Can not copy filed from dying drive

[Denvers Dawgs]

My inlaws OS drive is dying/died, I have connected the drive to my pc and can see the files that I want to save on the dead drive, but I am unable to move files from the dying drive to my pc. I have tried copying/pasting, tried using recuva (got an I/O error) and also tried using acronis to back up the files, but always get an I/O error

Here is an snap shot of what I am talking about



Any ideas of how I can get those files off the dying drive? I'm out of ideas

[aedipuss]

i'd say the drive controller i/o board failed. it's the circuit board attached to the outside of the drive. if you have a working drive of the same make/model you can swap out the board and maybe recover the files.

[Denvers Dawgs]

eh, well that I can't do....

[aedipuss]

if nothing else works, try to find one to buy on ebay if they REALLY need the files.

[edit] what make and model drive is it, in case anyone has a donor drive they can spare?

[jagabo]

Try skipping that particular file, and copying the others. Run the manufacturer's drive diagnostics (get it from their web site). Try running Windows error checking without the repair option and see what it reports. If it gets through that try it with the repair option. It will attempt to recover data in bad sectors and move it to good sectors. Then you will be able to copy the files. The files that occupied bad sectors are likely to be corrupt though.

[oldfart13]

Watch it with the drive electronics. Some are mated to the drive and can't be swapped out. Found that out with a friend's HDD that failed recently. Using a controller with the same specs as the original drive caused a catastrophic crash when the drive was powered up. The surface was scored by the crash and made the data unrecoverable. Worst case scenario is to take it to a professional outfit that can restore the data for you. That would have saved my friend a lot of grief....

[fatbloke88]

there is a recovery program that I have used to good effect called spinrite 6 its not cheap but works well at repairing the data so you can boot up and pull your data off before the drive dies compleatly.
might be worth trying if the data is real important.

[Bjs]

Insert (linux based) for file recovery.

When using another matching drive make sure they both use the same firmware revision or else.

[ranchhand]

It is worth a shot using UBCD to by-pass the mechanical drive and access the file direct from a virtual drive. If you can at least see the files as your screenshot indicates it may work. It won't cost anything except time.

[SLK001]

A different drive board doesn't work. The best thing to do would be to use your inlaws backup of the drive to restore everything (they do backup regularly, don't they?).

Sometimes, putting the drive in a plastic bag and then placing it into your freezer overnight will temporarily revive a dying drive - sometimes long enough to get what you want off the drive. Techniques like this have been discussed here before, so you could search the forum to find out what others have done in this situation.

Is the bad drive SMART capable? If so, what does the SMART scan say about the drive?

[SLK001]

I just looked at your directory listing and it looks like there are some irreplaceable files that will be painful to lose. You should teach your inlaws to practice a "dual file" principle. Always keep important files stored in TWO SEPARATE places, such as on your hard drive and on a CD-ROM, or on your drive and on your camera SD card. This practice goes a long way to prevent single point failure losses like this.

[hech54]

A different drive board doesn't work. The best thing to do would be to use your inlaws backup of the drive to restore everything (they do backup regularly, don't they?)

I really don't think he would be here asking for help if he had a backup of the drive.

[ranchhand]

Ok, let's try this again.... Download UBCD or KNOPPIX - UBCD is easier to use. Burn to disk and boot with it in the drive. Find your files on the drive, and drag & drop them onto a flash drive or burn to a CD. Flash is faster and easier. I have done it dozens of times. If you can READ the files from the slaved drive but still can't get the drive to respond, you may have a chance. No guarantees.
http://www.mrbass.org/ubcd/

[Nelson37]

I'd try the freezer trick, wrap it in a paper towel to absorb any moisture, open directories and try individual files. Possibly flip the drive over or stand it on one edge can sometimes help.

Make multiple attempts, with multiple boots. Try, try again.

There is a program called GetDataBack I have used several times on dead/dying drives. It is not free, but well worth the $69.95. It has pulled data off of drives that Windows did not even recognize.

Avoid ANYTHING that writes to the bad drive, except as an absolute last resort.

