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Home Data Recovery The rest of the solutions
Tuesday, 05 May 2009 11:50 admin
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Hard Drive Recovery Tip From: Traci N Thrash

I hope you have good luck on your data recovery. Usually, the first thing I do is to pray, then scold the user GENTLY for not making backups. I hope they never ask to see MY backups.

  1. Pull the disk. Put it in a known working machine. This gets you out of the malfunctioning environment and into a controlled space, YOUR workbench.
  2. Try "Auto config" to set the drive type.
  3. If "Auto config" does not find the correct drive type, you have two options:
  • Read the actual specs off the drive label (this may or may not work, depending upon whether the setup tech used them or not).
  • Use a disk utility to read the specs off of the drive.

4. If this does not work, is the drive spinning?

  • If not, try to "shock" it by setting it flat upon the table top, applying power, and rapping it on the side a couple of times with a plastic-faced hammer or handle of a screwdriver. Don't be afraid to rap it pretty
  • good, these little guys are pretty sturdy nowadays, and worst case...you already have a broken drive! (Often you will hear the drive spin up immediately.) Time to BACK UP (Grab the data and run).
  • If it is spinning, power it down and clean the connector with the cleaner of your choice. I like pre-moistened alcohol prep pads from a medical supply. Put the cables back on and try again.
  1. Sometimes, it helps to remove the PC board from the drive and reinstall it. (Connector problem again.)
  2. Disk utilities like SpinRite, Disk First Aid, or Disk Rescue are useful (but only if the drive is actually spinning.)

In every case, back up the data the minute you see anything that even looks like a directory. Have a drive ready to put it on. I like to have a disk drive connected to my test machine and put everything there ASAP. You might be advised to use the "new" drive that will go into the user's machine. Don't put the "bad" drive back unless you just like to make service calls over again. These steps have made me a hero more than once on my 17 years as a PC tech and/or salesman. Hope they work for you.




 

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