Solved Failed HDD: Can this drive be reclaimed??

[zapp22]

haven't tried it with parted yet.
what action do I take? I'll bring it up now

 

[writhziden]

I meant the bootable CD you used to recover files using Photorec. Can you access the drive through PartedMagic? You may be able to move your files onto another drive instead and then clean and format the GPT drive and put them back on there.

 

[zapp22]

ok, brought it up under Gparted - shows it locked, filesystem type HFS+, healthy, no biggie.
it HAS primarily been used to backup a Mac. So my new theory is that I brought it up once, under Vista iirc, created a folder and stashed some recovered files there, shutdown. my guess is something in the drive software [this is a WD "My Book" so it has preloaded apps on it for backup etc] caused it to lock. I bet if I stick it on the Mac it will look normal. your thoughts?

 

[writhziden]

ok, brought it up under Gparted - shows it locked, filesystem type HFS+, healthy, no biggie.
it HAS primarily been used to backup a Mac. So my new theory is that I brought it up once, under Vista iirc, created a folder and stashed some recovered files there, shutdown. my guess is something in the drive software [this is a WD "My Book" so it has preloaded apps on it for backup etc] caused it to lock. I bet if I stick it on the Mac it will look normal. your thoughts?

Definitely worth a shot. It probably was formatted for the MAC, so it should load there.

 

[zapp22]

got the other one 'completely' recovered thanks to your tip on iCare. bought the license.... now, it takes a REALLY good package to get me to buy
what I don't know is, of the original files, how many were beyond recovery due to damage of one type or other. only the user will know when he goes through the saved stuff

 

[writhziden]

got the other one 'completely' recovered thanks to your tip on iCare. bought the license.... now, it takes a REALLY good package to get me to buy
what I don't know is, of the original files, how many were beyond recovery due to damage of one type or other. only the user will know when he goes through the saved stuff

Yeah, my girlfriend's sister had some corrupted files that iCare could not recover, but it got 90% of her data back, so she was really happy. She had thought she lost everything, including some very memorable pictures.

 

[zapp22]

re: the tangential issue with the 1TB "MyBook" backup: assumption was correct - it works perfectly with the Macbook.

I thought those issues had a workaround? is it true that the formatting for use with Mac results in Windows not even able to mount the drive?? i feel so ignorant...

back to the original failed drive: user reports that his video files [ones he took ... he's a media worker] were not recovered ...
so I'm just letting it run a few days with photorec again - I'm thinking these tools use somewhat different techniques to reclaim the files and am hoping what does not work with one will work with the other. But I have a question: iCare recover seems to keep a datafile on where it has been and what has occurred on the specific drive signature, so that when I restart the tool it returns to the file tree already established [I think... ]. I would rather like to wipe out the previous effort since we have already captured what we could and safely tucked away. Then restart from the edge and rescan the drive perhaps with some filtration. If you know the easy way to do this pls reply. I'll check the notes

 

[writhziden]

re: the tangential issue with the 1TB "MyBook" backup: assumption was correct - it works perfectly with the Macbook.

I thought those issues had a workaround? is it true that the formatting for use with Mac results in Windows not even able to mount the drive?? i feel so ignorant...

back to the original failed drive: user reports that his video files [ones he took ... he's a media worker] were not recovered ...
so I'm just letting it run a few days with photorec again - I'm thinking these tools use somewhat different techniques to reclaim the files and am hoping what does not work with one will work with the other. But I have a question: iCare recover seems to keep a datafile on where it has been and what has occurred on the specific drive signature, so that when I restart the tool it returns to the file tree already established [I think... ]. I would rather like to wipe out the previous effort since we have already captured what we could and safely tucked away. Then restart from the edge and rescan the drive perhaps with some filtration. If you know the easy way to do this pls reply. I'll check the notes

Sorry to hear iCare could not recover the video files. Video and pictures can be tricky since they are easier to corrupt. It is also unfortunate that recovery software doesn't allow more than 1 GB to be recovered in a trial version so you can tell if it is worth buying or not. I would see how Photorec does since iCare probably will not be able to recover files that it failed to the first time.

 

[zapp22]

I have the licensed ver. of iCare. so got it rescanning now - i THINK... its in that limbo state.

I'll go to the photorec thread http://www.sevenforums.com/software/193467-guide-using-photorec-recovery-software.html#post1736796

re: the tangential issue with the 1TB "MyBook" backup: assumption was correct - it works perfectly with the Macbook.

I thought those issues had a workaround? is it true that the formatting for use with Mac results in Windows not even able to mount the drive?? i feel so ignorant...

back to the original failed drive: user reports that his video files [ones he took ... he's a media worker] were not recovered ...
so I'm just letting it run a few days with photorec again - I'm thinking these tools use somewhat different techniques to reclaim the files and am hoping what does not work with one will work with the other. But I have a question: iCare recover seems to keep a datafile on where it has been and what has occurred on the specific drive signature, so that when I restart the tool it returns to the file tree already established [I think... ]. I would rather like to wipe out the previous effort since we have already captured what we could and safely tucked away. Then restart from the edge and rescan the drive perhaps with some filtration. If you know the easy way to do this pls reply. I'll check the notes

Sorry to hear iCare could not recover the video files. Video and pictures can be tricky since they are easier to corrupt. It is also unfortunate that recovery software doesn't allow more than 1 GB to be recovered in a trial version so you can tell if it is worth buying or not. I would see how Photorec does since iCare probably will not be able to recover files that it failed to the first time.

 

[writhziden]

How did things go recovering the video files? Were you able to get the user's video back? Post back if you need any further help.

 

[zapp22]

first, the user was overjoyed - had totally given up on his stuff. got back very close to 100% of his stuff, with just a handful of videos that were damaged and need repair. he's doing these on his macbook and at last check had not had time to sit with it much. i did find a really reputable tool for him to use for that effort so ... fingers-crossed..

the one feature I wish the iCare guys would borrow from Piriform's Recuva is the ability to specifically search by major filetype: video, Music, docs. it greatly shortens the scan time. I looked all through the few options in icare and did not see any such animal. on the other hand, the 'deep scan' ability of iCare was a monster! definitely the right tool to recover "as much as possible"

appreciate your help again. I learned a lot from the effort that will come in handy.

btw in similar but reverse vein - I took a tip from 'techalert' and tried out the forensic 'Eraser' secure delete program. highly effective, good options - really a pro-grade product for freebee. I like it better than any I have tried for selective secure-erase

How did things go recovering the video files? Were you able to get the user's video back? Post back if you need any further help.

 

[writhziden]

That's really great news. Top notch work on your part. Glad you were able to give the user a chance at recovering everything. Thanks for the information on the eraser software, as well. I'm sure that will come in handy.