Hard Drive Recovery

It finally happened to me. My 60GB Western Digital HDD died over night. It was the HDD with my OS on it. That part I could care less about. Everything can be easily reinstalled. What I care more about now is the fact that every picture I have ever taken with my Canon Rebel XT is on there. Really Depressing. About 2 years ago this particular HDD made a not so great sound. Its clicked on and off once. I heard it and immediately bought a new HDD and put everything on it. It has since never made that sound. I have thought for the past year or so I have been putting all my pictures on the new and perfectly good HDD. I thought wrong apparently. I read some tips online and the main one was to stick the HDD in the freezer for a half hour and plug it in. I didnt want to access the drive all that much so I stuck it in another computer hopeing to access it and just copy everything over. I got into it for about 2 minutes, copied about 30 of my 3000 pictures and it stopped working and just made that clicking on, off sound.

I called a Houston based HDD Recovery Place and asked for a general price. What can it be, and get as much as what. $500-$2500. $2500 if its a physical problem and $500 if its just data corruption, which I certainly think its not. They give absolutely free estimates and the price they give you then is a guaranteed price. It wont go up at all, and if they cant get any information off of it, they charge you nothing. I dont know where to go from here. I cant really afford even the cheapest price so I dont even think I will try for an estimate. I am hopeing that if I set the drive aside long enough, perhaps it will work again just long enough for me to get the pictures and any other files I can(Even my music is on this drive too).

I guess my point to the thread is to ask around and see if anyone else here has delt with this kind of problem and come out of it somewhat unscathed. I am up for some suggestions on what to do. Though, their is no way I will open the drive as I am sure I will screw it up.

I have never before had to deal with a failed hard drive before, and now I have 2 sitting on my desk(the other I bought a while back but never used it and didnt know it was even failing till I sold it to someone else here. Again, I apologize for that my fellow CPF'er). Funny, both of these drives are Western Digitals...

Thanks,
-Cameron

I have had that happen to me many times, luckily only once did I have important data. I managed to get it all copied but it took a few days, mine seemed to crash when it heated up, so I put a fan on it and left it out of the case so it would stay cool and only copied small pieces of data at a time. I don't know if putting it in the freezer would be such a great idea, I know HD's are mostly sealed but I think there is still the risk of condensation and taking it apart will definately seal the fate of the drive. I now run 2 mirrored drives incase one crashes...I feel much safer now.
I can tell you it is a physical problem...hence the clicking.

gessner17 said:

I don't know if putting it in the freezer would be such a great idea, I know HD's are mostly sealed but I think there is still the risk of condensation and taking it apart will definately seal the fate of the drive. I now run 2 mirrored drives incase one crashes...I feel much safer now.

Click to expand...

I have been using computers since 1980 and am a computer technician now. I have done this and it works often. Put the hdd in a ziplock freezer bag and seal, then put that one into another ziplock and seal. Place in freezer for about an hour. Take it out, plug it in (QUICKLY!) and see if it works. If not, put back in the freezer for longer and try again.

Recover data. Use old drive for skeet practice.

JM-99

all you can do is keep trying it, it might boot up.

try it on another computer.

but once it`s been in the freezer and defrosted, the condensation will make it toast.

I have been using and building computers since the 80`s.

and i have only had one harddrive die on me an IBM60gig.

I have had every HDD make under the sun.

And i think the best is MAXTOR drives, 80gig then 300gig.

I now have a massive heatsink and fan on my MAXTOR keeping it cool and it nevers been above 31c yet.

good luck.

regards.

I have just talked to someone else who had another idea. He said the freezer thing works well sometimes, but to try going a step further. Make a bowl of ice with water as well. Seal the drive up really well and stick the drive in that while running it. I can trust myself to make the idea work, but does this seem like a posible solution?

I am still convinced that I can get my stuff off the drive as I have accessed it, but only for short periods of time. Seems like keeping it cold like that may help the time I have last longer...

-Cameron

1) Verify whether the drive has physically crashed or whether it's just directory or file corruption. If you cannot do this, you will likely pay through the nose to have someone do this for you - namely Drive Savers ( a very good, albeit very expensive service ). The quote you have sounds kind of low but maybe they figured it would be an easy recovery.

