saving data from a bad hard drive

[WokMaster1]

OK, folks. Wife's desktop (hard drive) took a dive & the computer guy is not having any luck in transferring the old data to the new H/D.

Wife never backed the info up. She has all the kids pictures on it.

What are my options? The tech told me that the data recovery places will charge me upwards of $1000.

So I'm turning to you folks for help. I'm in SF Bay area if one of you can help. Will pay for the service, of course. Thanks.

[Mute]

Unfortunately, if it's physically failing, data recovery service may be the only solution. It takes time and effort to retrieve data from a failing drive.

[ShootinMedic]

There are many tools on the internet. you can get some very good ones for <$100 depending on what exactly is wrong with your drive.

Did your computer give you any error messages when it died?


You can try using this:
http://www.knoppix.org/ (the site is in german but there is a download link)
There are instructions here:
http://www.shockfamily.net/cedric/knoppix/ (its in english)

Good Luck!

[Dr Pete]

Does the computer boot up? Drive still readable at all?
Couple of programs you can try...Don't remember which one was the best.
R-Drive studio
GetDataBack from Runtime Software

Procedure:
Disconnect broken hard drive.
Install new drive to the computer.
Put your o/s onto the new drive.
At this point hook up old drive and let the system see the old drive.
Try to recover JUST what you really wanted to recover to the new drive.
Since the tech probably has already done this might not work.
Try the software, they all offer trials.
Last resort, put the drive in a freezer baggie with cables connected.
Put it into the freezer for 24 hours.
Hook up the drive to your computer quickly and see if you can recover data.

Go fast, the drive will start to defrost and get wet. Keep it in the baggie if you can. Let it hang on the side. I have had luck with all of the above.
If all else fails I will try to recover for you no charge.
You can ship the drive (I am in S. CA)

Good luck, go slow and plan ahead.

[WokMaster1]

When starting the computer, the error message said that it cannot read the drive. something like that.

[Ricky-Ray]

Try taking that drive out of the existing computer and put it into another desktop. Essentially your wife's computer's hard drive would be a slave drive. If you can read it then copy the data that you need onto another drive.

You could also try using Ultimate Boot CD. http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/. I've used this on many occasions for different things and has worked really well.

Another option you could try and it's only worked on a few ocassions for me is to freeze the drive. Place the drive in a ziploc bag and put it in the freezer overnight. Supposedly the lower temp would allow you to read the drive. If it works it might work long enough for you to get your data. If it stops working in the middle you could try putting it back in the freezer and try again. I would only recommend this as a last resort. It's only worked for me on a couple of occasions.

[Baconator]

I bought a little kit that allows me to plug hard drives into a usb port on another computer. It works for all different kinds of hard drives, and enabled me to pull files off the old drive.

[gn3hz3ku1*]

wow you sound like you know what you are doing.

i have the same problem.. but the drive kind of makes a clicking noise.

should i also try these steps?

Does the computer boot up? Drive still readable at all?
Couple of programs you can try...Don't remember which one was the best.
R-Drive studio
GetDataBack from Runtime Software

Procedure:
Disconnect broken hard drive.
Install new drive to the computer.
Put your o/s onto the new drive.
At this point hook up old drive and let the system see the old drive.
Try to recover JUST what you really wanted to recover to the new drive.
Since the tech probably has already done this might not work.
Try the software, they all offer trials.
Last resort, put the drive in a freezer baggie with cables connected.
Put it into the freezer for 24 hours.
Hook up the drive to your computer quickly and see if you can recover data.

Go fast, the drive will start to defrost and get wet. Keep it in the baggie if you can. Let it hang on the side. I have had luck with all of the above.
If all else fails I will try to recover for you no charge.
You can ship the drive (I am in S. CA)

Good luck, go slow and plan ahead.

[Super Spy]

Nice Tips, I didn't know about the put it in the freezer trick...I have dead drive that I can't see at all know matter how I connect it. I may try the freezer trick....

[goober]

R-Studio is decent and affordable software that can often retrieve data from a disk that seems otherwise unreadable.
other than as a customer, i am in no way affiliated w/ the company.

[UBFRAGD]

Hey OP, I had the same problem, I took it to that computer repair store under the Octavia freeway overpass on Valencia St, and they transferred all my data onto a pocket drive for about $80 or so, too lazy to look them up for you, look under computer repair in the yellow pages and look for Valencia St. I too got quotes for data recovery upwards of $1000.

[Californio]

Take the drive out of the machine and install a new drive and gen windows, put the old drive back in as "D" (set the jumpers) or what ever and see if the drive will mount.

If it mounts:

I used this software than makes a virtual directory of the damaged drive and copied the files over to the new disk.

http://www.runtime.org/data-recovery-software.htm

On a Windows machine I keep all my data on a physical "D" drive instead of "C" because "C" seems to get clobbered regularly.