Lost 8 years of my kiddies lives :-(

Mashmallow

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davester

sure the hard drive just hasn't slipped out of the connector , I had similar issues with a friends laptop, turned out when I opened the hard drive cover the Hard drive was barly connected and the vibration of the drive when it powered up caused it to intermitantly fail. yours might just be a similar thing.

Mashmallow

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DatabaseError

if the data transfer started slowing down after a couple of minutes, heat is perhaps a factor. I've heard of data being dragged from failing HDDs by placing the drive in the fridge or freezer while the transfer takes place..obviously this solution does have it's potential for catastrophic failure, but if you reach the point where all other solutions have failed, and the money isn't there for specialist data recovery, it's worth a shot

Donnie

You can try using a program called SpinRite. Details of how to purchase are in your private message inbox.

MoneySavingUser

spinrite and the 'freezer' trick are worth a go - if it does start working copy everything off it immediately and start with a new fresh hard drive - not worth the hassle of trying to use this one anymore imo

Bunny82

There is software out there that can recover files from even the worst corrupted HDDs. I can't recal names atm because it's the OH who is the computer wizz.

Take it to someone else who isn't trying to pull a fast one for a 2nd opinion.

Mashmallow

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Chimpofdoom

http://lifehacker.com/170257/macgyver-tip--save-your-hard-drive-in-the-freezer

The freezer trick, marshmallow was talking about

Hope it helps!

Donnie

Mashmallow wrote: »

Thank you...would spinrite make it worse tho and stop me going down the expensive route?? ie is spinrite a last chance option?

Thank again...I appreiciate you all taking the time to post :-)

No, SpinRite will not make it worse in my opinion. Though it depends on the damage involved. If the head is scraping along the platter, you might wish to stop. So listen for strange noises.

I would do it before you consider putting the HDD in the freezer.