Hard Drive failure... is there hope?

[davidadam]

One of the PCs in my brother’s business has had recurring startup issues, where Windows would have to randomly do a “startup repair” before eventually successfully booting up.

I’ve made the occasional weekend trip and/or spent a few hours on the phone reviving the thing, and of course have brought up the issue of backups, and recommended setting up a small server so that when one PC goes down, the other can still function. Needless to say, if my advice had been heeded, you wouldn’t be reading this…

So, long story short, this PC that already had issues sat on the floor under a desk where your feet are supposed to be, was kicked and fell over on it’s side. initially, it seemed to have survived, but had a BSOD the next day that it wouldn’t recover from.

I took the hard drive home, but have exhausted my resources on recovering it:

1. Mounting attempt from Linux gets “can’t read superblock” error
2. Plugging the drive into a working Windows PC’s SATA port results in boot failure (even when booting up from the intended good drive)
3. Plugging it into a USB to SATA adapter results in the first (recovery) partition being mounted, then Explorer freezes as it tries to mount the OS partition
4. The drive seems to function for a minute or so but makes a lot of clicking noises, and after several minutes actually stops spinning altogether.

Short of getting the NSA interested, is there anything that can be done that I haven’t already tried? Just need a Quickbooks file for them to get back to business ASAP.

[maxsec]

Stick on in the fridge in a plastic bag
Heat can be an issue

Then try before it gets too warm

Other than that your looking at specialist hd recovery folks like KrollOntrack

[markstorkamp3662 (Northlandeng)]

@davidadam

The drive seems to function for a minute or so but makes a lot of clicking noises, and after several minutes actually stops spinning altogether.

If this data is remotely important to the business… STOP attempting any recovery on your own and send it to a professional recovery service. There are serious mechanical issues with this drive and every second it is powered up is could be causing physical damage to the platters that will prevent recovery of the data.

I really wish people here on SW would stop recommending the freezer trick every time this type of question comes up. When a HDD is making strange noises, and the data on it is important and not backed up, the correct answer is: Send it to a professional.

Like these guys.

@mike-drivesavers

[Gary-D-Williams]

@markstorkamp3662

I really wish people here on SW would stop recommending the freezer trick every time this type of question comes up. When a HDD is making strange noises, and the data on it is important and not backed up, the correct answer is: Send it to a professional.

Like these guys.

The freezer trick works if you just want to quickly grab a few files from the disk before it totally goes but the moment you get into “these files are important” then I agree, you’re much better off with drive savers or Kroll Ontrack.

[mike-drivesavers]

The symptom is that the pc was kicked over since it was under a desk and the next day is had BSOD. It’s a mechanical device that has failed due to being kicked and incredibly unlikely that it’s a over-heat situation. Also, you had some access and then a lot of clicking, which is another sign that the heads have come in contact with the platters and a head crash has probably started. If this data is important, then a professional is the next best step.

DriveSavers is open now so you can call and get a risk free quote and a run-down of of how the process works. Be sure to call with DS98006 to receive a SpiceWorks discount. Good luck and I don’t recommend turning on that drive again for fear of the head crash getting too big to get a recovery.

[dbeato]

@Martin2012

Stick on in the fridge in a plastic bag
Heat can be an issue

Then try before it gets too warm

Other than that your looking at specialist hd recovery folks like KrollOntrack

I know @tabrez has said it has worked on the plastic bag but I wouldn’t even trust it one minute. It has not worked well for a lot of people.

@mike-drivesavers

[peterw2300]

If the data is valuable and you are uncertain of how to proceed the most you should do is look at the SMART data. There are various ways to access that SeaTools | Support Seagate US will work with any make of HD. If it shows a dramatic HD failure then you either need a professional outfit or you are into the miss rather than hit techniques. Any running of it further reduces the chances of retrieving the data.

Putting it in fridge is reported to work for some but is hardly a guaranteed technique and is reckless if the data is really valuable. Making a one for one copy of the HD is a good move if you want a DIY fix and the OS will see the drive but it sounds as if your HD is beyond that.

[ZebraMike]

@garydwilliams

@markstorkamp3662

I really wish people here on SW would stop recommending the freezer trick every time this type of question comes up. When a HDD is making strange noises, and the data on it is important and not backed up, the correct answer is: Send it to a professional.

