Hard drive woes

[redhat]

So last night my HDD randomly died after three years. It made a loud clicking noise as I was transferring some files with FileZilla, then Windows froze and I had to reboot. Upon rebooting I got a "Disk read error [...]" type of message and could hear the drive making some weird noises.

I tried loading the BIOS and resetting to default/changing the boot order, I checked to make sure the cables were still properly connected and nothing had come loose, and I also tried changing the SATA port to a few different ones to no avail. When I go into the BIOS and look at the different drives, I can see: current CD inserted (Ubuntu install CD, I'm actually typing this from the 'try it out' version of Ubuntu), my external HDD, and no other names show up - but when I check the different SATA port details that are meant to be unused, the one specifically where my internal drive is located does show a little information; size: 0mb. Nothing else will detect this drive (different boot settings, Ubuntu install, looking at partitions and available drives).

I assume this is my drive that had all of my files on it.

I've read into setting it as a 'slave drive' or something similar instead of a boot drive - would this allow me to access my files? I have a feeling everything is gone since it says "0mb" and I can't detect the drive anywhere else.

I guess it's not a huge deal that I might have lost everything as important stuff was copied on my usb and external drive, but is there anything I can do to possibly recover and use my drive? I don't particularly want to buy a brand new one - I'll end up spending too much upgrading everything else.

[bogan]

I recently had some hard drive errors. Easeus Data Recovery Wizard Pro sorted it out nicely. Mine was a gradual failure though, so easier to deal with, but still worth a shot.

[paturoa]

There is a high likelyhood that you can recover a bunch of the data yourself. Many, not all, disks that die can have most of data recoverred, including ones that make noises like an old honda.

First up - don't keep re-trying to restart the PC if the hdd is making clunking noises, you could be causing more damage.

There are 2 main methods to get data back. The first is DIY using software yourself and the other is take it to any PC shop who will do it for you and charge (caution --- the quality of shops is random!)

If you are savvy with PCs hardware or have a friend that is then DIY is the best....

DIY....

If you don't have another working PC that you can use, then....

Go and buy a new bigger hdd than the old one, unplug your existing hdd power cable and and install the new one.
Reinstall your operating system onto the new HDD from your disks or your image disk, and get internet access.
There are several free applications that you can download that look at the old hdd and recover the data - google is your friend.
Download the software, replug / install the old dead hdd and run the software.
My fav is http://www.powerdatarecovery.com/

There are 2 main methods here, the first attempts to recover the files onto the dead disk itself. The 2nd does a complete bit level read of all "readable disk" on the dead disk onto another disk, and then analyses that. I recommend the 2nd method.

If you do have another PC that you can play with then this is easier and more reliable.

Buy a new hdd and install the operating system again on this hdd in the old PC
Then rip both hdds out of the old PC and install both of them in the other good one.
Install the software and recover as many of the files to the new hdd
Put the new hdd back in the old puter and stick the suspect drive in a static bag with a big lable on it. You may have to do this again if the issue is motherboard driven.

Do a boot backup / recovery disk etc etc!!!

[SMOKEU]

+1 to Power data recovery. Just look on some torrent sites for it.

It's a shame that your HDD died now and not a few months ago as HDD prices have skyrocketed lately.

[redhat]

Thanks for those suggestions. I'll have a go tomorrow and see what happens - was going to purchase a new HDD in the next few months anyways so this might work out well.

I'll do it myself but don't have access to a second PC. Do you think it will matter if I install Ubuntu only on a brand new drive? My 'dead' drive right now had Windows 7 on it... but I can install 7 again to the new drive and just reformat it or dual boot with Ubuntu later if necessary.

SMOKEU - good suggestion, will have a look for that. All of this happened at the worst time - I had a full night of Skyrim ahead of me.

[SMOKEU]

I don't usually recommend installing an OS onto a disk drive as they're slow. Buy a small (60ish)GB SSD if the rest of the computer is semi decent. You'll be surprised at how much difference it can make.

[Gremlin]

If it's making clicking noises and you can't detect it, then I doubt you'll get the software to see the drive, and hence, access data on it. Still, you can try what Paturoa said.

MOST IMPORTANT THING: If you think your data is safe on the usb/external drive, think again, as the drive is exactly the same as the one in your computer (that just died). Keep 2 copies of your information.

As for your drive, if the stuff isn't important, I'd probably ditch the recovery, as it could take a long time with unknown results. Again, depends how much you want the data.

[The Lone Rider]

When the main office computer for the magazine fried its motherboard, it took the hard drive with it.

I have used File Scavenger 3.2 and have recovered 95% of the entire hard drive. That means all the photos of my kid, photos of bikes, works in progress, and video.

I'm pleased with it - it works better than many programs I tried before it in an effort to get my files.

[MOTOXXX]

if its a seagate drive, there was a known firmware bug that caused them to click and stop being reconised

do a search for the model number and known firmware issues. I had teh same issue and managed to fix it in about 4 hours

i had to remove the circuit board from the drive, buy a nokia usb phone cable and spice some connectors on to it. then used hyperterminal to reset the firmware - bingo all my data still there
.

there are some turtorials on youtube how to do it (if thats your issue)