How to recover a crashed laptop hard disk (windows NTFS)

In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage Erica Eshoo <evesunflor.TakeThisOut@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> On Sat, 3 Nov 2007 17:30:26 -0000, Duncan Di Saudelli wrote:
>> Try warming it to 50 deg C on a radiator or other dry heat.

> Heh heh. I'm in California. We don't have "radiators". All we have is a
> little forced air heater which fits in a corner of the closet which we
> almost never turn on. But, I think I can put the hard disk drive in the
> oven at about 200 degrees and try again.

Far, far too hot.

>> Beyond that - employ a recovery company , I reckon.

> I'm not as worried about the data as the kid is. I'm really trying to learn
> so I can be ready for the next big one.

> I checked recovery prices and they are exhorbitant.

They are high. Considering what it takes in engineering time, they
are fair, though.

> That's why I'm looking
> for freeware. It would be nice to recover the data but it isn't worth ten
> thousand dollars (that's what some companies charged).

> So far I've tried (and failed):
> 1. At 72 degrees F, plug it into the USB (via IDE-to-USB adapter)
> 2. Cool it to 30 degrees F and plug into the IDE-to-USB adapter
> 3. PC Inspector File Recovery freeware
> 4. Recover Data for FAT & NTFS freeware

> Did I miss it or is there a recommended freeware crashed disk data
> recovery program that can get the data bit by bit out?

Actually recovering a crashed disk in software is typically
impossible. In some cases part of the disk is still readable and
any halfway usable recovery software should be able to help.
These programms are more for people that had a software problem,
but where the disk hardware is still fine.

Arno
 >> Stay informed about: How to recover a crashed laptop hard disk (windows NTFS) 

In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage Arno Wagner <me.RemoveThis@privacy.net> wrote:
> In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage Erica Eshoo <evesunflor.RemoveThis@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
[...]
> Actually recovering a crashed disk in software is typically
> impossible. In some cases part of the disk is still readable and
> any halfway usable recovery software should be able to help.
> These programms are more for people that had a software problem,
> but where the disk hardware is still fine.

> Arno

P.S.: But I have to say, I admire your approach. Keep trying a bit
more, you will learn things. You might even get lucky, unlikely
as that is.
 >> Stay informed about: How to recover a crashed laptop hard disk (windows NTFS) 

John wrote:
> Gary R. Schmidt wrote:
>> Erica Eshoo wrote:
>> [SNIP Disk recovery attempts...]
>>
>> Nothing may work, but before the next try, put the disk inside a
>> plastic bag, seal it, and put it in the freezer for an hour or two,
>> then *very* quickly try to recover the data.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Gary B-)
>>
>
> Did you not read the second to last sentence of the original post?
>
No - evidently not, I must have missed it.

Cheers,
Gary B-)

--
______________________________________________________________________________
Armful of chairs: Something some people would not know
whether you were up them with or not
- Barry Humphries
 >> Stay informed about: How to recover a crashed laptop hard disk (windows NTFS) 

On Sat, 03 Nov 2007 22:20:28 +1100, Gary R. Schmidt wrote:
>> Did you not read the second to last sentence of the original post?
> No - evidently not, I must have missed it.

How does that work anyway?
What does a "cold hard disk" do differently than a warm one?
 >> Stay informed about: How to recover a crashed laptop hard disk (windows NTFS) 

In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage Erica Eshoo <evesunflor RemoveThis @sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> On Sat, 03 Nov 2007 22:20:28 +1100, Gary R. Schmidt wrote:
>>> Did you not read the second to last sentence of the original post?
>> No - evidently not, I must have missed it.

> How does that work anyway?
> What does a "cold hard disk" do differently than a warm one?

Very simple: It skews a lot of operating parameters. If the
drive just barely not manages to work, this can make it work
temporarily. It is a long shot though.

Arno
 >> Stay informed about: How to recover a crashed laptop hard disk (windows NTFS) 

Erica Eshoo wrote:
> On Sat, 03 Nov 2007 22:20:28 +1100, Gary R. Schmidt wrote:
>>> Did you not read the second to last sentence of the original post?
>> No - evidently not, I must have missed it.
>
> How does that work anyway?
> What does a "cold hard disk" do differently than a warm one?

It shrinks. If the problem was friction, the increased distance between
the pieces could allow the spindle or actuator arm to move a little more
freely. If the problem was due to a tiny crack in a trace or other
electrical connection, the shrinking of the board could bring the sides
of the circuit back in contact.

It doesn't work in every case, but there are enough people who say it
helped to make it more than an urban myth. Depends on what the problem
is. Obviously if the fault is a blown component this will not do anything.

