Data recovery

Ennine · 14th June 2015, 15:16

I'm constantly reminding people to back up their data on a regular basis and to prove a point I have recently been caught out. I normally perform a back up every three months or sooner if I have been particularly busy with files. Two weeks ago I was due to make my regular backup which also coincided with a few days of fresh data. backup was due to be done on Sunday. Saturday evening I suffered a catastrophic drive failure on a machine eighteen months old. I've replaced the drive but would like to try and recover some data if possible. I've run Disk Doctors NTFS and it seems to see some files but my question is this. Has anyone used or can suggest a good recovery programme. I don't mind paying at all but obviously don't want to fork out on something that won't actually do the job. The data isn't really worth sending the drive off for recovery.

Nige

Jakg · 14th June 2015, 15:56

Recuva....

Seafrost · 14th June 2015, 15:58

I use the professional version of this...http://www.easeus.com/datarecoverywi...y-software.htm

Worked okay on everything I have tried...

haroo · 14th June 2015, 16:00

Booting with one of the small linux distros may let you see anything recoverable on the drive and let you copy it off to disc or usb

https://www.piriform.com/recuva free
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/filere...y-programs.htm

chipsceola · 14th June 2015, 16:39

OS may not have been able to start PC when installed as main drive, but doesn't follow it cannot be read from as suggested below:

No need for data recovery software, get an external USB drive caddy, place old drive in the caddy, plug into your new PC and read off or transfer any data you want to retain, once happy you have everything you want, you may be able to format the drive and use as a back-up drive.

Ennine · 14th June 2015, 17:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by chipsceola

OS may not have been able to start PC when installed as main drive, but doesn't follow it cannot be read from as suggested below:

No need for data recovery software, get an external USB drive caddy, place old drive in the caddy, plug into your new PC and read off or transfer any data you want to retain, once happy you have everything you want, you may be able to format the drive and use as a back-up drive.

I have caddies for all drive types.
No, this drive cannot be read by normal means. I've recovered data from plenty of drives in the past without too much trouble but this one is different. Windows can see the drive (500gb eventually) but wants to format it before it can access it. Other times it will see E drive in three fragmented partions and shows it as three separate drives but unable to access any of them. Hence me calling it a catastrophic failure. I have never had the need to use recovery software before but want to give it a try before committing the drive to the bin. As for trying to re-use it again it any way shape or form. No way

Nige

Seafrost · 14th June 2015, 19:52

I've got a similiar problem at the moment with a 32gb pen drive.Taken over 200 hours of it being read by the recovery software so far.
Windows does not read it. Wants to format it. I tried my usual tricks and nothing. It was not even used in a pc, so why it went bad? who knows... quality drive as well, Toshiba... and thankfully it came with a 5 year warranty, so got the cashback from Ebuyer. But still lost the data for now.

Had similiar on the past on HDD's, data corruption, but Easeus always managed to recover the partitions and allow access to data.

I dread the day when my 2TB + drives fail. I'm sick now of having back up's of back up's.... On my laptop, Acer Aspire, I had the space to add a second hard drive, so I did... to place all important files over onto it, once I know they are "safe" to do so. That was if the main hard drive with access to the net and local network gets corrupted my important files are not lost, and I can simply wipe my main drive or "replace" it.

Rocket · 14th June 2015, 20:43

I take a lot of photos and we have all sorts of pc, laptop, tablet and phones in family so I got a 4 TB network drive to back up all data onto. It took some setting up but seems to be doing a good job now.

I got this one http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/comput...pid=display~RR

No experience of recovery software though so no help to you I'm afraid.

Kennyeth · 15th June 2015, 05:27

Bad news that Nige.
Bit of a wild stab here, what about installing it back into the tower where the new drive is that you installed (twin hard drives) see if the new drive can read it?
Good luck Nige.
Ken.

Ennine · 15th June 2015, 09:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kennyeth

Bad news that Nige.
Bit of a wild stab here, what about installing it back into the tower where the new drive is that you installed (twin hard drives) see if the new drive can read it?
Good luck Nige.
Ken.

Hi Ken. Thanks for the input.
It's a laptop my friend, but running the old drive in a caddy via usb is (in principle) the same thing. I did a primary run with Recuva yesterday and apart from a few fake sheets and a whole bunch of RAVE pdfs not a lot else showed up. I'm going to run a deep scan and see if the situation improves.
It's more of an annoyance rather than a disaster. Funnily enough I was going to switch my three monthly back-up from dvd disc to stick but considering how a drive can fail in this way, be it disc or flash drive, I think I'll stay with my old way.
It's a good lesson in practice what you preach. I should have run a back up six weeks ago and three weeks ago. I normally replace a main drive once it gets to 4-5 years old but this incident goes to prove that a new drive is no guarantee of reliability for that period of time.

