Windows 7: Failed HDD: Can this drive be reclaimed??

zapp22 · 19 Dec 2011

aarrghh. on deep query: "Read error at 391/224/26 [lba=62995552]

writhziden · 19 Dec 2011

Quote: Originally Posted by zapp22

i should have made note. I think the last one I saw was trying the backup command - or copy - it was something that had promise of writing out a copy of the partition/contents. it basically went non-linear and kept repeating the error msg over and over ad infinitum so I had to kill the process.
I'm doing the deep search now and at least it is able to interrogate the cylinders. but I would be very surprised if there is another partition. its the files I'm after...

is there a way to write a new table or something to the zero track so that it might be recognizable under windows?

If it was once recognized under windows, that partition may show up in TestDisk and you can recover it to be viewed in Windows. If not, you will have to use the Photorec program to recover your files, then you can reformat the drive to use it again. I'm afraid to try to fix the file system in any way as it may result in you losing data.

Golden · 19 Dec 2011

Quote: Originally Posted by zapp22

just one more quicky... this really surprised me - threw in a windows xp pro install disc, and it found the drive, ready to install... i don't want to go there though - but it gives hope. an install wouldn't necessarily delete [really] the files but would damage a lot of them in all likelihood

Zapp,

One other thing to try, but not sure if it will work.

Boot from a Windows 7 installation disk as if you were doing a fresh installation. At the screen that prompt for Language, Keyboard Layout etc., hold SHIFT and then hit F10. The CMD window will open at the following prompt X:\Sources.

Now follow these steps:

1. Type diskpart
2. Type list volume
3. If the drive shows up with a letter as per example below, type exit
4. Now change to the drive letter, then type chkdsk /R

Let us know if this works.

Regards,
Golden

zapp22 · 19 Dec 2011

I'll give it a shot Golden.

one more piece of info f/u on what I did not record properly earlier.
using the linux utils, I see that there IS a 2nd partition, a debug/recover 100mb partition and it is working. It has PC Doctor loaded along with the bootup files/dos. everything in perfect working order.
However when Linux is asked to Mount the other partition - the 100gb one, which it only labels "Hard Drive" [generic], it fails as follows:
"Error mounting: mount exited with exit code 13:
ntfs_attr_pread_i:ntfs_preread failed. input/output error. Failed to read vcn 0x1; NTFS is either inconsistent, or there is a hardware fault..... run chkdsk /f"

zapp22 · 19 Dec 2011

writh, photorec apparently has a bigtime achille's heel in that it does not recognize USB attached devices. thus, there is no place to "destination" recovered files to, in this case, except a very sparse amount of ram.

Quote: Originally Posted by writhziden

Quote: Originally Posted by zapp22

i should have made note. I think the last one I saw was trying the backup command - or copy - it was something that had promise of writing out a copy of the partition/contents. it basically went non-linear and kept repeating the error msg over and over ad infinitum so I had to kill the process.
I'm doing the deep search now and at least it is able to interrogate the cylinders. but I would be very surprised if there is another partition. its the files I'm after...

is there a way to write a new table or something to the zero track so that it might be recognizable under windows?

If it was once recognized under windows, that partition may show up in TestDisk and you can recover it to be viewed in Windows. If not, you will have to use the Photorec program to recover your files, then you can reformat the drive to use it again. I'm afraid to try to fix the file system in any way as it may result in you losing data.

writhziden · 19 Dec 2011

Quote: Originally Posted by zapp22

writh, photorec apparently has a bigtime achille's heel in that it does not recognize USB attached devices. thus, there is no place to "destination" recovered files to, in this case, except a very sparse amount of ram.

That's no good. Sorry to hear that. What happened with Diskpart? Any luck on that front?

zapp22 · 19 Dec 2011

haven't tried Diskpart - but help me think through this: I have a good recovery partition on that drive. If I can make it bootable, and add to it the utils to fix NTFS, I have a chance of recovering the files, right? How to do??

writhziden · 19 Dec 2011

Quote: Originally Posted by zapp22

haven't tried Diskpart - but help me think through this: I have a good recovery partition on that drive. If I can make it bootable, and add to it the utils to fix NTFS, I have a chance of recovering the files, right? How to do??

It may be as simple as what Golden suggested. If you can list your volumes, even if the volume you are looking for does not have a drive letter but shows up in Diskpart, you have a good start. You can assign a drive letter once you find the drive, and then you can run chkdsk /r on that drive letter.

zapp22 · 20 Dec 2011

ok, got on this this a.m. while my brain is working.
very interesting: running the diskpart [actually from a repair disc since that was what was handy] it did a better job of deciphering the fog than did Testdisk. took a long time but finally yielded:
volume 1 ltr C no label, fs: RAW [thats a miss], Partition, 93gb, status: Healthy [another miss]
volume 2 I expected: FAT32 repair partition
volume 3 missed by all previous attempts is a hidden partition of 200mb. ???

at any rate it is now munching away on chkdsk c: /r and we'll see. I imagine it will take a long time. its printing a lot of "unreadable" right now.

thanks G!

Quote: Originally Posted by Golden

Quote: Originally Posted by zapp22

just one more quicky... this really surprised me - threw in a windows xp pro install disc, and it found the drive, ready to install... i don't want to go there though - but it gives hope. an install wouldn't necessarily delete [really] the files but would damage a lot of them in all likelihood

Zapp,

One other thing to try, but not sure if it will work.

Boot from a Windows 7 installation disk as if you were doing a fresh installation. At the screen that prompt for Language, Keyboard Layout etc., hold SHIFT and then hit F10. The CMD window will open at the following prompt X:\Sources.

Now follow these steps:

1. Type diskpart
2. Type list volume
3. If the drive shows up with a letter as per example below, type exit
4. Now change to the drive letter, then type chkdsk /R

Let us know if this works.

Regards,
Golden

zapp22 · 20 Dec 2011

ah.. one more question gents: when this is all done, how do I then make something on that drive actually bootable? assuming the best, chkdsk will render the drive at least readable, then I hope to recover/save files & fragments