Advice on HDD Failure

Hi

OK, I know, not strictly SL related, but on the basis that I need my PC to work to be able access SL - tenuous I know, but best I can come up with.

I have a Dell Dimension 4600. Last night I think the Hard Disk died! On starting I get an error message - disk read error occurred, ctl+alt+del to restart, on a black screen. The welcome screen comes up, the progress bar goes across, then back to the error message again.

I have tried booting from the windows CD - doesn't work/won't run
I have tried repairing the windows installation - doesn't work/won't run
Am unable to boot up in safe mode

I ran the Dell Diagnostic thingy (F12), which reported Error Code 0F00:1344, which points to HDD failure. I also ran the disk check from Setup (F2). Again, reported the disk as failed! I think that is pretty conclusive. I read somewhere that the drives can be affected by heat, and it is very hot here. The computer has been running like a train, and I have had the odd check disk error over the past few weeks, so I guess it is fried.

Because I am very very stupid (and don't I know it!!), I hadn't backed up the data (long story!), which I am quite keen to recover.

My thinking is this, based on the fact that I can't make things any worse!!. if I got a new external HDD, connected this via a USB port, and then installed Windows on to the new drive, I could use this to boot up the PC, which would hopefully then give me access to the old drive where I might be able to salvage something?
I could then continue to use the external drive as the main drive, with a view to replacing the internal one at a later date.

This does, however, seem a little too easy! Is there something really obvious that I have missed, or could this possibly work? Of course if anyone has a better idea.....?

I know all you guys are clever, so any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks muchly

Joss

You have to take it to a professional to get any data off it.

It might work well enough to get you up and running. It's also possible that the damaged drive could be accessible if it's no longer the boot drive. It's far more likely, as Cristalle said, that you'd need the services of a data recovery professional, or at least data recovery software.

I wouldn't recommend using an external USB drive as your boot drive. Compared to SATA/IDE, USB drives are very slow. You'd get better performance by hooking up a new internal drive and installing windows on that. It'd be cheaper too. Read this http://www.pcmech.com/article/installing-a-hard-drive-step-by-step/ and decide if it's beyond your technical abilities. There are probably better guides out there, but that was the first I found that mentioned SATA as well as IDE.

I've had that happen with my old Dell laptop.

And yea, you "Might" be able to rescue your data that way. I've used IDE/SATA to USB adapters to pull data off of dying drives before.

Best solution is always Backups. If you want to get fancy, make an 'image' of the hard drive (basically a copy of the hard drive).

Other solution: Multiple Hard Drives. With the price of hard drives today, its cheap!

I second what Tod69 says about using a USB IDE/SATA connector
to attempt data recovery.

* * *

So the recommendation would be: get a new hard drive, install your
operating system, and then try to hook up the old drive with the
aforementioned connector (they cost about 20 bucks or so). Check
if you hear/feel the motor spinning. If it isn't, it might be game over.

(Although I have bitch slapped some dying HD's whose motors were
failing with my bare hand while they were powered up/connected and
have succeeded to recover precious data.)

- Infrared

I had my hard drive fail 2 or 3 months ago, and did exactly what you are suggesting Joss. It might work, it might not, but at this stage it sounds like you have nothing to lose. New hard drives are cheap, buy a new one, install it internally, and install windows on it. Plug the old one into an external enclosure, and try to access it via USB. If it works, yay, save as much as you can. If it does not work... then you are probably going to have to consult a professional data recovery company as has already been mentioned.

Those companies can be quite expensive but will give you a quote, and most will only bill you if they do recover data, so you'll have to decide how much the files are worth to you.

Good luck! And try to do backups more often in the future -- I keep trying to remind myself to do this too!

-Atashi

It all depends on what is damaged.

If the actual "disk" is damaged, then yes, you can recover your data (the not damaged part ) though it may or may not take special software.

If another component of the drive is damaged, you will need to go to a professional. who will charge you a few hundred dollars to take it apart and read it with special hardware.

"Blessed are the pessimists, for they hath made backups."

Backups - what's that?

A freezer full of beer in the garage.

Pep (As well as the one in the kitchen)