Crashed Hard Disk - Data Recovery?

Dry Ice · 18th June 2009, 21:39

@Netfreak
Man, don't scare me!!! 7-8k?? Isn't that too much? But then, I have no idea of the stuff, so..

@SirAlec
Thank you so much for the support, will revert back with the result soon. And thanks a ton for the offer. Appreciate it!!

rm_arjuna · 14th September 2009, 12:03

I lost my personal pics while formatting , the backup was not done properly . now windows has been reinstalled . Tired recovering lost pics , am able to locate the pics however unable to save .

Pls suggest a freeware which can be used to extract and save to my HD .

I tried recovery with Recover my file .exe . pls help

SirAlec · 15th September 2009, 02:03

^^^^
data recovery is serious business, and none of the freeware that i came across are worth a mention.

the one you used is a very good software, its a shareware though. You have to pay to unlock it.

vivekiny2k · 15th September 2009, 09:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nitin

A quick question:

I had mentioned earlier that my desktop's HD crashed a long time ago.Fellow BHPian Mohit was kind enough to send me all the info I needed on the Dell Dimension 2300 system I have.
I'm sure its possible to use an external hard drive on a desktop.How feesible is this? What are the pros & cons? Also, assuming the connection is through a USB cable, won't the system be real slow (and probably hang a zillion times) ?

Normally it's a one time job. after that you can only backup incrementally. I wrote a blog about data safety from an end user's view. You can see ROBOCOPY is a very useful tool to backup data.

height of coincidences, my external HDD was corrupted the "moment" I wiped out my laptop to reinstall vista, on top of it, in the same week that I wrote the blog

. Lost around 15 days of work, restored everything else from my third backup.

vbnadgir · 15th September 2009, 10:34

My Secondary HDD was corrupted last week and i had thousands of personal photos on it. I ran a quick format ( from win XP) and used an open source data recovery tool 'TestDisk' ( TestDisk - CGSecurity ) to recover lost data. I could recover all the lost data, however when i recovered the file names was assigned dynamically by software. Any way got back what i thought was lost. You may give a try and share your experience.

Regards,
Vj

rm_arjuna · 15th September 2009, 11:05

I recovered all my files using PC Inspector , downloaded from net it is a freeware .

rjstyles69 · 15th September 2009, 12:30

Am sailing in the same boat now. Hard drive crashed and my comp wouldn't even go thru the process of POST with the busted hard drive connected. Picked up a new hard drive of the same spec's (SATA - Seagate Barracuda) swapped controller with the faulty hard drive and still no luck.

With the swapped controller board, the faulty hard drive is detected in the BIOS. However once POST in completed the desktop throws an error message " Cannot find disk " . Looks like a goner to me with almost 10 GB of snaps.
Unless someone wants to do some brainstorming and help me recover my pics. Any suggestions folks ?

vishaltanksale · 15th September 2009, 13:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjstyles69

Am sailing in the same boat now. Hard drive crashed and my comp wouldn't even go thru the process of POST with the busted hard drive connected. Picked up a new hard drive of the same spec's (SATA - Seagate Barracuda) swapped controller with the faulty hard drive and still no luck.

With the swapped controller board, the faulty hard drive is detected in the BIOS. However once POST in completed the desktop throws an error message " Cannot find disk " . Looks like a goner to me with almost 10 GB of snaps.
Unless someone wants to do some brainstorming and help me recover my pics. Any suggestions folks ?

I had similar problem a month ago. Here is what I did...

There is this Windows XP bootable CD from BartPE (you can register on Expert-Exchance.com). This site will provide you link to download Bart PE bootable CD.

This bootable CD will logon with minimum resource but with File explorer kind of utility, this will help you recover some data, but before that I will recommend you run CHKDSK utility.

Hope this helps.

Thad E Ginathom · 15th September 2009, 18:43

BartPE is terrific for avoiding Windows reinstalls when one small-bit-vital aspect of Windows has vanished or got corrupt. It is quite a DIY process, though: you need to make your own boot disk, and you need to have your own Windows install disk to do so. You will have to 'slipstream' Service Packs, also.

So, assuming that a vital Windows boot file is corrupt, you start your machine from the BartPE disc and... realise that there may not be much you can do if you don't have a backup copy of that file from your boot drive!

