Computer nerd wanted

[watertrade]

I use the term 'Nerd' with the utmost respect! - I respect anyone with useful specialised skills!

hope you can help me -

I have a 1TB WD external hard drive that recently asked to be formatted before it can be used. It contains heaps of family photos and movies that I don't want to lose. I have looked around online and there seems to be lots of data recovery software - I tried a partition locater ( or something like that!) and after running the software for 4 days with no signs of it ending the computer crashed.

I'm just wondering if anyone can advise the best way to try and get the data back - or make the drive readable again?

cheers

[snotbubble]

You could try Pandora recovery. It can do a low level scan for files even if your partition is damaged. And it's free

http://www.pandorarecovery.com/download/

You need to use the "surface scan" option

If it locks up your PC then the drive probably has physical damage

Edited June 27, 2012 by flaminghedgehog

[stavroski]

a few things can happen here. interface/pcb connection, cable, bad sectors/ usb port. sometimes you can just ignore and open.check the properties to make sure its still reading that info is on the drive. try diff port diff computer or cable, if you have another drive crack it open and replace the interface with a good one, all the basics fail then try using software called ghost and force copy if bad sectors are found. not familiar with the WD drive but maybe this can help. can help further if need be, there're alot of alternatives to losing your files, although sometimes its just a matter of oh shit.

[myco]

I had exactly the same problem with my WD 2tb never buy WD

I to tried multiple programs to get my stuff back

And finally came across this one

Easeus data recovery wizard professional 3.3.4

I think I got it as a torrent worked like a charm though let me get in and get stuff off there

The funny thing is I got most stuff off my hd then months later while looking for something I checked the hd for it

Only this time I plugged it in and it worked fine

Im not sure if I deleted something from it to make it work again or wat

[Amazonian]

I will be trying the above options also, as i too have a 1tb WD external hard drive that will not register on any computer in the house. Grrr!!!, So many PDF's and family photos etc.... all backed up onto it with the expectation that they were safe?!

[Justin Credible]

I would try putting it in a new case first, I paid $25 for mine and I can connect ide and sata drives to it. Also you should be able to take it out of its case and connect it internaly to your pc, once you get it out of the WD case and take their chip off its just a plain old sata drive.

Most photo prints shop can easily pull up your deleted photos of your usb if you know someone in this field hit them up.

Data recovery works too but can take ages it gets messy and a pain to sought threw the files after, this would be my lastr option.

Sorry I would try to connect intenaly to pc first

Edited June 27, 2012 by Nothink

[Justin Credible]

Here is a link how to get it out

 

If your current operating system is on ide drive make sure you set the WD to slave if your running all sata just plug in to a spare port

[Jonstn]

I used a prog called 'zero assumption recovery' (ZAR) got 99% of my pics and vids back was very happy with it

[myco]

There is definately no need to take it out of its case

get the program I said and you can recover everything trust me mine did exactly the same thing plug it in an it would say the drive needs to be formatted

[stavroski]

I agree, go for the software recovery before worrying about hardware failure, that'll be next.

[myco]

I should also add that I'm pretty sure the program took a long time at first to locate everything

Definately not days but hours but once you do it the first time every other time it finds it all very quick

[occidentalis]

I had exactly the same problem with my WD 2tb never buy WD

 

My brother works at a computer shop and gave me the following advice: Never buy WD 'green' drives. Their other drives are excellent quality but the green ones are shit. I have a 2tb green drive and it's still going... but holding my breath for it to fail.

[myco]

Wat do you mean by green drives is that marked on the box I think I remember different colors on the box

Do you know wat the actual difference is?

I will never buy WD again because mine fucked up after less than a year I know of about 4 or 5 other people who's WD hard drives have shit themselves aswell as my girlfriend and her Tafe class who all got given WD hard drives for thier work

Over half the classes died including hers they all died in less than a year aswell

After that I vowed never to buy WD again I have seagate wich is about 5 yrs old and has never had a problem

So after the WD shit itself I got another seagate

Edited June 27, 2012 by myco

[occidentalis]

WD drive ranges are named after colours - Green is the cheapest (and supposedly more eco-friendly) range, then there's blue, then there's black. The blue and the black ones are good. Most people buy the green ones (including me) because they are VERY cheap compared to the others.

http://wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=120

[IndianDreaming]

As mentioned: WD are terrible, and in my experience (20+ years of computing), it doesn't matter what colour, they're useless compared to Seagate and even Samsung... WD buyer beware...

OP - Go the software solutions first. Good ones were mentioned above.

Edited June 27, 2012 by IndianDreaming

[ghosty]

i only use the "portable ones" no power supply needed. had too much data loss on powered ones. never again. i have had comp ask me to format it too though. once. i found that on my laptop (thinkpad t-something) that if i try to use the usb portable hdd that i MUST have the wifi turned off. if i leave it on, the computer says to format drive, off and all is good. perhaps this is causing you trouble too? good luck, i know the pain of this all too well. whats the point of storing data on a drive if you must loose it every time you wish to gain access to it? another thing i do, is not buy anything in australia. for some reason i find everything i buy here is total rubish, and overpriced.

[Justin Credible]

If it doesn't run as an internal drive you can always put it back together and use a data recovery program. If you do need to use a data recovery program, after downloading it do what you need to do offline, uninstall the program and remove it from your registry. If your not paying for the product, maybe you are the product. Yes I sleep with tin foil on my head

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru3POygeyv0&feature=youtu.be

[ballzac]

Interesting that people are saying WD is crap. I used to always get seagate, and one time they were out of seagate and I got a western digital instead. It only lasted about 6 months before it had a physical failure. I never got around to sending it back for a replacement, but it put me off WD, so I went back to seagate. However, their 3TB drives are very cheap compared to seagate's, so when I got a couple of 3TB ones recently, I went with WD. I realised that I have also had seagate drives fail, but it's probably 2 out of over a dozen drives. But if one of those was the first one I got, I would have the same negative view of seagate. I'm interested to see how long these will last, but I'm not so optimistic about it after reading these comments.