2) If you can determine that it was a physical malfunction on the drive and not a case of corruption, and you feel very comfortable with physical repairs to the innards of your computer, you could remove the HD platters ( they should all be affixed to one central spindle ), and place them in another drive of the EXACT SAME MAKE, MODEL, and FIRMWARE version, then have that drive read the data off of the platters. If you don't observe this last caveat to the letter, it could be the end of any chance you have for recovering your data - if you do observe it to the letter, it still doesn't guarantee success and is a very risky way to proceed. Yes, this is also bad for the drive for those who will no doubt be willing to note in subsequent posts. No, I don't recommend that the average expert even do this. But yes, it could save you $2500 w/o significant risk to your data ( if and ONLY IF, you know how to safely handle your drive platters without ever touching them ). Sounds like a contradiction, but it can be done - I've done it myself. And no, the drive won't spontaneously destroy itself after you break that 'do not break under penalty of utter catastrophe' seal stuck ominously on the outside of its case....if you do it right ( I have a drive that is still functioning normally almost 3 years after I've opened it in this fashion ).

3) If you can't perform any part of Step 2, refer back to Step 1 and be ready to pony up about $3k or more for your data. Drive Savers is phenomenal - they also charge prices to match.

4) Also, let this be a lesson. Data loss is about when, not if. A periodic backup plan would have been much cheaper. If you're curious as to how often, my answer is always the same, "when you don't want to risk losing something you've just placed on the drive". That could mean you back up once a week, or 5 times a day. Just whenever that last statement toggles to a 'true' state, it's time to backup again. I would also suggest performing multiple copies of each backup - I've had issues where some backups looked healthy, but in reality failed and I had to revert to a secondary, and once or twice, even a tercery backup to restore the desired data. It's nice to know it was there when I needed it and was well worth all of the effort when it happened. Be sure to keep at least one of those backup copies offsite and preferably in a secure, fireproof container ( ie - a good firesafe at a relative's house whom you trust is one good location ).


5) Now, being less clinical and dealing with the human side of things. My condolences on your potential data loss. I know that this can be absolutely tragic when it comes to the possibility of losing personal memories like that. Best of luck and remember, Drive Savers is who the 'Big Boys' trust when they really need their data back ( ie - Hollywood, major Fortune 500 companies, and even at certain times, the US GOV....depending on the sensitivity of the data ).

you need to determine if this a corruption issue or hardware failure issue.

recovering data is a function of how much $$ you want throw at problem.

Damnit. I had a long thing here and server was busy when I posted it, now its gone...what a day.

Long story short. I think its hardware failure. It clicks repeatedly after I have it on for a few minutes and try to get some information off. I am already ordering a external drive for backup now. That way I can store it somewhere really safe so that not even fire can screw me over again.

Should I be concerned in getting this taken care of really quickly? I had plans this weekend that would not only have been fun, but now would get my mind off what I might have just lost. Would it hurt my chances of recovery if I took the weekend off and stored the drive in a baggie, then inside a HDD bag, the static-less one?

Thanks everyone,
Cameron

cy said:

you need to determine if this a corruption issue or hardware failure issue

Click to expand...

Totally true....if you have the skills to do this w/o changing the data on the disk in any way ( ie - not booting to it, not changing a single byte on its catalog or directory tree, and not allowing any individual background processes to touch the drive - this is almost impossible for most users to perform while not on a UNIX-based OS where the drive is able to be mounted in a "read-only" fashion ).

cy said:

here's a link to a quick beginner guide
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1139

here's another link to free recovery tools
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk

http://www.partitionsupport.com/utilities.htm

Click to expand...

Keep in mind, some of the tools suggested above do not handle your data in a 'read-only' fashion, but change ( ie - try to repair the partition table or other data directly on the drive ). This is ALWAYS a bad idea while attempting a data-recovery and can compromise or even completely prevent you ( or Drive Savers ) from being able to recover that data. ALL reputable data recovery efforts should ONLY save recovered data to another drive. With no exceptions to this rule. Anything short of this is a matter of rolling the metaphorical dice and taking your chances - it may work, or you may come up 'snake-eyes' and lose it all. This is why I like to caution people from taking data recovery into their own hands if they don't know the ramifications of each and every step they are taking in that recovery process.

