Get Info From A Dead Hard Drive

[Eamonn]

I am installing a new HD on a customers laptop but i need to save some files for him from his old HD.
It will spin up using an external USB device but the drive is not showing up on my computer. I have tried the "freezing" method but no luck with that.
Anyone got any ideas how I can get the info from the old drive ??

 

[joydivision]

I don't know why and should know but if the BIOS sees it but Windows just says the drive needs to be formated I often find Linux will read the drive perfectly.

If the BIOS dosn't regconise it there is not much you can do, you could try specialise recovery software but it won't be cheap.

 

[Eamonn]

I use an external hard drive reader connected to my computer by USB.
Normally as soon as the drive spins up it shows up in "MY Computer" as a second "Local Disc". Nothing happens when I connect this one and i know there is a problem with it as it cant boot up in its own laptop.
I just need to save his documents for him if possible without spending too much .

 

[coco3_man]

I have worked with drives that took from a few minutes to several hours before showing up. I once spent 6 days recovering data...1 day to show up, 2 days to scan and 3 days to pull data (about 18 GIG)

You will most likely need software to scan it and pull the data if it shows up.

Tom

 

[gazza]

I don't know why and should know but if the BIOS sees it but Windows just says the drive needs to be formated I often find Linux will read the drive perfectly.

If the BIOS dosn't regconise it there is not much you can do, you could try specialise recovery software but it won't be cheap.

Yes if the bios does not see the drive, there's not much you can do. Could it possibly be the controller on the motherboard, try connecting it to another computer via the mobo.

I agree with joydivision, try a ubuntu live cd and see if it can read the drive.

 

[14049752]

Also, you really shouldn't use the freezer method. I know some people will post "it worked for me", but it really has a huge potential to make the drive worse. Especially on modern drives with fluid bearings.

 

[Xander]

If you're looking at data recovery, you're always better off connecting it directly to the motherboard. I can't give the fancy answers on why but I've listened to a couple of data recovery experts (including one company that I'm looking at for affiliation) and they've agreed that, if you've got the option, the computer will always get better results with a direct connection (IDE/SATA) over USB.

 

[gikstar]

You don't mention if you hear any weird noises coming from the hard drive or not. Normally the freezer method is used when the drive is clunking away. The freeze method will make the discs contract and not hit each other while trying to remove the data. I have used it successfully in the past, but you don't have much time to work with it before it warms up again and no longer works at all.

You also didn't mention what O/S is on the 'bad' hard drive and what is on the system you are using to try to extract the info to. If it's XP connect it to an XP computer. I would also suggest that you try hooking it up to a slower computer and not use USB.
One of my bench computers has two additional Sata connectors and a PATA ribbon cable hanging out the side of it so that I can easily connect up drives. Retrieving data that way is much faster.

Here is an interesting one for you: I had previously purchased 2 - 1.5 Tb used drives for home NAS. Last night when I connected one up via USB to my Win 7 computer I could remove all the partitions but one which was 200mb. Connecting it to my XP test bench system it recognized it and said 'GPT Protective Partition'. Google led me to the Seagate website which explained how to remove it and partition the full drive.

 

[parker.casey]

I am installing a new HD on a customers laptop but i need to save some files for him from his old HD.
It will spin up using an external USB device but the drive is not showing up on my computer. I have tried the "freezing" method but no luck with that.
Anyone got any ideas how I can get the info from the old drive ??

Freezing a drive is only good if it's not spinning in the first place. I'd try hooking it up to a Linux box, use DD or GDDRescue to make a bit-for-bit image of what it CAN read, then try to recover files from the image.

 

[gazza]

[/QUOTE]One of my bench computers has two additional Sata connectors and a PATA ribbon cable hanging out the side of it so that I can easily connect up drives. Retrieving data that way is much faster.[/QUOTE]

My Setup exactly, Scott Moulton recommends this always be done for data recovery.

 

[Eamonn]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys, i'll let you know how i get on. The OS is XP Pro on both the bad hard drive and my workshop test bench system.

 

[MobileTechie]

If attaching it directly to the mobo doesn't make it show in BIOS then you've no chance. If it does then linux might just help. If not then these guys are good and not too expensive: http://www.pcimage.co.uk/

 

[seedubya]

The obvious question here is does it show up in Disk Management? You haven't said you've done anything other that plug in a USB cable.