Every couple of weeks, I use Drive Image XML to create an image of my C:-drive on (of course) a different physical hard disc. I keep the latest, and the one before, i.e I have two backup directories that I overwrite alternately. Drive Image XML is included in my BartPE disc setup.

Drive Image XML allows file-by-file restore, as well as writing the entire image, so one is protected against corruption of the C:-drive as well as lost vital Windows files. One can also access individual files for restore, other than fatal system errors --- application data, for instance.

I've needed all this stuff just once. Which was more than enough to have made the preparation worthwhile

. This is not a professional solution, which, of course, would require all this stuff to be available off-machine, if not even off-site.

Hmmm... Thinks... one needs a backup of the boot sector too, and I forget what I did for that. I have a feeling that testdisk, mentioned above, might cover it.

rjstyles69 It is worth giving testdisk a try. I guess you have nothing to loose. Otherwise, data recovery services should be able to recover from even a physically failed disk --- at a cost. Good luck.

anupmathur · 15th September 2009, 21:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

BartPE is terrific ....

Indeed!
With my BartPE emergency boot disc and Acronis True Image backups I need nothing else!
Almost a TOTAL solution.

horsepower · 16th September 2009, 10:13

Hi! Friends,

I am posting on the behalf of a friend, whose laptop crashed due to VGA chip giving up, Acer 2424. She tells me that chip is expensive and no point going for the new one for such an old laptop. Took out the Hard Disk, fitted it in a USB casing and attached it to desktop. Now, I can see the partitions of the attached hard disk, but when I click on them, there is nothing in it.

We need to retrieve data from it, please guide me how should we approach it.

Thanks everyone. Would appreciate your replies.

mithun · 20th September 2009, 12:36

Having tried out a number of Recovery softwares, I would say that Power Data Recovery is the best !

Power Data Recovery is an easy-to-use data recovery software for Windows.

bigron · 28th October 2010, 08:12

I have a 160 gb WD external hard disk. It had pictures and videos off all my dogs when they were pups on it. Some time ago the hard disk crashed and i lost all my data. I have reformated the hard disk and would like to know if there is any effective recovery software free or commercial that I can use to recover the lost files. I have tried a few like pandora and getbackdata and some other but to no avail Any help will be appreciated.

Ps: Some of the data which got lost was encrypted using a software called folderlock.

dadu · 28th October 2010, 11:00

If you have done a full format, you have already lost 90% possibility of recovering any files. Ideally you should have tried to recover before formatting

ghpk · 28th October 2010, 12:09

Stop using that HDD at once, the more you use it the lesser would be the recovered data.

In past I've seen services from a Indian company for such recovery, however the client was a university and they were happy with results given by unistal.com recovery services.
no idea about the exact total cost of recovery though.

18th June 2009, 21:39	#151
Dry Ice Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: -- Posts: 3,592 Thanked: 7,510 Times	@Netfreak Man, don't scare me!!! 7-8k?? Isn't that too much? But then, I have no idea of the stuff, so.. @SirAlec Thank you so much for the support, will revert back with the result soon. And thanks a ton for the offer. Appreciate it!!
	() Thanks

14th September 2009, 12:03	#152
rm_arjuna BHPian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 471 Thanked: 164 Times	I lost my personal pics while formatting , the backup was not done properly . now windows has been reinstalled . Tired recovering lost pics , am able to locate the pics however unable to save . Pls suggest a freeware which can be used to extract and save to my HD . I tried recovery with Recover my file .exe . pls help
	() Thanks

15th September 2009, 02:03	#153
SirAlec Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: zxc Posts: 3,395 Thanked: 727 Times	^^^^ data recovery is serious business, and none of the freeware that i came across are worth a mention. the one you used is a very good software, its a shareware though. You have to pay to unlock it.
	() Thanks

15th September 2009, 10:34	#155
vbnadgir Newbie Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 5 Thanked: Once	My Secondary HDD was corrupted last week and i had thousands of personal photos on it. I ran a quick format ( from win XP) and used an open source data recovery tool 'TestDisk' ( TestDisk - CGSecurity ) to recover lost data. I could recover all the lost data, however when i recovered the file names was assigned dynamically by software. Any way got back what i thought was lost. You may give a try and share your experience. Regards, Vj
	() Thanks

15th September 2009, 11:05	#156
rm_arjuna BHPian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 471 Thanked: 164 Times	I recovered all my files using PC Inspector , downloaded from net it is a freeware .
	() Thanks

