How to recover a crashed laptop hard disk (windows NTFS)

[Erica Eshoo]

Does anyone know of freeware which can diagnose & recognize an already
crashed hard disk on an IBM laptop?

My kid's IBM laptop hard disk "stopped working" (it had been making noise,
he said).
- The IBM laptop would not boot no matter what I tried
- I put the laptop hard disk in a different working laptop - same thing
- In a 2nd IBM laptop as a 2nd disk - it still wasn't recognized.
(Even though it was a second disk in a second bay, the good laptop would
not boot, saying "Operating System not found" even though it was clearly
the second disk.)

I figured I'd see if I could be a hero and save his lost photos and email.

After googling, I bought a Vantec "SATA/IDE to USB 2.0 Adapter" and
connected the crashed laptop IDE hard disk to the USB port of a second
(good) laptop. The hard disk would not be seen, even when I used the WinXP
"Disk Management" utility found by right-clicking on My Computer. (A second
hard disk worked fine so I know the Vantec IDE-to-USB adapter was working.)

After googling some more, and with the laptop 2.5" IDE hard disk externally
tied to the USB port of a good computer, I tried using the TestDisk &
PhotoRec 6.9-WIP, Data Recovery freeware (from
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Download) - but "TestDisk" also did
not see the hard disk attached to the USB port via the Vantec adapter.

Googling some more, I downloaded PCWorld's "Recover Data for Fat & NTFS"
shareware at
"http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,66229-order,1-page,1/description.html

At least this program recognized the good disk (disk 0) and the bad disk
attached to the Vantec IDE-to-USB adapter (disk 1) - but PCWorld's program
said the crashed hard disk was zero size:
- Physical Disk Number: 1
- Model: USB Device
- Media Type: Fixed hard disk media
- Cylinder: 0
- Head: 0
- Sectors Per Track: 0
- Disk Size: 0MB

And, when I tried to recover data, PCWorld's Recover Data program said
"Encountered Bad Sector(s) while reading disk."

Digging further, I found PC Magazine recommended PC Inspector
(http://pcmag.ph/hard-disk/recovering-from-a-hard-disk-crash/) for freeware
hard disk recovery after crashes.

I even put the hard drive in a zip-lock bag in the freezer (based on google
results) but nothing changed when I repeated the tests.

QUESTION:
What hard-drive crash-recovery WinXP freeware do you recommend which will
diagnose a hard drive and perhaps recover some of the lost files?

 

[Freeware]

Does anyone know of freeware which can diagnose & recognize an already
crashed hard disk on an IBM laptop?

very long post snipped <

QUESTION:
What hard-drive crash-recovery WinXP freeware do you recommend which will
diagnose a hard drive and perhaps recover some of the lost files?

You may be able to download a diagnostic program specific to the brand of
hard drive (from the manufacturer's website), or you could try one of the
hard disk diagnostic tools on the Ultimate Boot CD:
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/index.html

However, as your drive isn't being recognised and read then it could be that
freeware or paid for diagnostic software will not help in the circumstances.
I hope I am wrong and that someone else can give you some hope. I suspect
that you might be looking at using a commercial data recovery service.

If the fault is on the hard drive circuit board, and you can replace it with
a working board for that drive, then that might give you access to the data.
But if the fault is inside the drive then I suspect that the situation is
hopeless.

I am not an expert in data recovery or anything else.

 

[Gary R. Schmidt]

Erica Eshoo wrote:
[SNIP Disk recovery attempts...]

Nothing may work, but before the next try, put the disk inside a plastic
bag, seal it, and put it in the freezer for an hour or two, then *very*
quickly try to recover the data.

Cheers,
Gary B-)

 

[John]

Erica Eshoo wrote:
[SNIP Disk recovery attempts...]

Nothing may work, but before the next try, put the disk inside a plastic
bag, seal it, and put it in the freezer for an hour or two, then *very*
quickly try to recover the data.

Cheers,
Gary B-)

Did you not read the second to last sentence of the original post?

John.

 

[mscotgrove]

Hi,

I think you will find that most, if not all software only recovery
programs, will require the operating system to detect your drive as a
physical drive. I know this is the way I have written CnW Recovery.
Once software get get a handle on the drive, it can access sectors, or
attempt to access sectors, and then recover logical data. If it cannot
see the drive, then it cannot start.

