Using Ubuntu/other prog to recover data off HDD?

macgyver

Hi there,

My desktop had a hard drive failure. It am unable to boot and it gives the message, no device to boot from. When I put in the windows 7 cd, it says that if I install the windows, I will lose all my data.

I had used Ubuntu earlier on my laptop to recover data But when I tried to used ubuntu live cd this time, in the places, I can see computer but I was unable to the operating system(OS) or the hard drive. Few times, I saw the OS but it was unable to mount
Then yesterday when I was trying again, I could open the OS and copy some of the data untill it stopped Now I am not able to see the OS. I have been trying to restart the computer several times but no success. Any suggestions what should I be doing to make it work? Are there any more programs on the net to retrieve the data off the dead HDD.
I have ordered a caddy and will try to use it when it arrives.

Thanks

S0litaire

OK first "STOP USING THE DRIVE" you might make things worse.

Second if it's working for a few moments after a powered start. Then it sounds like a hardware fault.
You could try the Freezer trick.

Stick the drive in a ziplock bag with a few hand fulls of rice or other moisture absorbing filling.
Wait a few hours till the drive is frozen
Boot up the machine with the Live CD
Plug the frozen drive into your external caddy once it arrives.
Then plug into your Machine.
That should give you a good 30 mins or so to copy off data before it starts to fail again.

If you CAN'T see anything then either the drive is DEAD or the drive partition has been damaged.

In that case here's a good step by step in data recovery:

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/15761/recover-data-like-a-forensics-expert-using-an-ubuntu-live-cd/

Notmyrealname

macgyver wrote: »

Hi there,

My desktop had a hard drive failure. It am unable to boot and it gives the message, no device to boot from. When I put in the windows 7 cd, it says that if I install the windows, I will lose all my data.

I had used Ubuntu earlier on my laptop to recover data But when I tried to used ubuntu live cd this time, in the places, I can see computer but I was unable to the operating system(OS) or the hard drive. Few times, I saw the OS but it was unable to mount
Then yesterday when I was trying again, I could open the OS and copy some of the data untill it stopped Now I am not able to see the OS. I have been trying to restart the computer several times but no success. Any suggestions what should I be doing to make it work? Are there any more programs on the net to retrieve the data off the dead HDD.
I have ordered a caddy and will try to use it when it arrives.

Thanks

If you can't access it in Ubuntu, none of that software will work and actually may make things worse. The reason you're able to see some bits one day, other bits the other day is because it is knackered.

The only way to get the data off it is to send it off to a PROPER data recovery company who remove the platters to retrieve the data rather than use software but they're not cheap as in £100s.

macgyver

S0litaire wrote: »

OK first "STOP USING THE DRIVE" you might make things worse.

Second if it's working for a few moments after a powered start. Then it sounds like a hardware fault.
You could try the Freezer trick.

Stick the drive in a ziplock bag with a few hand fulls of rice or other moisture absorbing filling.
Wait a few hours till the drive is frozen
Boot up the machine with the Live CD
Plug the frozen drive into your external caddy once it arrives.
Then plug into your Machine.
That should give you a good 30 mins or so to copy off data before it starts to fail again.

If you CAN'T see anything then either the drive is DEAD or the drive partition has been damaged.

In that case here's a good step by step in data recovery:

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/15761/recover-data-like-a-forensics-expert-using-an-ubuntu-live-cd/

Thanks a lot.

Very helpful. I will try the freezer method and hopefully can recover some of the data.
Now I understand the need for a regular backup which I hadnt done for a couple of months.
Never again

Thanks again

Hopster_2

macgyver wrote: »

Thanks a lot.

Very helpful. I will try the freezer method and hopefully can recover some of the data.
Now I understand the need for a regular backup which I hadnt done for a couple of months.
Never again

Thanks again

If you are planning to put it in a shop for recovery then i wouldnt put it anywhere near a freezer.
The freezer trick will kill any chance of recovery and do more harm than good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad1uVAB5bNA

macgyver

Got the caddy. Did not try the freezer method. Connected to my old laptop. Yahhoooo... I was able to open the OS on the 3rd go. Recovered all the documents and some pictures and videos.
Now need to buy a new HDD.
When I open the hard drive on laptop, there is a partition names Recovery.
Is that for transferring my data on the new HDD.
My HDD which failed is Seagate 320 GB SATA and was about 3 years old and came with the Dell Inspiron 545 desktop I am thinking of buying a WD 500 GB SATA drive.

Would that be OK?

Thank you all for your help

Figment

The recovery partition will not help you to transfer data onto a new hard drive. In fact quite the opposite would happen - if you used the recovery partition it would wipe all data whilst resetting the HDD to how it was when the laptop was brand new

Which version of Windows is on the old laptop?

macgyver

Figment wrote: »

The recovery partition will not help you to transfer data onto a new hard drive. In fact quite the opposite would happen - if you used the recovery partition it would wipe all data whilst resetting the HDD to how it was when the laptop was brand new

Which version of Windows is on the old laptop?

Thanks. The failed computer is desktop with Windows 7 n the old laptop I have copied files to has Windows XP

NiftyDigits

ZacharyRoth wrote: »

When ...

your SPAM is reported, hopefully it will disappear.