Topic: Hard drive recovery.

[tim]

Does anyone know an Honest John capable of recovering data from a portable hard drive??

[iggy]

depends what has happend to the hdd there are many ways of data recovery
a little more info and i can be more helpfull for ya

[tim]

Computer quit - no prob - all is backed up on the drive - tried the drive on another computer - wouldn't accept it - old machine suddenly had a last gasp - tried it on there - no joy!!

[iggy]

ok if there is stuff u want off of the drive there are 2 things u can try obviously depending on the faulkt these may or may not work

get a zip lock bag and place hdd in it and put it in the freezer overnight if it is a head crash or motor on its way out u will have about 15 mins useable time to rip off of it what u need

another option is to try these 2
http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/UK/welcome.htm

this may be worth a go as well
http://www.webattack.com/get/restoration.html

if all else fails and its vital that u get the info off contact a data recovery specialist i have the tools to do mina recovery and repairs here but not able to rebuoild drives :/

[tim]

Noted - just rushed back to say that, after freezing, the PC worked in Safe Mode for a while.

[iggy]

yep thats definatly a shafted drive then if its working after a freeze for a bit repete the process untill all data is off the drive that u want recovering then once happy cook the drive in a good fire or smash it with a sledge hammer.

if u need a replacment drive give me a shout and i will find u a good replacment

[tim]

SORRY - confusion - I meant that the computer froze - like stopped in its tracks.

But its all grist to the mill? Thanks.

[woppa30]

Assuming you are still having trouble with this Tim and don't have the data off I am more than happy to help out if I can. I will do my best to get the data off and onto DVD's or even another hard drive (the sort of thing I have lying around, sad isn't it....)
I assume that the drive in an external USB type device. Is it commercial one or did you construct it yourself ?
If you are interested I will attach it to a Linux machine which is more fault tolerant of dodgy / failing hardware, use something like dd or K3B to get the data off then probably reformat and restore.
Best wishes,
David.

[iggy]

ahh sorry me got wrong end of stick * turns stick round *

yep likewise if needed i can try pull data off it for you and onto dvds then format and restore assuming its just corupt data

[tim]

Now I'm embarrassed -

- son-in-law has 'friends' & has grabbed the 'thing' & taken it off.

But this has just shown what a great group this is, And thank you so much for so much support. And learning curve.

Question - how do you get the data from the DVD into the PC??  And what does the DVD go into? I only have a cheapo Dell Optiplex 210L - if that means anything.

Thanks again.

Woppa - construct it myself? At my age?? No, it's a portable Optronix 20Gb thing. Or was!!

[iggy]

assuming u have a dvd drive in your comp when u have a new hdd in and the operating systemn loaded back on just put the dvd in and u can oulkl your files off same as a cd
however if u havenot got a dvd drive then it the data would be put on a cd or if there was masses of it a seperate harddive that you could slave to your system

the new dual layer dvd drives for comps are very good can burn about 8 gig to a dvd which is very handy for backing up movies and music

instaling them is pretty easy
have a look here for the prices a hell of a lot less than comet or currys rip off prices
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/DVDRW_Drives.html

if u do purchase one or may get oine in the future get a retail box from here or anouther online retailer as this will come with the relevent burning and playing software cables etc

[tim]

Noted - & deep in thought!!

[tim]

Iggy & Woppa - I'm SO disappointed that this was taken out of my hands before I could accept such kind offers.

We've today got all 3.5Gb back - at a price!!

Here's just one that we saved.

[katynewbie]

 ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Great pic Tim! Worth getting back!

 ;)

[lorna]

Oh Tim. I bet you are pleased to get things back.... especially that lovely pic. Son John downloads my pics on to a CD from time to time but I am paranoid about losing photos that I print them out. My nephews wife is tracing my families history and she has sent me photos of Grandparents and Great Grandparents. Internet is a wonderful thing, she has managed to contact a cousin who I knew nothing about hence the photos have come to light. Sorry off subject but I am so thrilled.
Lorna.

[tim]

I sent our American cousins a load of photos of the family. First ones they'd seen of their grandparents!

[lorna]

Lovely feeling Tim. I had never seen photos of my Grandparents until now.