There are also limitations when using a USB caddy, for instance it is
not possible to access S.M.A.R.T data using USB.

With specialised hardware and software, it is possible to diagnose the
problem further.

The suggestion of getting a replacement controller board is very
unlikely to help as all boards store details of the drive defects etc
that would need to be copied, recreated.

A specialist company is probably the only way forward. In the furture,
backups should be investigated!!

Michael
www.cnwrecovery.com

 

[Gary R. Schmidt]

Erica Eshoo wrote:
[SNIP Disk recovery attempts...]

Nothing may work, but before the next try, put the disk inside a
plastic bag, seal it, and put it in the freezer for an hour or two,
then *very* quickly try to recover the data.

Cheers,
Gary B-)

Did you not read the second to last sentence of the original post?

No - evidently not, I must have missed it.

Cheers,
Gary B-)

 

[Erica Eshoo]

No - evidently not, I must have missed it.

How does that work anyway?
What does a "cold hard disk" do differently than a warm one?

 

[Arno Wagner]

How does that work anyway?
What does a "cold hard disk" do differently than a warm one?

Very simple: It skews a lot of operating parameters. If the
drive just barely not manages to work, this can make it work
temporarily. It is a long shot though.

Arno

 

[Arno Wagner]

Does anyone know of freeware which can diagnose & recognize an already
crashed hard disk on an IBM laptop?

My kid's IBM laptop hard disk "stopped working" (it had been making noise,
he said).
- The IBM laptop would not boot no matter what I tried
- I put the laptop hard disk in a different working laptop - same thing
- In a 2nd IBM laptop as a 2nd disk - it still wasn't recognized.
(Even though it was a second disk in a second bay, the good laptop would
not boot, saying "Operating System not found" even though it was clearly
the second disk.)

I figured I'd see if I could be a hero and save his lost photos and email.

After googling, I bought a Vantec "SATA/IDE to USB 2.0 Adapter" and
connected the crashed laptop IDE hard disk to the USB port of a second
(good) laptop. The hard disk would not be seen, even when I used the WinXP
"Disk Management" utility found by right-clicking on My Computer. (A second
hard disk worked fine so I know the Vantec IDE-to-USB adapter was working.)

After googling some more, and with the laptop 2.5" IDE hard disk externally
tied to the USB port of a good computer, I tried using the TestDisk &
PhotoRec 6.9-WIP, Data Recovery freeware (from
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Download) - but "TestDisk" also did
not see the hard disk attached to the USB port via the Vantec adapter.

Googling some more, I downloaded PCWorld's "Recover Data for Fat & NTFS"
shareware at
"http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,66229-order,1-page,1/description.html

At least this program recognized the good disk (disk 0) and the bad disk
attached to the Vantec IDE-to-USB adapter (disk 1) - but PCWorld's program
said the crashed hard disk was zero size:
- Physical Disk Number: 1
- Model: USB Device
- Media Type: Fixed hard disk media
- Cylinder: 0
- Head: 0
- Sectors Per Track: 0
- Disk Size: 0MB

And, when I tried to recover data, PCWorld's Recover Data program said
"Encountered Bad Sector(s) while reading disk."

Digging further, I found PC Magazine recommended PC Inspector
(http://pcmag.ph/hard-disk/recovering-from-a-hard-disk-crash/) for freeware
hard disk recovery after crashes.

I even put the hard drive in a zip-lock bag in the freezer (based on google
results) but nothing changed when I repeated the tests.

QUESTION:
What hard-drive crash-recovery WinXP freeware do you recommend which will
diagnose a hard drive and perhaps recover some of the lost files?

I think your chances are very slim and that physical repair is needed
to recover the data.

Time to teach your kid about backup. The lession that HDDs can fail
should already have been sucessful.

Arno

 

[Erica Eshoo]

Time to teach your kid about backup. The lession that HDDs can fail
should already have been sucessful.

Indeed. He's crying over the loss of his data. I'm trying to be syphathetic
but personally, from an adult standpoint, I'm not too worried about it.
But, it would be nice to recover it so I'll keep trying for a while.

