to back up my files instead of waiting until it is too late and thinking "damn I should have done straight away after reading about it".
 
All I can say is thank god for time machine on the Mac.

It automatically backs up everything when my external drive is connected and I am that careful that I back up my files on other comps too, like my work machine and my wifes laptop...just in case.

As many of the other posters have said it is more than likely that everything can be recovered, may cost you a few quid but if the data is priceless then i suppose it will be worth the hassle.
 
i dont do half the amount of photography as i would like to do time and skills lacking... but i have invested in a 400g iomega external hard drive, after having my pc die on me before, but was fortunate enough to have some guy retrieve my data for me. i dont have much, but there was a precious picture (and some graphic work on the pc) even though i have it printed, the thought it was gone forever broke my heart.
 
I sympathise with your loss. :(

A friend lost all his work last week, though his were original Photoshop art, but he had no backups at all. :(


There is a saying in IT circles, 'there are 2 types of people, those that have lost data, and those that will!'.


That reminds me, I'll have to get my external HD out. ;)
 
this is going to sound silly but.... Put the hdd in the fridge for about 12 hours and then try again. Sounds silly but i have had a few drives fail on me, and then work again after a trip to the fridge. They only seem to last a few hours, and then they need another trip, but it should be enough to get some of your data off!
 
Never delete off the CF card untill you have photos saved in two other places! Backing up to writable CD's not a good idea either as they have a relativly short life!
 
Dylanlewis2000 said:
this is going to sound silly but.... Put the hdd in the fridge for about 12 hours and then try again. Sounds silly but i have had a few drives fail on me, and then work again after a trip to the fridge. They only seem to last a few hours, and then they need another trip, but it should be enough to get some of your data off!
Click to expand...

I you try this - put the drive inside a vacuum sealed bag first. Electronics dont like condensation.
 
Nixtoo said:
Never delete off the CF card untill you have photos saved in two other places! Backing up to writable CD's not a good idea either as they have a relativly short life!
Click to expand...

Relative to what? as said in an earlier thread I've got CD's I wrote nine years ago I can still access, I don't have a nine year old hard drive that works.
 
I had exactly the same happen to me. I took the complete pc tower to the local computer shop who recovered everything off of it for £40 ! You can imagine my relief !
 
Can't remember the stats, but CDs start failing at around 6 months, or something equally as shocking. There are obviously exceptions to the rule, but writable CDs are notorious for corrupting, especially if people use biros and other unsuitable markers for writing on the discs.

Writable DVDs are better, particularly with decent brands, but I never use CDs for backups now.
 
Breaker said:
Can't remember the stats, but CDs start failing at around 6 months, or something equally as shocking. There are obviously exceptions to the rule, but writable CDs are notorious for corrupting, especially if people use biros and other unsuitable markers for writing on the discs.

Writable DVDs are better, particularly with decent brands, but I never use CDs for backups now.
Click to expand...

I think you may be a little of the mark there, have a read of the following from kodak

I think if CD's are stored correctly they will far outlast the technology that is available to read them.
 
Customers of e.g. svp.co.uk occasionally report rogue batches of previously reliable brands of media failing after just a few weeks.
 
My original Windows XP install disc started failing to read after a few months so i copied all to an unbranded disc. 6 years on I can still access it fine. My original Windows 95 disc ( from 1995) still works fine too. I also have loads of cd`s, both r and rw, going back over 7 or 8 years, all still fine.
I`ve heard many stories about cd`s and dvd discs failing after a year or two ( sometimes less) but never any real proof that this is a problem. I would imagine its more of a storage or mishandling ( ball point pen!!!!) problem that something wrong with the media.
But, if it can happen, it will, so it pays to duplicate everything you back up if it is that important to you.
Allan
 
anyone with a serious amount of important data should really be looking at a raid array in their pc. that way if one of the drives fail you have a mirror image on the other..
 
GavSt said:
anyone with a serious amount of important data should really be looking at a raid array in their pc. that way if one of the drives fail you have a mirror image on the other..
Click to expand...

I have two 500 gig internal drives,the os is on another,my photos are on one 500,how can I set my PC up to automatically back them up to the other?

Or can I not?

Thanks.
 
GavSt said:
anyone with a serious amount of important data should really be looking at a raid array in their pc. that way if one of the drives fail you have a mirror image on the other..
Click to expand...

Unfortunately i have seen far too many companies in the **** because a raid array had failed and destroyed the data set and they had no other form of backup - Good old tape is still the preferred backup medium although its in a different format (exabyte) to the original 1/2 inch reels, but it all depends on how much you value your data.
 
fracster said:
I have two 500 gig internal drives,the os is on another,my photos are on one 500,how can I set my PC up to automatically back them up to the other?

Or can I not?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

have a look at one of the disk imaging products such as Acronis or Symantec , they create a image while you are using the PC and can be scheduled.
 
Dogfish_magnet said:
have a look at one of the disk imaging products such as Acronis or Symantec , they create a image while you are using the PC and can be scheduled.
Click to expand...

Thanks,i`ll take a look at them..............:thumbs:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top