I've never had much luck with data recovery software. Spinrite is meant to be good, but has never been much help to me. A regular problem with sata I have found is the power cable coming out slightly. I don't know if this is an issue with the external enclosures. I would suggest mounting it on a linux system and seeing if it is recognised there. That way you should be able to get the data off it and reformat it on windows for further use.

These days I simply try to make sure anything that I can't afford to lose is backed up. I usually have important work backed up on at least half a dozen drives as well as uploaded online or emailed to myself if it's small enough in file size.

One way to check if your formatted partition is still recognizable is to use a partitioning program like gparted. It will run from boot and circumvent any issues that you may have with your OS. Then you can at least check if the drive is properly detected along with its partitions. If not, then you might have serious issues recovering the data. If the data is very, very important, there are companies that will take the platter out in a dust free environment and load it into their own magnetic recording hardware and recover any data they can from it, but this usually costs upwards of $1000, and would only be worthwhile for something like a novel you've just finished writing, lol.

[myco]

Yeh you really need to have multiple drives never ever rely on one hard drive

Alternatively you can go for a drobo

I think that will be my next buy when the time comes rather than just a new hard drive

[Amazonian]

I just plugged my WD external hard drive in , and was working out which of the above actions to take to recover files.....and randomly....it registers???? . I hadn't touched it for about 4 months as i had given up in disgust... and now it works?!. I am transferring all contents elsewhere whilst i have the chance,,,YAY !.

Thanks for starting this thread watertrade, and thanks for all the advice guys..

I am a happy camper .

Edited June 27, 2012 by Amazonian

[ballzac]

Yep. That's pretty common. Tends to be a signifier of a 'minor' physical problem. If the problem is corrupted data, then it is unlikely to work randomly, although it might work on different operating systems or under different conditions. But if the problem is physical (such as a 'sticky' recoding arm) then sometimes it will 'randomly' work, and this can sometimes be due to moving the drive around or some other physical disturbance such as vibrations, which might temporarily remedy the physical problem. However, IME, any drive with a physical problem that causes intermittent failures will inevitably get worse over a short period of time.

[DarkSpark]

I don't understand how people are using the term "backup" but in the same sentence saying they have lost all their data. The idea of a backup is that you back ALL your files up onto it say once a month and store it. keeping a second copy onb your regular computer HDD or another more frequently used external. leaving an external plugged in and turned on continuosly is obviously going to burn it out. I expect my first external to die around yearly, at $80 for a 1.5tb external who gives a crap they are disposable, as is most technology items these days. However my real backup drive has lasted many years as it rarely gets used, but also cost 3 times as much. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR AND WD OFFER A CHEAP NASTY PRODUCT AS THEIR MAIN SELLER, as stated above there ARE better options available from them but really it is the other components of the externals that normally die first... usually because people dont clean the air inlets and they overheat.. But it MUST be WD fault ! Its kind of like taking PEA and hoping it will work like coke... not gunna happen

if you want a good hard drive contact LaCie, we used them whilst i worked in multimedia and never had issues... around 25 2TB drives on the site no failures as yet unless because of human error. Notice the price? see my above caps locked statement

http://www.lacie.com/au/products/range.htm?id=10036

i will explain the system a bit better here

C Drive - Main Internal HDD for windows install and most files

D Drive - Secondary Internal HDD - auto backups onto here every 3 days plus i store a few bits and pieces of stuff here.

E Drive - External 1.5TB FAT32 formatted drive for media storage (fat32 allows it to plug into playstation xbox etc)

X Drive - External 1.5TB backup drive, stored on shelf and plugged in monthly for full system backups

Edited June 27, 2012 by DarkSpark

[IndianDreaming]

If all else fails - as a last resort:

- Pop the external drive in the fridge for 2 hours, then try it.

- Open up the external case, take out the drive and push the board side of the hard disk fairly hard a few times with your thumbs.

- Bump it slightly on your knee, on the long edge, holding it from the connector end, in your left hand with the sticker facing you.

- If you're really desperate, take the control board off the hard disk and use a hairdryer (on hot) over the soldered bits.

All of the above have worked for me on different sorts of drives over the years, when all else was lost - The fridge one works to shrink the components board which sometimes restores a faulty connection long enough to get your data off, same with using your thumbs to poke the board (if you can get to it). Bumping it carefully, changes the arm position slightly, this one has worked for me on a 'click of death' drive long enough to get the data off.

If it's completely screwed - get a hex head screwdriver, and take it apart - get the *magnets* - the disks are great for art if you're so inclined (or a tesla turbine), the motor is fun as a generator or motor (pop the pads on your tongue and flick-spin it, you can feel it tingle) - but the magnets are awesome for the fridge with a bulldog clip!

I'll raise your nerd and give you a geek

[ayjay101]

Good luck watertrade, FWIW I've had reasonable success recovering files in a similar situation with Recuva. Its a freeware app and does its best to piece files back together without the corresponding FAT data. I managed to scramble back some gigabytes of files after a fuckup when my workplace cutover to a new network a cpl of years ago.

[ayjay101]

Haha I've used the fridge/freezer method before too, with minor success before the boards heats up and crashes again.