[zoobie]

I went the linux knoppix route which worked well...free to boot

[Denvers Dawgs]

I just looked at your directory listing and it looks like there are some irreplaceable files that will be painful to lose. You should teach your inlaws to practice a "dual file" principle. Always keep important files stored in TWO SEPARATE places, such as on your hard drive and on a CD-ROM, or on your drive and on your camera SD card. This practice goes a long way to prevent single point failure losses like this.

I did get them an external drive and I also did an acronis image prior to this happening, but they said they haven't backed up any of their files for over a year on to the external.....argh...In-laws....HAHA!


Also, to use the UBCD option do I need to put the drive back into there computer or can I do this by running the dead drive to mine from an enclosure.? And how would I go about actully retrieving the info with the UBCD?

Also not sure if you understand but my in-laws pc would not boot and would not repair, so that is why I have it connected to mine as an external. So if the UBCD isn't going to work on a pc/drive that wouldn't boot please let me know before I go back over there and put the dying drive back in their pc and attempt the UBCD trick...thanks for all the help

[ranchhand]

Take their dead drive out of their box and slave it to your drive in your box. OR if you have SATA just plug it in. If your operating system boots, sees their drive and assigns it a letter, you are in business whether you can access it or not. If your computer does not assign their drive a letter you are out of luck, the drive has mechanically failed. As to if the drive will boot the OS or not-that also is not relevant since the operating system is irrelevant since it is not booted, corrupted or not. You are by-passing the OS altogether and accessing the files only from outside the operating system. The OS you are using is loaded into memory from the DVD, it is not running from a hard drive. I can't give you an in-depth tutorial on everything that UBCD will do, but this will get you where you want to be; this is for UBCD version 5.3:


In your BIOS set 1st Boot Device = CD
Insert a thumb drive in USB port
Insert UBCD disc in the DVD drive, Reboot
Initial Screen appears; scroll down to “Parted Magic V.4.10”, click
Next screen: choose “Default Settings runs from RAM”
This may take a few minutes depending on your computer power; mine loads about 45 seconds
Sceen: Mount Devices
You will see all your drives on your computer, including the thumb drive; Choose the one that is your problem drive; Click on it.
You are now looking at the files on your bad hard drive. Start scrolling through; it will take a bit of investigation but you should find your data in there. Drag & Drop to your thumb drive, save to another slaved hard drive, or burn to a CD.
Wish you the best in your quest.

[Denvers Dawgs]

So I totally lucked out this evening. Got home from work and decided to give it one more try. Once again I could see all the files on the dying drive but couldn't copy them, like last night. Again the drive began clicking a making awful sounds, so I decided to give the drive a "slap" and was able to copy the files over. About 2mins after I got all the files that I needed, the drive totally failed and stop spinning. Tried to power it up again, and nothing. So thank you for all your help in this thread. I will keep this for future references.

Sometimes you just can't beat luck........Thanks again for all the tips,

[hech54]

Take their dead drive out of their box and slave it to your drive in your box. OR if you have SATA just plug it in.

Are you talking just to hear yourself talk? Did you read the VERY FIRST POST?

My inlaws OS drive is dying/died, I have connected the drive to my pc and can see the files that I want to save on the dead drive

[SLK001]

Ahh, yes, the "judicious application of force" repair! I'm an Electrical Engineer, and my dad had a radio in his wood shop. I was helping him one day and I wondered why the radio wasn't on like it usually was. My dad said that it no longer worked. I walk over, picked it up, shaked it, then put it down. Then I smacked it in the back, and viola, it started playing. He was, to say the least, dumbfounded by what I just did, then asked how I knew to do that. I told him that four years of college taught me to do that. He said that if that was all I learned, it was a huge waste of money. I said that it wasn't just smacking things that I learned, but where to smack them. We both laughed, but the radio worked for a few more years!

[ranchhand]

Hech, calm down. Use your head before you start a rant. Go up three (3) posts above to D.Dawgs question that he asked:

"Also, to use the UBCD option do I need to put the drive back into there computer or can I do this by running the dead drive to mine from an enclosure.? And how would I go about actully retrieving the info with the UBCD?"

The guy was confused and asked how to set up the drive and I was answering his question.