And not to be harsh to CY or anything, because he's just trying to be a stand up guy ( which is good in my book ) and help out....but even well-meaning advice of this type may leave you with total data loss and no hope of eventual recovery. You'd be taking a big chance ( irresponsible in my opinion ), to use any utility that tries to 'repair' your drive instead of mounting it read-only and then recovering to another physical drive. Trying to repair the drive is what you do once you KNOW you have already recovered the data. I'd actually prefer to see it re-formatted instead of 'repaired' if you determine that it's not a hardware issue. ....but that's just me.

bobisculous said:

Should I be concerned in getting this taken care of really quickly? ..... Would it hurt my chances of recovery if I took the weekend off and stored the drive in a baggie, then inside a HDD bag, the static-less one?

Click to expand...

Not at all - this is one of the few cases that time is your friend. Don't place the drive in a sealed baggie though, unless you're planning on first putting it into an anti-static bag ( those silvery ones the drive usually comes in ) and adding some new silica gel packs into the outter baggie to prevent moisture buildup. Quite frankly, I usually just dump my drives in the antistatic bag, toss them on a shelf and call it a 'done deal' until I want to wrestle with them when I have time. Whatever you do, rashness would be bad. Take as long as you need to make a good, very well informed decision on what your next steps will be. The fact that it sounds like a HW failure by the symptoms you mentioned ( sounds like the arm on the read/write head failed....hopefully it didn't crash into the platters when it did so ) likely makes the data recovery efforts MUCH EASIER and more likely to yield positive results ( if the read/write heads didn't gouge into your disk platters when it failed, that is ).

sounds like hardware failure... you may be hosed without spending $$

Note: Western Digital SUCKS

This happened to me also. I was really mad. So I sold it on craigslist.com

You could put the drive in an anti-static bag and then sit it in a metal bowl with some dry ice (available from ice cream shops). This will keep the drive pretty cold and the dry ice won't turn into water as it melts; it simply evaporates, so you don't have to worry about shorting out the drive.

Alright fellas, thank you so much for the help. I am out for the weekend. Going to just stick in a antistatic bag and be on my way to fool with this later on near the end of the weekend. I really appreaciate the help thus far. I will likely have questions again once I get started on whatever I am going to do to get my stuff back.

And yes, I agree. I have now had too many expiriences with them. 1 expirience. Just sucks it was me, as they are always high on the lists. Oh well,

I figure that if I cant fix it now on my own with the more simple steps, I will just seal the drive up very well, and place it in a picture frame. Then in 5 or so years when I am out of college with a good job thus money, I will invest into having it recovered professionally...

Again, Thanks
-Cameron

I have had very good success recovering many hard drives data over the years. (probably close to a hundred at work over the years) First, DO NOT PANIC and do something that is irreversible. Buying an external USB hard drive is a great idea that I recommend to everyone. If you have access to another computer, or if you reload your current one with another drive you can start buy putting the bad drive in as a second (D drive. Or, you can install it into your new external USB case temporarily. As others have said, you first need to figure out if it is a hardware or software corruption issue. (or both) I would apply power to the drive without the IDE or SATA cable attached. (depending on which it is) If you still hear clicking - chances are it is a hardware issue. If it is a hardware issue there are a couple of things you can do. First, is the drive spinning? If it is - that's good.

If it works for a couple of minutes and then starts clicking - it is probably a chip heating up. Several times that I had this I was able to keep spraying the chip with a coolant spray to keep it cool. Usually spraying it with a spritz every 30 seconds or so does the trick. It's a pain in the neck to do this for 10-15 minutes or more (depending on how much data there is) but it may allow you to copy the data somewhere else. If you have access to another drive exactly like it (like I usually do at work) you can unscrew the PC boards on both drives and swap them. This works about 25-30% of the time if it is a heat related issue. I have never fried the second board this way but it is a possibility so watch out.
If it is not spinning with only power applied - that's not good. Sometimes you can get it to spin by removing power and snap twisting the drive around with your wrist. You have to do this on the same plane that the drive spins or you will most likely cause permanent head problems - so I'd do this one last or not at all if you are going to send the drive out for recovery.
Lastly - if the PC recognizes the drive as a second (D drive I would use Ontracks recovery software. Long story short - I had one of my own drives crash the day after I backed it up. I decided to tryout all of my recovery software on it. 90% of them didn't recover anything. All but 1 of the remaining software would recover some but not all of the data - and most lost the filenames in the process. Ontrack recovered all but a few files with their names and even showed me the names of the files it could not recover. I was very impressed. I carry Ontrack on my USB key now.
Sorry for the long post - but don't give up. PM me more details if you want and I will try to help further.