What's important is to not boot from the drive, and if possible to keep
it outside the computer, so as to maximize the working time while it's
still cold. Having a USB caddy available would be good, with the
computer already booted up. Most of the time (if it even works) it's
only temporary, so you want to get as much data off to another drive as
quickly as possible.

If all else fails, and before you give up completely, if you're going to
try shopping around for another circuit board, make sure you get not
only the same make and model, but the same firmware version. Here's an
inspirational link written by somebody who's been there:

http://www.deadharddrive.com/

Cheers.
 >> Stay informed about: How to recover a crashed laptop hard disk (windows NTFS) 

On Sat, 03 Nov 2007 09:44:10 -0700, bluerhinoceros wrote:
On Sat, 03 Nov 2007 09:44:10 -0700, bluerhinoceros wrote:
> What's important is to not boot from the drive, and if possible to keep
> it outside the computer, so as to maximize the working time while it's
> still cold. Having a USB caddy available would be good, with the
> computer already booted up.

I had already purchased a twenty-five dollar "SATA/IDE-to-USB 2.0 Adapter"
which plugs into & powers any 2.5", 3.5", and 5.25" IDE/SATA hard disk.

I put the hard disk in the freezer again and attached this naked hard disk
drive to this IDE-to-USB adapter into a good computer. That way, it was a
secondary disk.

When I powered the IDE-to-USB adapter, the naked hard drive made clicking
sounds for about 30 seconds, as if it was trying to find something it lost,
and then it went silent. Nothing showed up as a mounted drive like when I
tested with a known-good naked drive.

> Here's an inspirational link http://www.deadharddrive.com/

I'm off to the store for some Torx screws since I have a second drive.

From the sound of things, I'm guessing the disk itself is OK but that the
components to get the data off the disk are bad.

Has anyone tried moving the "platter" from one 2.5" laptop hard disk to
another? Is it worth trying?
 >> Stay informed about: How to recover a crashed laptop hard disk (windows NTFS) 

On Sat, 03 Nov 2007 10:53:08 -1000, Richard wrote:
> Didn't notice anybody mentioning PC Inspector...
> http://www.snapfiles.com/get/pcinspector.html

This was in the first post:
> Digging further, I found PC Magazine recommended PC Inspector
> (http://pcmag.ph/hard-disk/recovering-from-a-hard-disk-crash/) for freeware
> hard disk recovery after crashes.

I did find a good video from PC World at
http://www.pcworld.com/video/catid,1610-page,1/video.html
titled "How to Resurrect a Crashed Hard Drive - PC World Video".

This video has LOTs of suggestions which were not covered in this thread
yet.
 >> Stay informed about: How to recover a crashed laptop hard disk (windows NTFS) 

Erica Eshoo <evesunflor.RemoveThis@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> On Sat, 03 Nov 2007 09:44:10 -0700, bluerhinoceros wrote:
> On Sat, 03 Nov 2007 09:44:10 -0700, bluerhinoceros wrote:

>> What's important is to not boot from the drive, and if possible
>> to keep it outside the computer, so as to maximize the working
>> time while it's still cold. Having a USB caddy available would be
>> good, with the computer already booted up.

> I had already purchased a twenty-five dollar "SATA/IDE-to-USB 2.0 Adapter"
> which plugs into & powers any 2.5", 3.5", and 5.25" IDE/SATA hard disk.

> I put the hard disk in the freezer again and attached this naked
> hard disk drive to this IDE-to-USB adapter into a good computer.
> That way, it was a secondary disk.

> When I powered the IDE-to-USB adapter, the naked hard
> drive made clicking sounds for about 30 seconds, as if it
> was trying to find something it lost, and then it went silent.

Thats the drive attempting to read the platters and eventually giving up on that.

All that shows is what you already know, that the drive has died.

> Nothing showed up as a mounted drive like
> when I tested with a known-good naked drive.

>> Here's an inspirational link http://www.deadharddrive.com/

> I'm off to the store for some Torx screws since I have a second drive.

> From the sound of things, I'm guessing the disk itself is OK
> but that the components to get the data off the disk are bad.

Correct.

> Has anyone tried moving the "platter" from one 2.5"
> laptop hard disk to another? Is it worth trying?

Its not practical to do that, its close to impossible to get the platter
back on the rotation motor accurately enough so that the tracks
arent eccentric. The tracks are written to the platters after the
platter has been mounted on the rotation motor in manufacture.