15th September 2009, 12:30	#157
rjstyles69 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Bengalooru.. Posts: 4,344 Thanked: 845 Times View My Garage	Am sailing in the same boat now. Hard drive crashed and my comp wouldn't even go thru the process of POST with the busted hard drive connected. Picked up a new hard drive of the same spec's (SATA - Seagate Barracuda) swapped controller with the faulty hard drive and still no luck. With the swapped controller board, the faulty hard drive is detected in the BIOS. However once POST in completed the desktop throws an error message " Cannot find disk " . Looks like a goner to me with almost 10 GB of snaps. Unless someone wants to do some brainstorming and help me recover my pics. Any suggestions folks ? Last edited by rjstyles69 : 15th September 2009 at 12:31.
	() Thanks

15th September 2009, 18:43	#159
Thad E Ginathom Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Chennai Posts: 11,209 Thanked: 28,251 Times	BartPE is terrific for avoiding Windows reinstalls when one small-bit-vital aspect of Windows has vanished or got corrupt. It is quite a DIY process, though: you need to make your own boot disk, and you need to have your own Windows install disk to do so. You will have to 'slipstream' Service Packs, also. So, assuming that a vital Windows boot file is corrupt, you start your machine from the BartPE disc and... realise that there may not be much you can do if you don't have a backup copy of that file from your boot drive! Every couple of weeks, I use Drive Image XML to create an image of my C:-drive on (of course) a different physical hard disc. I keep the latest, and the one before, i.e I have two backup directories that I overwrite alternately. Drive Image XML is included in my BartPE disc setup. Drive Image XML allows file-by-file restore, as well as writing the entire image, so one is protected against corruption of the C:-drive as well as lost vital Windows files. One can also access individual files for restore, other than fatal system errors --- application data, for instance. I've needed all this stuff just once. Which was more than enough to have made the preparation worthwhile . This is not a professional solution, which, of course, would require all this stuff to be available off-machine, if not even off-site. Hmmm... Thinks... one needs a backup of the boot sector too, and I forget what I did for that. I have a feeling that testdisk, mentioned above, might cover it. rjstyles69 It is worth giving testdisk a try. I guess you have nothing to loose. Otherwise, data recovery services should be able to recover from even a physically failed disk --- at a cost. Good luck.
	() Thanks

16th September 2009, 10:13	#161
horsepower BHPian Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Gurgaon Posts: 281 Thanked: Once View My Garage	Hi! Friends, I am posting on the behalf of a friend, whose laptop crashed due to VGA chip giving up, Acer 2424. She tells me that chip is expensive and no point going for the new one for such an old laptop. Took out the Hard Disk, fitted it in a USB casing and attached it to desktop. Now, I can see the partitions of the attached hard disk, but when I click on them, there is nothing in it. We need to retrieve data from it, please guide me how should we approach it. Thanks everyone. Would appreciate your replies.
	() Thanks

20th September 2009, 12:36	#162
mithun BANNED Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Cochin Posts: 2,195 Thanked: 268 Times	Having tried out a number of Recovery softwares, I would say that Power Data Recovery is the best ! Power Data Recovery is an easy-to-use data recovery software for Windows.
	() Thanks

28th October 2010, 08:12	#163
bigron Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: NSEW Posts: 1,309 Thanked: 2,710 Times	A really effective recovery software?? I have a 160 gb WD external hard disk. It had pictures and videos off all my dogs when they were pups on it. Some time ago the hard disk crashed and i lost all my data. I have reformated the hard disk and would like to know if there is any effective recovery software free or commercial that I can use to recover the lost files. I have tried a few like pandora and getbackdata and some other but to no avail Any help will be appreciated. Ps: Some of the data which got lost was encrypted using a software called folderlock.
	() Thanks

28th October 2010, 11:00	#164
dadu Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 3,803 Thanked: 463 Times View My Garage	If you have done a full format, you have already lost 90% possibility of recovering any files. Ideally you should have tried to recover before formatting
	() Thanks

28th October 2010, 12:09	#165
ghpk BHPian Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Ghaziabad Posts: 872 Thanked: 211 Times	Stop using that HDD at once, the more you use it the lesser would be the recovered data. In past I've seen services from a Indian company for such recovery, however the client was a university and they were happy with results given by unistal.com recovery services. no idea about the exact total cost of recovery though.
	() Thanks