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Help please :( pulling data off a hard drive

Discussion in 'Storage & Backup' started by seaeagle2323, Mar 22, 2011.

  1. seaeagle2323

    seaeagle2323 Member

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    Hi,
    i have a laptop that wont start up windows anymore i pulled the sata drive out and installed it into a sata external hard drive case i can connect it to my other laptop but am having problems copying data of it, it all seems to work eg run open files etc but when i copy files it will get half way then just stop but the hard light will keep going, i have copied most of the important stuff buy only copying small amounts of data at a time.

    any ideas what i can do also if i try and copy all the files off the hard drive there is about 80 gig on it it will come up and say copying say only 2 gig. Is there any cloning or copying programes out there i could use to rip all the files off?

    i also connected the external hard drive to my desktop but i cant even open the hard drive it says access denied
    Please any help, :)
     
  2. oli

    oli Member

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    Put it in an airtight bag. Put that in the freezer for 20 minutes. Try again.
     
  3. OP
    OP
    seaeagle2323

    seaeagle2323 Member

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    u kidding lol could it be a setting on my laptop im copying the data too that turns usb or or somthing?
     
  4. ford ftw

    ford ftw Member

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    Might be a problem with permissions. Maybe try taking ownership of the hard drive.
     
  5. qwertylesh

    qwertylesh Member

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    try with teracopy, you may get better results. (you'll at least get results which will tell you what the problem is)

    I think you'll find the drive has surface damage and is probably losing geometry, ultimately software like R-studio would yield best results.

    Freezer trick was good back in teh days the Actuator was moved by motors, but now days its controlled by air pockets or fluid, which freezing will only hinder the heads actuator arm from moving.
    He wasnt kidding though, the temperature shift is known to help prevent head geometry loss on the platter by micro shrinkage.
     
    Last edited: Mar 22, 2011
  6. oli

    oli Member

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    If it's a mechanical problem of some sorts then sometimes putting it in the freezer for a short time gets it going again for awhile.

    Does it make any weird sounds?
     
  7. ford ftw

    ford ftw Member

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    Vouch from me for this has worked for me before.
     
  8. OP
    OP
    seaeagle2323

    seaeagle2323 Member

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    nuh no weird sounds i can open files from the hard drive just cant copy them all at once just freezes still with the light flashing and making normal noises
     
  9. Creekin

    Creekin (Taking a Break)

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    +1 this
    teracopy FTW :thumbup:

    sounds like a dead drive
    whatever u do,
    get the data off asap
     
  10. qwertylesh

    qwertylesh Member

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    the bonus of r-studio is, if the volumes not totally corrupted (even if it says RAW) you can generally avoid doing a scan and give it an hour or so to enumerate the volume the choose to pull data off while skpping files containing bad sectors.

    Im performing a recovery of an OS hive i meant to recover yesterday using this method at the moment. (drives riddled with surface damage, filesystem says RAW, datas coming off it fine, theres a risk of head failure im prepared to take)
     
  11. OP
    OP
    seaeagle2323

    seaeagle2323 Member

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    but if its a drive failure how come i can open all the files etc still
     
  12. ford ftw

    ford ftw Member

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    Already been answered ^^
     
  13. qwertylesh

    qwertylesh Member

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    if the head is healthy and the drive is only locking up (assume caused by geometry loss) only at certain parts, R-studio can skip it all, its just the drive enumeration is slow because it has to work out where all the surface damage is on the drive.

    as long as the area of the drive containing the MFT is not mostly damaged and the majority of the surface is OK then you'll get back most to all of what your after.

    you'll probably lose a couple of files 10 - 30 (out of 1,000's) from the surface damage, the larger the file the higher probability of it needing to be skipped.

    if you have the time you can even not skip surface damaged files but you have to have a shitload of time to tinker and its best to recover the stuff off the drive that doesnt contain bad sectors before taking a stab at it.

    unfortunately rstudio isnt free.
    Teracopy (is free) but, isnt a data recovery tool but will allow you to skip damaged files, the success u get with teracopy will all depend on the nature of the damage, weather the disk can regain its surface geometry, basically, the severity of the problem may be minor and teracopy will get ur files back, or it may be severe and you may need software which is far better written for pulling data off a bad disk.

    good luck :thumbup:
     
  14. oli

    oli Member

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    Physical hard drives rarely just stop from one second to the other. Usually they start playing up with weird sounds or lock ups/instability then it gets progressively worse till they either stop working entirely or just don't function properly anymore at all.
     
  15. greebs

    greebs Member

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    I actually had a disk I needed to warm up so it would start and I could then get the data off it - sat it next to the fan output of a hot-running laptop - did the job just fine.
     
  16. oli

    oli Member

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    I haven't seen that.

    I have used the freezer trick at least a dozen times though.
     
  17. OP
    OP
    seaeagle2323

    seaeagle2323 Member

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    lol i pulled all the important stuff off ahah might try the freezer thing so air tight box or bag for how long?
     
  18. oli

    oli Member

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    15 minutes is usually enough.
     
  19. PacketStorm4

    PacketStorm4 Member

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    Spent the last 2 days recovering data from a 2TB hdd,
    did the freezer trick, dropped it etc....
    Was about to write it off when i threw it over my shoulder in frustration, stuck it in and away it went!
    Teracopy FTW
     
  20. qwertylesh

    qwertylesh Member

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    yer u know that freezer trick, the only method ive heard about working involved old drives, and after having it in the freezer, the method involves hitting the side of the drive while holding the other end in the palm if your hand with a hammer, not at full strength of course, but hard enough to ensure the motor isnt ceased up fully or partially...
     

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