You may find that changing the logic card may see the drive work.
 >> Stay informed about: How to recover a crashed laptop hard disk (windows NTFS) 

"Rod Speed" <rod.speed.aaa.RemoveThis@gmail.com> wrote:

>> Has anyone tried moving the "platter" from one 2.5"
>> laptop hard disk to another? Is it worth trying?
>
>Its not practical to do that, its close to impossible to get the platter
>back on the rotation motor accurately enough so that the tracks
>arent eccentric. The tracks are written to the platters after the
>platter has been mounted on the rotation motor in manufacture.

Fred Langa suggested it in...

http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2005/2005-08-15.htm#11se

....as a last-ditch effort.

Larry
 >> Stay informed about: How to recover a crashed laptop hard disk (windows NTFS) 

Erica Eshoo <evesunflor RemoveThis @sbcglobal.net> wrote
> Arno Wagner wrote

>> Time to teach your kid about backup. The lession that
>> HDDs can fail should already have been sucessful.

> Indeed. He's crying over the loss of his data. I'm trying
> to be syphathetic but personally, from an adult standpoint,
> I'm not too worried about it. But, it would be nice to
> recover it so I'll keep trying for a while.

> Since cold operating parameters didn't work, I might try putting the
> hard disk in a zip-lock bag and heating it, either via the microwave

That wont work, hard drives dont have anything that will absorb microwave energy.

> or the oven

That should work. But heating is very unlikely to make the drive work.

> or boiling it in the water-tight baggie.

No point in that over the conventional oven.

> Actually, microwave might be too dangerous
> as it's metal on the outside so I'll skip that -

It wont work anyway.

> but I'll try heating it to change the operating parameters in the other direction.

Makes more sense to try a logic card swap first.

> Does anyone know the maximum heat a hard disk can take in the oven.
> I'm thinking about 212 degrees (pot) or perhaps 250 (oven).

> Can a hard disk take 250 degrees?
> More importantly, do you think hot works in addition to cold?

No it doesnt.
 >> Stay informed about: How to recover a crashed laptop hard disk (windows NTFS) 

Erica Eshoo <evesunflor.RemoveThis@sbcglobal.net> wrote
> Duncan Di Saudelli wrote

>> Try warming it to 50 deg C on a radiator or other dry heat.

> Heh heh. I'm in California. We don't have "radiators". All we
> have is a little forced air heater which fits in a corner of the
> closet which we almost never turn on. But, I think I can put the
> hard disk drive in the oven at about 200 degrees and try again.

I wouldnt do that until you are about to bin the drive.

>> Beyond that - employ a recovery company , I reckon.

> I'm not as worried about the data as the kid is. I'm really
> trying to learn so I can be ready for the next big one.

No point, the real solution is proper backups.

> I checked recovery prices and they are exhorbitant.

They arent all that bad.
http://www.retrodata.co.uk/

> That's why I'm looking for freeware. It would be nice to recover the data
> but it isn't worth ten thousand dollars (that's what some companies charged).

But not all of them.

> So far I've tried (and failed):
> 1. At 72 degrees F, plug it into the USB (via IDE-to-USB adapter)
> 2. Cool it to 30 degrees F and plug into the IDE-to-USB adapter
> 3. PC Inspector File Recovery freeware
> 4. Recover Data for FAT & NTFS freeware

> Did I miss it or is there a recommended freeware crashed disk
> data recovery program that can get the data bit by bit out?

Not when the drive isnt visible to the system.

You could try a logic card swap with an identical hard drive.
 >> Stay informed about: How to recover a crashed laptop hard disk (windows NTFS) 

On Sat, 03 Nov 2007 18:14:20 +1100, Gary R. Schmidt wrote:
> Nothing may work, but before the next try, put the disk inside a plastic
> bag, seal it, and put it in the freezer for an hour or two, then *very*
> quickly try to recover the data.

PC World says the freezer trick will only work for a clicking but not
spinning hard disk drive.

My IBM laptop hard disk is clicking AND spinning.

How do I know it's spinning? Well, when I press on the cover while the hard
disk is powered up on the external Vantec IDE-to-USB adapter, I can hear
the spinning hard disk rub against something as it grinds to a halt so I'm
pretty sure it's spinning.

So, I don't think the freezer trick will work. Still, I've had the hard
disk inside the freezer wrapped in a cloth inside a zip-lock bag for about
18 hours now. PC World suggested up to 24 hours - so I'll let you know if
it worked even though my disk was clicking AND spinning.

http://www.pcworld.com/video/catid,1610-page,1/video.html
How to Resurrect a Crashed Hard Drive - PC World Video
 >> Stay informed about: How to recover a crashed laptop hard disk (windows NTFS)