Failed HDD: Can this drive be reclaimed??

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  1. Posts : 730
    Windows XP Pro SP3, Windows 7 Pro 32-bit, Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit, Windows XP Home SP3
    Thread Starter
       #11

    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
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  2. Posts : 11,269
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
       #12

    zapp22 said:
    Where does PMagic stash Testdisk? Looked at the screenshots, not there, rummaged around the package, can't find...

    writhziden said:
    apollodominion said:
    is the HDD beeping when its got power? If so thump it on table that got mine working long enough to get 90% of the Data its a common prob with Samsung 1TB Sata2 drives also in the buffalo USB HHDs
    Thumping the drive on the table could physically damage it. Recommend this as a last resort.

    There is a method that can retrieve your data without having to get your drive back to NTFS for Windows to see it. See Photo Recovery (A photo and file recovery tool that ignores the file system, this way it works even if the file system is severely damaged). Photorec can be found in PartedMagic. :)
    See my post #10 in that thread.
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  3. Posts : 11,269
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
       #13

    zapp22 said:
    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
    Yes, do not do any writing to the drive until you are able to recover your data. If you go through my screenshot step-by-step on PartedMagic, you'll also see photorec just four programs above TestDisk.

    Edit: In my experience, XP is better at handling somewhat damaged hard drives than Windows 7. 7 seems to have a built in "this drive is hard to read, so I won't put forth the effort" program.
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  4. Posts : 730
    Windows XP Pro SP3, Windows 7 Pro 32-bit, Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit, Windows XP Home SP3
    Thread Starter
       #14

    ok, writh, I'm in there now. found the partition ok. the '0' partition, HPFS - NTFS is correctly marked as the * bootable. how to proceed to repair or recover?
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  5. Posts : 11,269
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
       #15

    zapp22 said:
    ok, writh, I'm in there now. found the partition ok. the '0' partition, HPFS - NTFS is correctly marked as the * bootable. how to proceed to repair or recover?
    Does the size look right? If you hit the P key, is your files list intact? You can navigate through folders using the arrow keys after hitting the P key. If everything checks out, hit q to get back to the original window (if you had hit P to check files), then make sure the partition is still set as * (if not, use the right arrow key to change it to *). Press enter, click write, press enter again, press Y, press enter to reboot.

    For a full guide, see: Regain lost drive using TestDisk
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  6. Posts : 730
    Windows XP Pro SP3, Windows 7 Pro 32-bit, Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit, Windows XP Home SP3
    Thread Starter
       #16

    the size looked right but I never saw anything that looked like files -
    maybe didn't hit right keys.
    I went through everything in the link you cited, writing the partition table. rebooted. drive still not reconizable [bios - old dell optiplex mule].

    so I'm restarting testdisk again. if you have something else for me to try pls post.
    I thought I would do a reply to that other thread perhaps the OP has a tip or two



    writhziden said:
    zapp22 said:
    ok, writh, I'm in there now. found the partition ok. the '0' partition, HPFS - NTFS is correctly marked as the * bootable. how to proceed to repair or recover?
    Does the size look right? If you hit the P key, is your files list intact? You can navigate through folders using the arrow keys after hitting the P key. If everything checks out, hit q to get back to the original window (if you had hit P to check files), then make sure the partition is still set as * (if not, use the right arrow key to change it to *). Press enter, click write, press enter again, press Y, press enter to reboot.

    For a full guide, see: Regain lost drive using TestDisk
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 11,269
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
       #17

    zapp22 said:
    the size looked right but I never saw anything that looked like files -
    maybe didn't hit right keys.
    I went through everything in the link you cited, writing the partition table. rebooted. drive still not reconizable [bios - old dell optiplex mule].

    so I'm restarting testdisk again. if you have something else for me to try pls post.
    I thought I would do a reply to that other thread perhaps the OP has a tip or two

    You may have to do a deep scan to find more partitions instead of a quick scan.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 730
    Windows XP Pro SP3, Windows 7 Pro 32-bit, Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit, Windows XP Home SP3
    Thread Starter
       #18

    some operations give me back "disk I/O error". I take it that is not a good sign
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  9. Posts : 11,269
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
       #19

    zapp22 said:
    some operations give me back "disk I/O error". I take it that is not a good sign
    Depends on what you are doing. Which operations give this message? Can you be more specific?
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  10. Posts : 730
    Windows XP Pro SP3, Windows 7 Pro 32-bit, Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit, Windows XP Home SP3
    Thread Starter
       #20

    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?

    writhziden said:
    zapp22 said:
    some operations give me back "disk I/O error". I take it that is not a good sign
    Depends on what you are doing. Which operations give this message? Can you be more specific?
      My Computer


 
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