Since cold operating parameters didn't work, I might try putting the hard
disk in a zip-lock bag and heating it, either via the microwave or the oven
or boiling it in the water-tight baggie.

Actually, microwave might be too dangerous as it's metal on the outside so
I'll skip that - but I'll try heating it to change the operating parameters
in the other direction.

Does anyone know the maximum heat a hard disk can take in the oven. I'm
thinking about 212 degrees (pot) or perhaps 250 (oven).

Can a hard disk take 250 degrees?
More importantly, do you think hot works in addition to cold?

 

[bluerhinoceros]

How does that work anyway?
What does a "cold hard disk" do differently than a warm one?

It shrinks. If the problem was friction, the increased distance between
the pieces could allow the spindle or actuator arm to move a little more
freely. If the problem was due to a tiny crack in a trace or other
electrical connection, the shrinking of the board could bring the sides
of the circuit back in contact.

It doesn't work in every case, but there are enough people who say it
helped to make it more than an urban myth. Depends on what the problem
is. Obviously if the fault is a blown component this will not do anything.

What's important is to not boot from the drive, and if possible to keep
it outside the computer, so as to maximize the working time while it's
still cold. Having a USB caddy available would be good, with the
computer already booted up. Most of the time (if it even works) it's
only temporary, so you want to get as much data off to another drive as
quickly as possible.

If all else fails, and before you give up completely, if you're going to
try shopping around for another circuit board, make sure you get not
only the same make and model, but the same firmware version. Here's an
inspirational link written by somebody who's been there:

http://www.deadharddrive.com/

Cheers.

 

[Duncan Di Saudelli]

Actually, microwave might be too dangerous as it's metal on the outside so

I'll skip that - but I'll try heating it to change the operating
parameters
in the other direction.

Forget the microwave oven. You'll ruin the electronics and possibly the
motor too.

Try warming it to 50 deg C on a radiator or other dry heat.

Beyond that - employ a recovery company , I reckon.

DDS

 

[Erica Eshoo]

On Sat, 03 Nov 2007 09:44:10 -0700, bluerhinoceros wrote:

What's important is to not boot from the drive, and if possible to keep
it outside the computer, so as to maximize the working time while it's
still cold. Having a USB caddy available would be good, with the
computer already booted up.

I had already purchased a twenty-five dollar "SATA/IDE-to-USB 2.0 Adapter"
which plugs into & powers any 2.5", 3.5", and 5.25" IDE/SATA hard disk.

I put the hard disk in the freezer again and attached this naked hard disk
drive to this IDE-to-USB adapter into a good computer. That way, it was a
secondary disk.

When I powered the IDE-to-USB adapter, the naked hard drive made clicking
sounds for about 30 seconds, as if it was trying to find something it lost,
and then it went silent. Nothing showed up as a mounted drive like when I
tested with a known-good naked drive.

Here's an inspirational link http://www.deadharddrive.com/

I'm off to the store for some Torx screws since I have a second drive.

From the sound of things, I'm guessing the disk itself is OK but that the
components to get the data off the disk are bad.

Has anyone tried moving the "platter" from one 2.5" laptop hard disk to
another? Is it worth trying?

 

[Erica Eshoo]

Try warming it to 50 deg C on a radiator or other dry heat.

Heh heh. I'm in California. We don't have "radiators". All we have is a
little forced air heater which fits in a corner of the closet which we
almost never turn on. But, I think I can put the hard disk drive in the
oven at about 200 degrees and try again.

Beyond that - employ a recovery company , I reckon.

I'm not as worried about the data as the kid is. I'm really trying to learn
so I can be ready for the next big one.

I checked recovery prices and they are exhorbitant. That's why I'm looking
for freeware. It would be nice to recover the data but it isn't worth ten
thousand dollars (that's what some companies charged).

So far I've tried (and failed):
1. At 72 degrees F, plug it into the USB (via IDE-to-USB adapter)
2. Cool it to 30 degrees F and plug into the IDE-to-USB adapter
3. PC Inspector File Recovery freeware
4. Recover Data for FAT & NTFS freeware

Did I miss it or is there a recommended freeware crashed disk data recovery
program that can get the data bit by bit out?

