Laptop with Raid 0 - need to recover data

[Mikeoem]

Hi,
Thi is my first post so I hope someone can help.
I have a dell inspiron 1721 which has 2 x 160GB HDD's configured as RAID 0. The laptop is broken but I'm almost positive the hdd's are ok.
Is there something I can buy like an external dock that I can plug the 2 drives into and access the data? Maybe there is a sw solution? I thought about looking on eBay for a 2nd hand inspiron 1721 and poping in my drives but thats a bit pricey.
Any solutions appreciated.
Michael

 

[Golden]

Welcome Mikeoem,

Ouch! I'm guessing the critical issue is getting data off these disks? In theory, an external enclosure like some of the NAS servers that are capable of RAID configurations might allow you to read the data on the disks, but its no guarantee. Some NAS servers also require the disks to be formatted before it will allow them to be read, and you don't want that....so its a bit hit & miss.

Another possibility is to add these disks into a RAID0 configuration on a friends desktop PC....you have to also be careful here as I'm not sure whether the disks will be formatted once you add them.

Lets see if other more knowledgeable members can offer alternate suggestions.

Regards,
Golden

 

[fireberd]

RAID 0 spreads the data over the two discs so it would probably take installing them in a PC that can handle RAID 0 to get the user data off of them. That is one of the fallacies of RAID 0.

 

[Mikeoem]

Thanks Golden (love the Buddah) and Fireberd for the replies. Getting the data back off the hdds is the main priority. I was looking online for a hw solution. I wonder if this item would be useful Zalman ZM-MH200-U3 USB3/RAID HDD Docking Station 2x HDD ?
I wonder if there is any sw program which could copy in the contents of each hdd independently onto a larger hdd and merge the data allowing directory browsing?
RAID 0 should really come with a warning but then again if everything was regularily backed up it wouldn't be an issue.
Any thoughts?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Zalman-ZM...&otn=4&po=LVI&ps=63&clkid=6417360299078543195

 

[Golden]

Hi Mikeom,

That enclosure might do the trick, but I do not know if will require you to format these drives first.....again, something you want to avoid. Unfortunately, its going to be a case of try & see.

Regards,
Golden

 

[DeaconFrost]

RAID 0 should really come with a warning but then again if everything was regularily backed up it wouldn't be an issue.

RAID0's hype died out about 5+ years ago, when it was debunked as useless on a single system. In non-computer terms, that's like issuing a warning about polio.

That being said, the biggest problem you are going to have is finding a system that will allow you to use those drives, then allow you to configure RAID without formatting the drives....then booting enough to let you load the controller drivers. In short, there's a lot of things that need to go right in order to get to your data. Now you see why no one really uses striping anymore. The risks far outweight the non-existent benefits.

I'm afraid software like |MG| ReclaiMe Free RAID Recovery Build 1428 Download won't work for you, because they are usually designed to recover data from corrupted arrays, but your array is technically ok.

 

[Mikeoem]

Thanks Golden and DeaconFrost for your replies.

I agree with your comments DeaconFrost. RAID 0 on a laptop doesn't offer much apart from heartache when something goes wrong.

Using a Zalman ZM-MH200-U3 USB3/RAID HDD Docking Station 2x HDD
sounds good but I'm almost certain it wouldn't recognise the current array as it was created on a different controller.

I'm thinking at this point that I'm down to about 2 or 3 choices.

Moving the disks to another RAID controller will most likely not work unless it was the same make and model. This got me thinking that I need to get my hands on a 2nd hand working Dell Inspiron 1721. That solution sounds good but it is expensive so I have to weight up the cost/benefits. If I could get a loan of a 1721 I could pop in my hdd's and run the laptop for a few hours while I done a backup - excellent idea but I don't know anyone with a 1721 and even if I did it's not likely they will offer their laptop

Lastly I might try and repair the laptop. There are no beep codes and I've had everything out and back in. I think it needs either a new cpu or motherboard. It would be almost as cheap to buy a 2nd complete laptop than just these parts so that also needs some consideration.

Maybe I should start saving for a 2nd hand surogate inspiron 1721....
Any other inspiration would be appreciated.

 

[jumanji]

Just shooting in the dark.

Reading about Data Recovery, I had come across ZAR (Zero Assumption Recovery) http://www.z-a-recovery.com/ as capable of RAID 0 Recovery.

After reading your post that came to my mind and I made a quick search.

Here is one user here " I want to add additional information. Using ZAR (Zero Assumption Recovery) you can recover any RAID without the controller or settings it was set up with. It does this by, as it was named, assuming nothing. I'm on my second round using it after I gave up on fixing this failed RAID5 (2/3 disks read as offline without reason.) The process is roughly the same as using Testdisk. The Testdisk methode, however, is much faster. ZAR takes a lifetime to process."

Is that going to help you?

Now a little chirping . My desktop has RAID 0. I know what happens if it breaks. And the mantra is backup, backup and backup. And I have no worries. No JAR, no jug.