Like these guys.

The freezer trick works if you just want to quickly grab a few files from the disk before it totally goes but the moment you get into “these files are important” then I agree, you’re much better off with drive savers or Kroll Ontrack.

Actually the “Freezer trick” is more likely to permanently remove the remote chance of data recovery.

Check this video at Gillware:

Hard Drive in Freezer: Experts Weigh in on the Freezing Myth

[davidadam]

Thanks everyone for your contributions. I did try the freezer trick briefly but unsuccessfully, then decided to not mess with it further.

I’ve created an order and have a shipping label from KrollOntrack, so I will ship the drive tomorrow and hope for the best. Don’t know how they compare to DriveSavers but hopefully their turnaround time is decent (I had already created this by the time Mike posted)…

The client decided to get a second opinion (my ego will recover), but 2nd opinion guy agreed that what I had tried so far was about all that could be done without a specialized lab. He thought a cloning tower might work, but neither of us has one, and again, can’t work when the drive is mechanically incapable of reading from the platters.

[rupesh-lepide]

If the hard drive is making and noise, or not spinning then you need to visit a data recovery expert who recovers data manually from physically damaged hard drive. Or if it is spinning, then you can recover your data by yourself. Use Kernel for Windows Data Recovery – Free Version software for the recovery of your data from this drive. It can scan and recover your data from the Windows file system. It saves data up to 2 GB for free. To download * free data recovery software *, visit: Free Data Recovery Software Download to Recover Lost/Formatted Files Free Data Recovery Software Download to Recover Lost/Formatted Files

[gregor4955 (Gregor)]

SpinRite from GRC https://www.grc.com

depending on the scale of the damage to the hard drive this may take a while, but should get there in the end.

[chris.hone]

IF you are only after the quick book files, why not add it as a 2nd drive in another machine and boot into that. Run a chkdsk against the now 2nd volume and then copy the data off the disc.

[allennicholson (MegaBeard)]

Get a copy of Parted Magic.

Get a new drive hard drive the same size or larger and connect to the SATA bus in the PC. You will also need a small USB stick to store the log file

Boot Parted Magic and open the terminal.

Make sure both hard drives are unmounted and mount the USB

Use ddrescue to clone the contents of the failing drive to the good drive. Use the -R switch to do the recovery in reverse. (Seems to be more successful for clicking drives)

fdisk -l to get list of drives.

Syntax is "ddrescue -d -b 512 -R /dev/sda /dev/sdb /media/sdc1/logfile.txt --force

sda=failing drive

sdb=good drive

sdc=usb drive.

double check you have the correct drive before you set it off. You certainly do not want to clone it the other way around.

Once cloned, clone the clone to yet another drive and attempt to chkdsk the drive. If it fails you still have a good clone to attempt recovery from

[johnmctaggart5616 (jonemac)]

A little late to this thread but thought I’d still comment.

If it’s making a clicking noise, the problem is mechanical in nature and your only hope is a professional service. If it’s not clicking, you could try finding a replacement board and see if that makes a difference. The shock of the fall could have caused a solder joint to fail.

[matthewlaubenstine (Matthew2458)]

Purchase a working 100% identical drive. Swap the controllers. if that doesn’t work, swap the platters to the good drive and pray. If it is clicking like you say, that is typically a physical issue. Likely the head is stuck and can’t move.

[peterw2300]

Just to add a observation that I have made in the past. Sometimes you get clicking/head searching noises because of intermittent connections - might be power cable or data cable. Firmly connecting them can resolve the problem if you are very lucky.

[peterw2300]

Controller boards are not directly interchangeable these days. During manufacture the platters are individually characterised and the measurements are programmed into a custom ROM. If you change the board you also have to swap ROMs.

[davidcoskrey6206 (DavidC-JBDP)]

@matthewlaubenstine

… if that doesn’t work, swap the platters to the good drive and pray.

Don’t you need a clean room for that?

[Scott-Gutauckis]

@Martin2012

Stick on in the fridge in a plastic bag
Heat can be an issue

Then try before it gets too warm

Other than that your looking at specialist hd recovery folks like KrollOntrack

I would definitely put it in the fridge and try that. Done this in the past and have managed to get data off the drive. Its worth a shot.