 

[Rod Speed]

44:10 -0700, bluerhinoceros wrote:

I had already purchased a twenty-five dollar "SATA/IDE-to-USB 2.0 Adapter"
which plugs into & powers any 2.5", 3.5", and 5.25" IDE/SATA hard disk.

I put the hard disk in the freezer again and attached this naked
hard disk drive to this IDE-to-USB adapter into a good computer.
That way, it was a secondary disk.

When I powered the IDE-to-USB adapter, the naked hard
drive made clicking sounds for about 30 seconds, as if it
was trying to find something it lost, and then it went silent.

Thats the drive attempting to read the platters and eventually giving up on that.

All that shows is what you already know, that the drive has died.

Nothing showed up as a mounted drive like
when I tested with a known-good naked drive.

I'm off to the store for some Torx screws since I have a second drive.

From the sound of things, I'm guessing the disk itself is OK
but that the components to get the data off the disk are bad.
Correct.

Has anyone tried moving the "platter" from one 2.5"
laptop hard disk to another? Is it worth trying?

Its not practical to do that, its close to impossible to get the platter
back on the rotation motor accurately enough so that the tracks
arent eccentric. The tracks are written to the platters after the
platter has been mounted on the rotation motor in manufacture.

You may find that changing the logic card may see the drive work.

 

[Rod Speed]

Arno Wagner wrote

Indeed. He's crying over the loss of his data. I'm trying
to be syphathetic but personally, from an adult standpoint,
I'm not too worried about it. But, it would be nice to
recover it so I'll keep trying for a while.

Since cold operating parameters didn't work, I might try putting the
hard disk in a zip-lock bag and heating it, either via the microwave

That wont work, hard drives dont have anything that will absorb microwave energy.

or the oven

That should work. But heating is very unlikely to make the drive work.

or boiling it in the water-tight baggie.

No point in that over the conventional oven.

Actually, microwave might be too dangerous
as it's metal on the outside so I'll skip that -

It wont work anyway.

but I'll try heating it to change the operating parameters in the other direction.

Makes more sense to try a logic card swap first.

Does anyone know the maximum heat a hard disk can take in the oven.
I'm thinking about 212 degrees (pot) or perhaps 250 (oven).

Can a hard disk take 250 degrees?
More importantly, do you think hot works in addition to cold?

No it doesnt.

 

[Rod Speed]

Duncan Di Saudelli wrote

Heh heh. I'm in California. We don't have "radiators". All we
have is a little forced air heater which fits in a corner of the
closet which we almost never turn on. But, I think I can put the
hard disk drive in the oven at about 200 degrees and try again.

I wouldnt do that until you are about to bin the drive.

I'm not as worried about the data as the kid is. I'm really
trying to learn so I can be ready for the next big one.

No point, the real solution is proper backups.

I checked recovery prices and they are exhorbitant.

They arent all that bad.
http://www.retrodata.co.uk/

That's why I'm looking for freeware. It would be nice to recover the data
but it isn't worth ten thousand dollars (that's what some companies charged).

But not all of them.

So far I've tried (and failed):
1. At 72 degrees F, plug it into the USB (via IDE-to-USB adapter)
2. Cool it to 30 degrees F and plug into the IDE-to-USB adapter
3. PC Inspector File Recovery freeware
4. Recover Data for FAT & NTFS freeware

Did I miss it or is there a recommended freeware crashed disk
data recovery program that can get the data bit by bit out?

Not when the drive isnt visible to the system.

You could try a logic card swap with an identical hard drive.

 

[Alfred Einstein]

Heh heh. I'm in California. We don't have "radiators". All we have is a
little forced air heater which fits in a corner of the closet which we
almost never turn on. But, I think I can put the hard disk drive in the
oven at about 200 degrees and try again.


I'm not as worried about the data as the kid is. I'm really trying to
learn
so I can be ready for the next big one.

Since you're really more concerned about the next time, then forget about
fixing this drive.

The best way to be ready is to perform backups. If a drive fails, you're out
$50 or so for a replacement drive, but you can recover all of your data
quickly.

 

[Don Kirkman]

It seems to me I heard somewhere that (e-mail address removed) wrote in

I think you will find that most, if not all software only recovery
programs, will require the operating system to detect your drive as a
physical drive. I know this is the way I have written CnW Recovery.
Once software get get a handle on the drive, it can access sectors, or
attempt to access sectors, and then recover logical data. If it cannot
see the drive, then it cannot start.