I must recommend SpinRite, found here.

IlluminatingBikr said:

I must recommend SpinRite, found here.

Click to expand...

spinrite is nice but this is likely a headstack/amplifier issue.
i recover data from wd drives constantly due to this click of death issue.
here how i do it.
get an IDENTICAL drive that is good.
step 1
swap the board and see if it comes ready without clicking.
if so get stuff copied to another drive.
if not it gets trickier.
time to swap the head stack.
this is not recomended for an end user to try.
even i practice on scrap drives before doing this to a customers drive.
success rate about 80%
if the platters are badly scratched chances of success drop sharply.

sflate said:

I have had very good success recovering many hard drives data over the years. (probably close to a hundred at work over the years) First, DO NOT PANIC and do something that is irreversible. Buying an external USB hard drive is a great idea that I recommend to everyone. If you have access to another computer, or if you reload your current one with another drive you can start buy putting the bad drive in as a second (D drive. Or, you can install it into your new external USB case temporarily. As others have said, you first need to figure out if it is a hardware or software corruption issue. (or both) I would apply power to the drive without the IDE or SATA cable attached. (depending on which it is) If you still hear clicking - chances are it is a hardware issue. If it is a hardware issue there are a couple of things you can do. First, is the drive spinning? If it is - that's good.

If it works for a couple of minutes and then starts clicking - it is probably a chip heating up. Several times that I had this I was able to keep spraying the chip with a coolant spray to keep it cool. Usually spraying it with a spritz every 30 seconds or so does the trick. It's a pain in the neck to do this for 10-15 minutes or more (depending on how much data there is) but it may allow you to copy the data somewhere else. If you have access to another drive exactly like it (like I usually do at work) you can unscrew the PC boards on both drives and swap them. This works about 25-30% of the time if it is a heat related issue. I have never fried the second board this way but it is a possibility so watch out.
If it is not spinning with only power applied - that's not good. Sometimes you can get it to spin by removing power and snap twisting the drive around with your wrist. You have to do this on the same plane that the drive spins or you will most likely cause permanent head problems - so I'd do this one last or not at all if you are going to send the drive out for recovery.
Lastly - if the PC recognizes the drive as a second (D drive I would use Ontracks recovery software. Long story short - I had one of my own drives crash the day after I backed it up. I decided to tryout all of my recovery software on it. 90% of them didn't recover anything. All but 1 of the remaining software would recover some but not all of the data - and most lost the filenames in the process. Ontrack recovered all but a few files with their names and even showed me the names of the files it could not recover. I was very impressed. I carry Ontrack on my USB key now.
Sorry for the long post - but don't give up. PM me more details if you want and I will try to help further.

Click to expand...

I've got a drive that i've had hooked up as a 2nd HDD. All of the sudden one day it just stopped working. It still spins up and everything as i boot it up. Windows even still recognizes it as a 2nd drive. But when i click on it, it'll say "drive is either busy, or data is corrupted" and it wont let me access it.

Do i use the freezer method? Or should i use the Ontrack software?

Ditto on the freeze spray.

I've sucessfully used the cans of "DUST OFF" compressed air as freeze sprays.

Cable up the drive, but leave it hanging out of the computer. Hold the can upside down and spay the body of the drive, not the electronics, for a few seconds. The mist is conductive, as is the frost that builds up quickly. The case will soak up the heat from the motor and electronics, so hit it again every 30 seconds or so.

I usually spray the sides and the blank spot on the end away from the connectors.

I've done this on 3 drives in the last 15 years.

Daniel

I second the use of spinrite

Article
http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,117080,tfg,tfg,00.asp

Website
http://www.grc.com/sr/spinrite.htm

HTH
AlexGT