Recovering files off a bad hard drive

[Cobra]

so i have this hard drive(western digital caviar 205aa) which i've had for years, in a static-free bag. it went bad, and i wasn't able to recover my images and mp3 files(which i can't find anymore, so save the "download them again" comments  ). anyhow, i've tried all kinds of recovery software, and the hard drive doesn't show up on any list. it does power on, as i can hear it when it's plugged in.

i recently discovered a new software that can recover files physically from bad hard drives. it's called SpinRite(http://www.grc.com/sr/spinrite.htm). just gotta figure out how to use it properly. i'm supposed to boot from the cd image, but it just won't. when i plug in the old hard drive into my 2nd cd-rom IDE cable(because the old HD won't fit on the new hard drive IDE cable, the cable's too small), the computer takes awhile to boot up, and eventually just boots from the good, new hard drive into XP. however, the old, bad hard drive doesn't show up in windows explorer, or any of the recovery software i use.

so what would you guys recommend? i've heard of the freezer trick, i put the old hd in the deep freezer til it was nice and old, and still, no luck. i think i have may heard it click on one time, but who knows. it still powers on, that's for sure. so for the freezer trick, do you keep it in the DEEP or regular freezer, and how long? does the bag have to be sealed? what else can i do to try and recover the files off this hard drive? thanks, any help is greatly appreciate

[ale52]

Try this...

http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download

Burn to cd and boot to it with the defective harddrive connected.  If that doesn't work then other than sending to a data recovery outfit (mondo $) it sounds like it's over for that drive.

Alan <>< 

[quaxo]

Is the BIOS even seeing the hard drive? If it's not, no OS or program is going to see it either.

Sounds to me like that drive, and what ever was on it, is gone for good.

As for the freezer trick... well, eh, that only works for certain situations. It has to do with the expanding and contracting from changing temperatures which might free up something that is jammed. That won't work if, for instance, the controller card on the hard drive is fried or the drive is otherwise physically broken, which I think is most likely the case here since nothing is seeing the drive.

[michaewlewis]

you could also try www.e-fense.com/helix... it's a linux distro that specializes in data recovery. It's also got a windows executable that may help discover the drive in windows. The linux side isn't very user-friendly, however.

[Cobra]

Is the BIOS even seeing the hard drive? If it's not, no OS or program is going to see it either.

Sounds to me like that drive, and what ever was on it, is gone for good.

As for the freezer trick... well, eh, that only works for certain situations. It has to do with the expanding and contracting from changing temperatures which might free up something that is jammed. That won't work if, for instance, the controller card on the hard drive is fried or the drive is otherwise physically broken, which I think is most likely the case here since nothing is seeing the drive.

well, the hard drive can't be fried, as it still powers on... the controller? on the computer this hard drive was on(sony vaio), only the hard drive stopped working. everything else was fine.

Try this...

http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download

Burn to cd and boot to it with the defective harddrive connected.  If that doesn't work then other than sending to a data recovery outfit (mondo $) it sounds like it's over for that drive.

Alan <>< 

you could also try www.e-fense.com/helix... it's a linux distro that specializes in data recovery. It's also got a windows executable that may help discover the drive in windows. The linux side isn't very user-friendly, however.

thanks guys, i'll try both out. though, i've never used ubuntu and helix before. i was proficient in dos, but that was longgg ago...

[quaxo]

well, the hard drive can't be fried, as it still powers on... the controller? on the computer this hard drive was on(sony vaio), only the hard drive stopped working. everything else was fine.

Just because the motor spins doesn't mean it can't be fried. Still didn't answer my question... does the BIOS even see the hard drive? If the BIOS can't see it, the drive is probably toast.

[michaewlewis]

it could have the jumpers in the wrong place too....

[Cobra]

well, the hard drive can't be fried, as it still powers on... the controller? on the computer this hard drive was on(sony vaio), only the hard drive stopped working. everything else was fine.

Just because the motor spins doesn't mean it can't be fried. Still didn't answer my question... does the BIOS even see the hard drive? If the BIOS can't see it, the drive is probably toast.

don't think so, the only place i checked was the boot priority menu, in the bios... is that where it'd show? if not, where else can i check?

it could have the jumpers in the wrong place too....

it should be on master, right? because it's hooked up to cd-rom IDE cable like i said, it won't fit on the IDE cable for the hard drives, the cables too small on the working hard drive.

[michaewlewis]

it should be on master, right? because it's hooked up to cd-rom IDE cable like i said, it won't fit on the IDE cable for the hard drives, the cables too small on the working hard drive.

Too small??? all ide cables are the same size....... Are you sure you're plugging the hdd into the right cable? Also, the jumpers should only be set to master if the drive is plugged into the last connector on the ide cable. If it's on the second plug, it should be slave.

[quaxo]

Where you would find it in the BIOS would depend on what motherboard and BIOS you have. Boot Devices just shows what order they boot in, not necessarily what's available. For example, mine shows floppy disk as an option, even though my system doesn't have a floppy drive.

I don't know what BIOS you've got, but it can usually be found in the first two menus somewhere (under IDE devices or something similar).