Hard Drive crashed! Please help!!!

[Behind the Aegis]

I just knew there would be a support group here!!! OK..here is the issue....

A week or so ago, my secondary hard drive (several gigs) just stopped working. There was nothing I could do to get it back up. It has ALL my pictures on it! My partner is a computer person (works on servers and such). He tried to get it up and running, but to no avail. Then a buddy of his told him about "GHOST." He used that program and found that all my information is STILL there!!! YEA! So he goes to transfer it to my primary drive...not enough space. We order a new drive. It arrived to today. He tried to transfer again, but an error message told him he cannot (I don't remember the message). So, in essence, all the info is still there, but there is a mechanical problem with the drive itself. Anyone know how to circumvent this?

If you need more info, let me know and I will tell him to post here. I don't know all the technical jargon. But, I figured a quick overview might elicit some responses!

[welshTerrier2]

1. data recovery services

first, don't panic and shop around a little for the most reliable company ... there seems to be two types of hard drive recovery: physical recovery and logical recovery ... it sounds like you need a physical recovery ...

recovery services can be expensive ... you might end up paying between $100 and $1000 depending on the situation ... best guess would be closer to $300 but it really depends on the situation ...

don't continue trying to recover your own data ... sometimes you can make the recovery harder or even impossible ... where your drive may not be working at all, it probably won't matter what you do but play it safe ...

some recovery places don't charge you if they can't recover your data ... some charge by the amount of data ... some are good; some aren't ... i would talk to at least 2 or 3 places in your area to try to find one you trust ... check the phonebook for "data recovery services" ...

here's a place i found online (not a recommendation) that says they do "physical" recoveries: http://www.datarecoveryclinic.com/desktop_data_recovery.htm

and here's a page i googled: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=data+recovery+service+mechanical&btnG=Search

let us know how it turns out ... you'll spend some cash but you should be OK ...

[LiberalUprising]

2. Ghost does not work well

with a USB card, in my travels I've found ghost will only work with a built in USB port

[alfredo]

3. I addressed this issue earlier.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=242x2301

Find someone with Linux or OSX and some knowledge of the command line to use the linked hint. Any old time UNIX user can help. Look at the local college. Bribe them with food, booze, or money. Remove the drive and take it over to them.

[Behind the Aegis]

4. Right after I posted

I looked down and saw your post! I guess I should read before I post. :) I already took the info you put there and bookmarked the links.

I will let my partner know about the UNIX (I am not sure what that is). Thanks for your info!!! You have NO idea how much is appreciated! :toast:

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

7. Since it uses Unix code

could it run under Linux?

--I don't have a Mac, but I DO have Suse Linux Pro 6.2 x64...

[bemildred]

8. Most any Unix will have dd, it's very old.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

5. I do software-based recovery as part of my repair service

I have a couple machines set up specifically to recover data from hard drives.

Ghost is good, but there are others- if you want to clone your disk, I'd personally use Acronis, but it's Windoze-based and you have to have a recovery PC set up.

A last-gasp trick (to be used just before you pay the thousand bucks for hardware-based recovery) is to pull the hard drive, seal it into a ziplock baggie, and put it in the freezer for a couple hours. Sounds a bit bizarre, but it works. I've done successful data recoveries using this method more than a few times.

NOTE: Use this technique only if the hard drive is showing signs of imminent PHYSICAL failure-- new bad sectors showing up during consecutive scandisks, or grinding/clicking noises coming from the drive, or a complete failure of the bios to see the drive at bootup (usually accompanied by said noises). It's considered a last resort gimmick and it could possibly trash your hard drive beyond the use of other software-based recovery methods. (Although after doing it myself, the drive has always come back up (in the same state as before) after it's warmed and been turned off.)

[alfredo]

6. That sounds great.

The hint I posted clones the disk compressing it as a dmg. Take a look at it to see what you think of it.

I've heard that keeping your drives cool increases performance.