WD Raptor HD crashed, need to recover data.

My WD Raptor HD has my OS on it. It won't boot up, appears to be seriously hosed. I installed the OS on my second HD, made it the boot drive. While both OS show up in the bios the crashed drive does not show up when I boot up in the other HD. Is there any software I can get to recover the data from the crashed drive? My OS is Windows 7.

 

Re: WD Raptor HD crasahed, need to recover data.

Does the disk spinup? Does the BIOS see the disk? If so I recommend you try to run Spinrite to see if it can repair the problem so you can copy off your data easily.

www.grc.com

 

Re: WD Raptor HD crasahed, need to recover data.

Salamander,

Even though the old OS doesn't have a drive letter, can you see it in Disk Management?

 

Re: WD Raptor HD crasahed, need to recover data.

one word "testdisk" if that doesnt fix it nothing will. But it will only work if the drive is still mechanically sound. If the drive doesnt spinup or is making all kind of strange noises its usually a goner.
You can run testdisk from within windows using the exe file (no installation required) or from a gparted livecd. I was able to recover a 400gb hard drive that had crashed when I was partitioning it, for me that was the worst case scenario that I encountered.
You already tried doing a chkdsk c: /f on it, that is always my first repair than I go to testdisk.

 

Re: WD Raptor HD crasahed, need to recover data.

I've used Spinrite many times to bail me out...awesome application. Also, checkdisk works well too, as cited above (from within Windows during a reboot or from the Windows CD)...chkdsk /r to repair issues found.

 

Re: WD Raptor HD crasahed, need to recover data.

Is it recommended to take a sector-by-sector image before performing disk recovery?

 

Re: WD Raptor HD crasahed, need to recover data.

You could, sure...I have done that.

 

Re: WD Raptor HD crasahed, need to recover data.

Spinrite as far as I know does not work on large drives and even when it does work it can take a very very long time. I have used it a long time ago with some success...in a bad case scenario it can go on for days.

What I might do in your situation if I was concerned just about data recovery (but not recovering a working operating system) is this

DO NOT DO ANYTHING TO THE DRIVE THAT WILL CHANGE IT IN ANY WAY and then Format the drive (maybe from a bootable cd partition magic etc) in it's initial position exactly as it was formatted prior to the mangle and if that works will give you a structure to work within. Although that structure looks empty it is not and your data may be recoverable even though you can't see it.

Then use a data recovery software to recover whatever you can from the drive and save the resulting saved data to another drive. DO NOT PUT ANYTHING ON THE FORMATTED DRIVE I have done this on more than one occasion on harddisks and usb sticks that mangled up, maybe you won't recover everything but it can be worth it if you have personal or valuable files photos documents etc..
Something like "Ontrack Easy Recovery Professional" or of that type, just be careful which one you choose because some have more options than others. You may have to run this software from a cd but remember to have another drive to copy it to because you can't copy it back to itself.
Sometimes a data recovery software will not like the particular format you have done (say for example formatted by partition magic bootitng or some other) and not "see" the formatted drive, then though because at that point you have achieved sort of structure windows might see it and be able to do it's own format.
This whole process might take quite a few hours, it is not a five minute job.
I know this is not really explained all that well but maybe it will give you a clue.

 

Re: WD Raptor HD crasahed, need to recover data.

Don't format the drive. That would overwrite whatever file system structures remain. Most data-recovery software will look for these items and/or their backups and use them to help recover your files.

Ideally you should make a raw sector-by-sector image of the entire drive and use it to reproduce the drive's exact contents onto another drive, then perform your data-recovery operations on the second drive. However, the reality is that very few users are willing to commit enough resources to do it that way.

Different data-recovery programs have different strengths. Try GetDataBack (or various other filesystem-aware data-recovery tools) to see if any of your file system structures or their backups are still usable, as this will help you to recover the most files. If that fails then try Photorec (or several other data-carving file recovery tools) to see if any of your individual non-fragmented files can be recovered. (Check the supported file types list before you begin to ensure that the files you want to recover are supported.) In either case, get ready for a long and tedious procedure.

Note that GetDataBack can create an image file of the drive, and it can then explore that image. This is definitely safer than working directly on the damaged drive.

 

Salamander,

Have you left this thread? You haven't provided any feedback which is not good form when you are asking for help.

 

Sorry, all. I have been out of town since my HD crashed, and didn't have access to the internet until tonight. One clarification - the does not show up in the device manager, though it does show up in the bios.

I will try GetDataBack when I get back into town on Saturday.

 

I would try Spinrite running on level 2. It may be able to fix the disk so you can boot the OS. Much easier to recover data that way.

 

Re: WD Raptor HD crasahed, need to recover data.

By all means you MUST perform a "forensic" image or a regular image of your drive before trying anything, especially tools like spinrite (I prefer HDD Regenerator from dposoft BTW).

Forensic = image all sectors, even those not seen as used
Regular = image all used sectors (faster, smaller image).

The best tool I know is Active@FileRecoveryPro that will let you build the (forensic) image then recover files from it, minimizing stress on the H/W. And you will get a list a damages files in the log (usually).

Paragon Rescue Kit (free or pro) has similar tools.

 

I have not yet tried GetDataBack, though I have tried a number of freeware without any luck. I'll keep trying.

 

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