Any advice on recovering data from a hard drive?

[megozilla13]

One day about a month ago I went to start my computer and it didn't go to windows after the boot up, it stayed in DOS and said it could not find the hard drive. I took it to FireDog today, I actually just wanted them to start it up so I could copy all my data onto CDs and put it in a new computer I had just purchased. I just got the verdict from them and don't really understand it. They said "the hard drive is fine but it is so corrupt that the only way to get the computer to work again is to reinstall windows which means I would lose everything. The only thing I care about is all my daughters pictures which were stored on there. I never backed anything up. Has anyone gone through this before? Is what they are telling me correct? They said there is no way to recover it.


mikej

[JDeRouen]

Mike - did you tell them all you want are the pics? I would think there might be a way to go in and just recover those files.

[ozcollector1992]

The same thing happened to my dads computer....there is a 50 50 chance that all of your data can be deleted when you reinstall windows....i can't remmber but i think there was a way to get just the data off of it

[MegoSteve]

I wouldn't install Windows at all until after you've recovered your data. Don't do it.

I think the problem is that Firedog is trying to get your computer to start and run instead of taking the drive out and putting it in another computer as a secondary drive to recover your data.

Is it a laptop or a desktop computer?

If it's a desktop, it should be relatively simple if the data isn't too corrupt or if the hard drive hardware is functioning. Do you have a geeky friend who is comfortable working inside a computer case? What you/he'd do is open the case of your computer, take the hard drive out of the old computer and install it as a secondary drive in the new computer that already has a hard drive... Windows will start off the primary hard drive of the working computer, not the secondary drive you just installed, so whether Windows is corrupt on the old hard drive should be irrelevant. Then you just browse to the secondary drive in Windows Explorer and find the files you want and copy them to the primary drive, and then burn them from there.

I'm not sure how you'd do this with a laptop, but my guess would be that you could buy an external case that would accept the smaller size laptop hard drive, take the drive out and install it in the case, and plug the external case into another computer via USB and browse through the files that way.

If the data is too corrupt, there's software that may be able to help, but at that point, you'd probably want to consult a professional (or a super-geek). Unfortunately, that's expensive (can be hundreds or thousands of dollars)... Google "data recovery" and you should be able to find a professional.

[Adam West]

My hard drive crashed a while back. I have a friend who knows his stuff and he was able to recover most of the data for me. I now have a new drive and a 2nd external drive with all of the old data on it.

[theantiquetiger]

Zoolander...

[palitoy]

I am going through a similiar problem, I went out and bought a new drive and made my old one the slave. It doesn't hurt that a close friend of mine is an IT.

[WannabeMego]

Mike...

Don't do it...it's a load of crap they're giving you.

You may make things actaully worse if you reload Windows...If there is any encryption and/or the Windows OS is NTFS, it may actually prevent/block you from accessing the very data you are trying to aquire.

If it's a Windows XP system, they could use a BartPE CD, Hiren's CD, and/or any other Bootable OS media.

...and there are PLENTY of Freeware recovery and forensic Apps available on the net...I use them all the time.

A very simple one that comes to mind is:

PC Inspector File Recovery - http://www.pcinspector.de/Sites/file...htm?language=1

Places like FireDog & Geek Squad really **** me off, but I also understand that there are very few alternatives available outside of a Family Member and/or Friend.

~Tom

[Bo8a_Fett]

Good advice from WannabeMego there Megozilla....they've given you a crock alright...sounds like they've been reading "The Big Boys book of computers" and arn't really trying at all.
Sounds as if you're gonna need a new hard drive anyway ...installing that isn't too hard , the trouble comes with setting the jumpers for your old drive to make it a slave drive. Once you've done that the chances are you can retrieve any uncorrupted data off it.

[mitchedwards]

Steve Gibson writes some great computer apps. One of them is Spin Write to recover data from hard drives. Only 89 bucks

Home of Gibson Research Corporation

Also if your drive is totally gone, you can try ontrack to recover your data. Be warned it will be pricy for them to get your stuff back, but its a great last resort.

[megozilla13]

Thanks for all the advice. I just picked up my computer and spoke to them some more. They said they removed the hard drive and installed it into another computer. it was recognized but when they tried to access data on it they got an input error. I'm not sure what that means. I'm going to try sending it to one of those places that retrieves data. Has anyone used one they would recommend? how much should I expect to pay?

mikej