Hard drive bust

Surreptitious

So I've an old HP desktop that at the moment is only showing the screen logo and won't load.
I've tried everything and realise that it's time to replace it but does anyone know if I can retrieve anything from the drive in the future. I've a lot of writing, transcripts and pictures saved on it that I need. Thanks in advance.

ItHurtsWhenIP

Surreptitious wrote: »

So I've an old HP desktop that at the moment is only showing the screen logo and won't load.
I've tried everything and realise that it's time to replace it but does anyone know if I can retrieve anything from the drive in the future. I've a lot of writing, transcripts and pictures saved on it that I need. Thanks in advance.

It maybe possible to recover your data, but you will need to engage (and pay for) the services of an expert. Talk to them about pricing, but it won't be cheap. Sorry, but this kinda situation is what a backup is for.

Surreptitious

MMFITWGDV wrote: »

It maybe possible to recover your data, but you will need to engage (and pay for) the services of an expert. Talk to them about pricing, but it won't be cheap. Sorry, but this kinda situation is what a backup is for.

Most of my stuff is on an external hard drive but I got distracted lately and forgot to move some files over. I just didn't expect it to go completely.

ItHurtsWhenIP

Surreptitious wrote: »

Most of my stuff is on an external hard drive but I got distracted lately and forgot to move some files over. I just didn't expect it to go completely.

It may just be that it can't boot and all your files are there and available (easy job) but it could be that the drive is completely borked and you need a nerd to to spend hours recovering the data. That's why you gotta ask "How much will it cost me to recover this data and is it worth it". Some data recovery services will give you a quotation with a probability of success.

I'm glad you were already backing things up. At least you haven't lost absolutely everything.

FanadMan

Do you have access to another computer? If so, try the drive in the other computer and see if it is accessible. If the drive is visible you may be able to copy your data across. If you have only access to a laptop then you could get an external drive caddy and try that.

If the drive is not accessible on another computer then you might have to go for a data recovery company as MMFIT posted earlier. But they can be really expensive....charging by the Mb recovered. You have to weigh up how important your data is to you.

vibe666

Surreptitious wrote: »

Most of my stuff is on an external hard drive but I got distracted lately and forgot to move some files over. I just didn't expect it to go completely.

nobody ever does, but the unfortunate fact of it is that ALL hard drives will fail. I've seen some that fail after days, others that have lasted a decade or more of constant use, but they all (without exception) will fail sooner or later.

also, *moving* files to another disk isn't a backup, a usb drive is no more or less likely to fail than any other drive.

As a rule of thumb, "3-2-1". 3 copies of any critical data, 2 local (your main hard drive & a usb or tape backup), and 1 offsite (dropbox, onedrive, google drive etc.) to account for possible house fires, floods or other destructive forces if all else fails.

Surreptitious

I'm waiting for a new PC to be delivered. The drive in the current one won't budge though.

vibe666

i'm currently in the process of recovering (what I can of) precious family photo's from a laptop hard drive that were deleted after they 'backed them up' to their usb drive which then had a mechanical drive failure a couple of months later, which is very difficult to recover from unless you have a clean room, specialised tools, hands like a surgeon and an identical drive to transfer the platters to.

something i've seen quite a lot of recently, people don't realise how catastrophic it is when a disk fails until it's too late and they haven't backed anything up.

riclad

You can try booting from a cd , eg linux mint 7 fits on 1 cdr disc,
set pc to boot from cd/dvd.
Linux loads up ,browse to drive c , drive sda 0 80gig in linux desktop.
https://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=38
4 cdrs in dealz shop is 1.50 euro.
or try this as a last resort ,

drive freeze trick.
http://lifehacker.com/5515337/save-a-failed-hard-drive-in-your-freezer-redux

go to Pc bios set Fastboot off ,This
gives the pc more time to load hardrive boot sectors
http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/201431en

or place drive in usb caddy 3.5inch ,
get an caddy ide or sata ,
ide drives are obsolete since about 2007 .
https://jekkilekki.wordpress.com/2009/06/22/laptop-hard-drive-problem-clone-it/

http://static.diffen.com/uploadz/thumb/1/17/SATA-IDE.jpg/250px-SATA-IDE.jpg

sata drive is on the right of the image above .

or Just google drive data recovery ireland

I Have an old hp pc dual core cpu 2.oghz.
IT no longer detects any ide drive ,
i went to cex and bought a 250gig sata drive .
It works fine i installed linux on the new Sata drive ,in the hp pc.
MY old drive 80gig ide type works fine if i use it in a caddy or in my other pc.

File manager in mint linux is used to view files on the hardrive eg drive c = sda 0 in linux menu .
IF drive is 3.5inch it,ll need a powered usb caddy to spin up or copy files to a pc.

https://www.amazon.com/iDsonix-U3102-Drive-Docking-Station/dp/B00FDLCTQO/ref=lp_160354011_1_13?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1471512762&sr=1-13

caddy with its own external power supply .