Nige

14th June 2015, 15:16	#1
Ennine Posted a thing or two Ford Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Portmahomack Posts: 1,330 Thanks: 545 Thanked 317 Times in 193 Posts	Data recovery I'm constantly reminding people to back up their data on a regular basis and to prove a point I have recently been caught out. I normally perform a back up every three months or sooner if I have been particularly busy with files. Two weeks ago I was due to make my regular backup which also coincided with a few days of fresh data. backup was due to be done on Sunday. Saturday evening I suffered a catastrophic drive failure on a machine eighteen months old. I've replaced the drive but would like to try and recover some data if possible. I've run Disk Doctors NTFS and it seems to see some files but my question is this. Has anyone used or can suggest a good recovery programme. I don't mind paying at all but obviously don't want to fork out on something that won't actually do the job. The data isn't really worth sending the drive off for recovery. Nige __________________ Ni9e How to: Replace touch screen Navall II [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

14th June 2015, 16:39	#5
chipsceola This is my second home Jaguar XF 3.0D Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Southampton Posts: 4,364 Thanks: 119 Thanked 509 Times in 426 Posts	OS may not have been able to start PC when installed as main drive, but doesn't follow it cannot be read from as suggested below: No need for data recovery software, get an external USB drive caddy, place old drive in the caddy, plug into your new PC and read off or transfer any data you want to retain, once happy you have everything you want, you may be able to format the drive and use as a back-up drive. __________________ Chips

14th June 2015, 20:43	#8
Rocket Posted a thing or two ROVER 75 CONNOISSEUR SE HIGHLINE TOURER MANUAL 2.5 V6 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Midhurst Posts: 1,680 Thanks: 679 Thanked 735 Times in 530 Posts	I take a lot of photos and we have all sorts of pc, laptop, tablet and phones in family so I got a 4 TB network drive to back up all data onto. It took some setting up but seems to be doing a good job now. I got this one http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/comput...pid=display~RR No experience of recovery software though so no help to you I'm afraid. __________________ Paul http://www.paulstickley.com/

14th June 2015, 15:56	#2
Jakg This is my second home N/A Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Suffolk Posts: 6,867 Thanks: 0 Thanked 397 Times in 302 Posts	Recuva....

14th June 2015, 15:58	#3
Seafrost Posted a thing or two 75 Connie SE 1.8 Manual Tourer Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Outskirts of Newport :) Posts: 1,450 Thanks: 479 Thanked 241 Times in 163 Posts	I use the professional version of this...http://www.easeus.com/datarecoverywi...y-software.htm Worked okay on everything I have tried...

14th June 2015, 16:00	#4
haroo Newbie Rover 75 wannabee aiming to be Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Whitehaven Posts: 3 Thanks: 0 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts	Booting with one of the small linux distros may let you see anything recoverable on the drive and let you copy it off to disc or usb https://www.piriform.com/recuva free http://pcsupport.about.com/od/filere...y-programs.htm

14th June 2015, 19:52	#7
Seafrost Posted a thing or two 75 Connie SE 1.8 Manual Tourer Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Outskirts of Newport :) Posts: 1,450 Thanks: 479 Thanked 241 Times in 163 Posts	I've got a similiar problem at the moment with a 32gb pen drive.Taken over 200 hours of it being read by the recovery software so far. Windows does not read it. Wants to format it. I tried my usual tricks and nothing. It was not even used in a pc, so why it went bad? who knows... quality drive as well, Toshiba... and thankfully it came with a 5 year warranty, so got the cashback from Ebuyer. But still lost the data for now. Had similiar on the past on HDD's, data corruption, but Easeus always managed to recover the partitions and allow access to data. I dread the day when my 2TB + drives fail. I'm sick now of having back up's of back up's.... On my laptop, Acer Aspire, I had the space to add a second hard drive, so I did... to place all important files over onto it, once I know they are "safe" to do so. That was if the main hard drive with access to the net and local network gets corrupted my important files are not lost, and I can simply wipe my main drive or "replace" it.

15th June 2015, 05:27	#9
Kennyeth This is my second home No more Rover Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Posts: 5,881 Thanks: 1,625 Thanked 1,308 Times in 998 Posts	Bad news that Nige. Bit of a wild stab here, what about installing it back into the tower where the new drive is that you installed (twin hard drives) see if the new drive can read it? Good luck Nige. Ken.