Need help! trying to recovery data from corrupted harddrive

[pogox]

I'm pretty much just about to give up here, so here is what I've done so far in failed attempts to a solution.

First and foremost, this 2.5 harddrive is corrupted, and starting to believe it's a manufacture failure. when trying to boot, it would say Press F11 for recovery. Then MBR error. Then no Operating system. repeated. Bios can recognize the hdd

1. I've removed the hdd and connected via usb external to another laptop, vista will try to read but no responding until usb is removed. My computer, ms dos, Admin Storage manager all not responding. The hdd is detected by the bio and windows device manager, but any attempts to access both the C: and recovery partitions will hang until removed. Device manager properties reports this Device is working.

2. Tried booting directly to DOS only chkdsk, couldn't fix anything. Tried UBCD (fdisk, super fdisk, boot partition etc) I've notice it would say LBA cache flush write error. I'm able to use FDISK to preview the partitions. Tried to delete the recovery and make C: as the active prim. Unsuccessful. Tried to Forcefully boot into c:\, XP logo will show..and Black screen.

3. Tried Acronis true image. Managed to create an backup image of the important docs to another hard drive. Then used the recovery option in Acronis, could not retrieve any docs as all were corrupted and unreadable.

4. Ubuntu would see the disk, still unmountable even after trying to use Terminal to mount the disk.

5. Try Vista install disk, froze black right after the vista logo loading screen. Win XP install disk, refused to format any of partitions.

I've pretty much thrown in the towel here. Replacing the hard drive is not the problem. It's the docs inside that are important. Shelling out $1000's for in-store data recovery doesn't seem like a viable solution for me. If there isn't another solution other than in-store data recovery, I'll just toss it in the can as the docs are important but i can live without them.

There is one thing I've yet to attempt, is to buy a 2.5 to 3.5 ide converter and install it onto my desktop computer. booting into dos and try to manually copy one by one or useing UBCD again(sometimes lucky to access the c:, but couldn't copy anything due to not having Dos USB hdd drivers)

Can anyone give me some tips, any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks

Update: Gateway system recovery disk doesn't work, comes with Hard drive Write error.

[SpireTECH]

Have you had a chance to look at our data recovery FAQ (http://forums.beyond.ca/st/247515/data-recovery-faq/) and services (http://forums.beyond.ca/st/247504/retail-services/)?

We do on-site or drop off data recovery, which is usually in the range of $150-$300. It may be a cheaper alternative for you.

[pogox]

do you have an idea what is wrong with my hdd?

[CookieMonster]

you could try this

http://geeksaresexy.blogspot.com/2006/01/freeze-your-hard-drive-to-recover-data.html

Make sure you use a ziploc bag though.. at the bottom it says after 24hrs he got 20mins out of it

[pogox]

Originally posted by CookieMonster
you could try this

http://geeksaresexy.blogspot.com/2006/01/freeze-your-hard-drive-to-recover-data.html

Make sure you use a ziploc bag though.. at the bottom it says after 24hrs he got 20mins out of it


That method works if my hard drive isn't detectable via bios or windows.

My Hdd is still detectable.

[SpireTECH]

Originally posted by pogox
do you have an idea what is wrong with my hdd?

Your symptoms fit a dozen potential mechanical and non-mechanical problems. Most likely suspects are corrupted MFT, damaged platter or damaged head. We can work around these issues in most cases, so outlook of data recovery is much better than most.

You've already exhausted all of the options I would have suggested to try on your own. The next step from here is usually to try a sector by sector copy of the drive and see if the drive is having issues or if the file system is causing the issues.

[pogox]

Originally posted by SpireTECH


Your symptoms fit a dozen potential mechanical and non-mechanical problems. Most likely suspects are corrupted MFT, damaged platter or damaged head. We can work around these issues in most cases, so outlook of data recovery is much better than most.

You've already exhausted all of the options I would have suggested to try on your own. The next step from here is usually to try a sector by sector copy of the drive and see if the drive is having issues or if the file system is causing the issues. sector by sector copy of the drive


You are a genius! that did it. I was able to recovery the data using that sector by sector copy idea. Now i can toss this hdd in the garbage as i can't even format it. Maybe i'll stick a magnet to it and it'll format then. Thank you so much!