There are also limitations when using a USB caddy, for instance it is
not possible to access S.M.A.R.T data using USB.

With specialised hardware and software, it is possible to diagnose the
problem further.

The suggestion of getting a replacement controller board is very
unlikely to help as all boards store details of the drive defects etc
that would need to be copied, recreated.

A specialist company is probably the only way forward. In the furture,
backups should be investigated!!

That's my feeling, too. It's probable, but not guaranteed, that at
least some, hopefully all, of the data remains on the disk. Most
recovery programs need some of the disk parameters to locate the data.
The specialist companies have other ways, such as direct reading of the
disk, to work around that.

Several years ago I recovered large amounts of lost data from my crashed
hard disk using GetDataBack, a pay-for with versions for FAT and NTFS
systems. I would NOT recommend trying it unless you can be satisfied
with only recovering parts of your data (I estimate I got about 85% to
90% back) AND simply cannot afford the cost of a specialist company.

GetDataBack scans the media directly, comparing against patterns that
indicate usable data, assembles what it finds, and makes it readable for
the user's decision on final recovery. The process takes time, a lot of
user involvement, and a willingness to fail. Not a happy option, but it
salvaged a lot of my personal data that I would not have been able to
recover from any other source.

Here's a segment from the Help in the program itself; it gives some idea
of what's involved: [www.runtime.org]

[Start]
GetDataBack will help you retrieve your files if the hard drive's
partition table, boot record, FAT, or root directory have been damaged
by a virus, accidental deletion, formatting, disk or power failure.

GetDataBack can even recover your data when the drive is no longer
recognized by Windows. It can likewise be used even if all directory
information - not just the root directory - is missing.

Advanced algorithms will make sure that all directories and
subdirectories are put together as they were, and that long file names
are reconstructed correctly. GetDataBack works on a partition level. It
restores one partition at a time.
[End]

There may be other programs that also scan the media directly; ISTM I've
used a similar one in the past, but that one is off my system now (too
many system and HD changes have gone under the bridge since then).

I want to stress that I'm not *recommending* going this route, but
simply letting you know there may be viable alternatives to solve your
problem.

 

[mscotgrove]

It seems to me I heard somewhere that (e-mail address removed) wrote in
article <[email protected]>:


Several years ago I recovered large amounts of lost data from my crashed
hard disk using GetDataBack, a pay-for with versions for FAT and NTFS
systems. I would NOT recommend trying it unless you can be satisfied
with only recovering parts of your data (I estimate I got about 85% to
90% back) AND simply cannot afford the cost of a specialist company.

GetDataBack scans the media directly, comparing against patterns that
indicate usable data, assembles what it finds, and makes it readable for
the user's decision on final recovery. The process takes time, a lot of
user involvement, and a willingness to fail. Not a happy option, but it
salvaged a lot of my personal data that I would not have been able to
recover from any other source.

Here's a segment from the Help in the program itself; it gives some idea
of what's involved: [www.runtime.org]

[Start]
GetDataBack will help you retrieve your files if the hard drive's
partition table, boot record, FAT, or root directory have been damaged
by a virus, accidental deletion, formatting, disk or power failure.

GetDataBack can even recover your data when the drive is no longer
recognized by Windows. It can likewise be used even if all directory
information - not just the root directory - is missing.

Advanced algorithms will make sure that all directories and
subdirectories are put together as they were, and that long file names
are reconstructed correctly. GetDataBack works on a partition level. It
restores one partition at a time.
[End]

There may be other programs that also scan the media directly; ISTM I've
used a similar one in the past, but that one is off my system now (too
many system and HD changes have gone under the bridge since then).

I want to stress that I'm not *recommending* going this route, but
simply letting you know there may be viable alternatives to solve your
problem.

GetDataBack works in a similar way to my CnW Recovery. It must have
access to the physical drive to read sectors. As I understand it, this
drive is not seen in any way by the PC, thus it is not possible to
read a sector. If you cannot get the PC to open a handle for instance
\\.\PhysicalDrive2 then one cannot read any data, and thus not do any
recovery.

It is a hardware issue.

Michael