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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Depends on the problem of course....<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Presumably you are assuming it is hardware failure? (rather than
straight data corruption / file system damage?).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'> Can you see anything when you try to read the file system
with a boot cd? Can a disk manager see the drive at all? What about the BIOS? Depending
on what can and can’t see the drive, will depend where to focus the
effort.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Heard good things about “Unstoppable Copier”, but
never used it myself. There is a Linux version too.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><a
href="http://www.roadkil.net/program.php?ProgramID=29&Action=NewOSID&DownloadVersion=1">http://www.roadkil.net/program.php?ProgramID=29&Action=NewOSID&DownloadVersion=1</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>I’d personally want to try the drive as a slave in another
working computer system, rather than working from a boot CD (if possible), but
sometimes a boot CD is the best way.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>As an absolute last resort if the hardware is failing, there is
the “freezer trick” (put it in a airtight bag in the freezer
overnight – google it for more info). However, this will trash your drive
and might not work anyway... but if you’ve tried everything else and the
drive hasn’t played ball, then it sometimes works long enough to get some
crucial data off... but it will all depend on what can and can’t see the
drive currently (and what sort of failure it has – as it makes some
problems worse, and some temporarily better, before making worse).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Whatever you do, if you think the drive is dying, then keep the
computer turned off for as long as possible, and only turn the machine on to do
a test or try a brief data recovery. Time on, can equal less time left until
absolute failure, so don’t leave the computer turned on whilst you investigate
alternative ideas...<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>If you can get anything from the file system un-aided, then
cherry pick the most crucial files first as the drive might pack for good any
time, and it would be a shame to only get the files you don’t need again!
However, once you have most crucial files, then you can look at something like “unstoppable
copier” to try to get data off the whole of the rest of the drive, but be
prepared for it to overheat and stop working. Sometimes turning the machine off
and trying again when cool can help (the freezer trick being a very extreme
form of this!). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>If the file system is corrupt, but the drive still able to read some
ones and zeros, then you want to get the ones and zeros off the drive as
quickly and simply as possible into a usable form. That way you can run a “file
system” data recovery program on an “image of the drive”,
rather than the dying drive itself (data recovery software can tip the drive
over the edge for it never to return again taking your data with it!).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Hope this gives you some pointers<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Mike<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> herts-bounces@mailman.lug.org.uk
[mailto:herts-bounces@mailman.lug.org.uk] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Steve Clark<br>
<b>Sent:</b> 03 July 2010 21:22<br>
<b>To:</b> herts@mailman.lug.org.uk<br>
<b>Subject:</b> [Herts] Recovering a faulty drive<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>It looks like my old harddrive may finally have died. The PC
wouldn't boot and the drive is making some strange noises.<br>
<br>
Luckily I do have a backup from a couple of months ago and there's not
much in the way of essential data on it, but I'd like to recover some
files if I can.<br>
<br>
I've booted up the PC with an Ubuntu CD, but I'm not sure on the best way to
proceed from there. I know Malc had something similar a while back. Any tips?<br>
<br clear=all>
-- <br>
Steve<br>
<a href="http://bagofspoons.net">http://bagofspoons.net</a><o:p></o:p></p>
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