Suggestion for TrueImage v10

You should add an auto resume feature in the bootable RescueDisk software.

My hard drive is spinning it's last moments and it becomes very difficult ro read data off of it after about an hour of being on. An auto resume feature would fix my problem because I'd be able to turn it off for awhile, and then back on. I got down to 28 min left until the image was created, and it started going really slow, like 10 min would go by before it got to 27, and it will probably get worse. At this moment its still creating the image....I just hope it finishes!

 

You must be joking! Buy another disk now!

 

I have a brand new one ready to copy the image to, but i need a backup of everything on this one that is about to die. its down to 21 min now.

 

Have you tried the disk manufacturer's diagnostics to see what the problem is?
Does the disk diagnostics SMART data have disk temperature shown? Perhaps the disk is overheating - you could try opening up the case to let in more cooler air. Have you cleaned fans, etc.
How old is the disk? Is it still under warranty?
Is the disk making abnormal noises or is it just having trouble reading the data?
I don't know if it would help but, depending upon what the actual problem with the disk is, you might consider purchasing SpinRite 6. It's a little expensive but if it doesn't help SpinRite has a 30 day money back guarantee.
It might help if the problem is related to the data recording.
Perhaps the TI bootable disk clone option would be faster.

 

The disk is over 3 years old, its a laptop drive. the disk makes noises and they occur more often and get louder the longer the drive is running. I cannot perform the bootable disk clone because this is a laptop drive and i dont have an external closure...i forgot to mention that before. is SpinRite just software? like an advanced Windows ScanDisk? I dont think theres much i can do for this drive.

 

Does your laptop manufacturer have any utility that can tell you CPU or motherboard or disk drive temperatures?
It's quite possible that the internal temperature is getting too high.
Do you know how to clean any internal fans? Maybe the exhaust fan (I assume it has one) is clogged with dust?
A three year old disk probably doesn't have any temperature monitoring built in but try downloading DiskCheckup for free from http://www.passmark.com/products/diskcheckup.htm - it might tell you something useful.
For some info on SpinRite see:https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=87963
and http://www.grc.com/

 

Definitely sounds like your disk is on its way out. Suggest not to use it other than to image. If you don't know what spinrite is, don't try it.
You can get adapters to put laptop drives onto the ide of a desktop pc. They are around 5 bucks. Then you could image directly to another drive at full buss speed, or with 2 adapters clone directly and have access to a cddrive. You are going to have to take it out anyway. Another trick is to put the hdrive in a baggie in the freezer, and image it as quickly as possible. It can revive drives long enough to get data off. It has worked for me.
All depends how valuable you consider the data.
Good luck.

 

If you have access to a PC then the idea of the adapter is great. This will get the disk out of the laptop environment and eliminate the possibility that the problem is due to overheating inside the laptop.
You might want to get a can of compressed air and clean out any dust from the inside of the laptop anyway. Be careful if you clean any fan that you don't rotate it the wrong way, you can damage the fan. I hold the centre of the spindle so the blades don't rotate and use a small brush to clean off any dust.

 

The Sounds You Are Experiencing Seem Very Simular To One I Had Fail On Me, I Suggest You Backup Everything On CD's And If You Can Create A Full Backup But Don't Backup The Partition As If It Has Bad Sectors,Creating A Image Of The Partition Will Just Copy The Same Bad Sectors To Your New Disk From Something I've Read (If Is True) Ask Acronis For Sure ... I Would Suggest Moving Just The Data To Your New drive or create A Backup of JUst your Primary Drive (Not Disk 1) Choose NTFS C: Excluding Disk 1 Or Disk 2 etc.

 

If the problem gets worse over time and then disappears again after the system has been off for awhile, the drive is overheating, or at least experiencing problems due to thermal expansion.

I would get an adapter that allows you to connect the laptop drive to a standard desktop IDE cable, and then run the drive as a secondary drive on a desktop solely to copy the data off of it. Leave the drive outside the case if you can to minimize heat buildup.

Laptop Drive Adapter

 

I tried putting the drive in the freezer for a few hours, and was then able to run TrueImage straight through without it slowing down. The HDD was making noise the entire time, but it was much quieter. the data seemed to be transfering at a full speed, as it only took one hour to complete. This is a 40GB drive, and TrueImage estimated about an hour for it to complete using normal compression. hopefully the image does not have any bad sectors, or atleast ones that are not fixable. I did back up important documents and files just in case though.

 

Well, I'm glad it worked for you. Hope it goes to your new drive intact. Save the old drive till your sure.