Help Recover Data from Bad Hard Drive

DaxxDaxx
edited August 2006 in Hardware
I had a Seagate hard drive fail on my system. Unfortunately, there are some valuable pictures of my newborn son on there that we didn't get a chance to burn to DVD before the disaster. I moved the hard drive to a second system and tried reading it, but it looks like it's not going to work. It shows up in the BIOS but that's it. Clicks and clacks...like an arm failure.

So what are my options? Anyone had to use a hard drive recovery service before? Recommendations?

Thanks for any help on this one.

Comments

  • GrayFoxGrayFox /dev/urandom Member
    edited July 2006
    Seagate has a data recovery service if the drives clicking this may be the only choice. However they are very expensive and since its clicking its unlikely anyone will be able to help you.

    But before you try that try running testdisk ive had the best luck with this data recovery software.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited July 2006
    GetDataBack seems to be popular as well. Disclaimer - I've never used any data retrieval software.
  • codegalcodegal
    edited August 2006
    Hmm, is Seagate Unix compatible only? I really am not sure anymore, although I thought they once made hard drives for Solaris. Well, I use StompSoft's PC BackUp http://www.stompsoft.com/pc-backup/pc-backup.html on my personal PC and laptop so that I have the peace of mind I need. (Believe me I lost precious "data" too, which is why I finally just got into the habit of routine backups using a commercially-available product. Kind of like brushing my teeth.) I force myself to backup regularly. The product is really manageable, so backing up is not a dreaded chore to accomplish. Also, is there any possibility another family member has the pictures? Would you have emailed them to someone after taking them or perhaps added them to an online photo album? Not to touch on a sensitive subject, but you did say newborn son, so considering the sleep deprivation you get with a newborn, perhaps you have another source for the pictures that you didn't even realize?
  • DaxxDaxx
    edited August 2006
    codegal wrote:
    Hmm, is Seagate Unix compatible only? I really am not sure anymore, although I thought they once made hard drives for Solaris. Well, I use StompSoft's PC BackUp http://www.stompsoft.com/pc-backup/pc-backup.html on my personal PC and laptop so that I have the peace of mind I need. (Believe me I lost precious "data" too, which is why I finally just got into the habit of routine backups using a commercially-available product. Kind of like brushing my teeth.) I force myself to backup regularly. The product is really manageable, so backing up is not a dreaded chore to accomplish. Also, is there any possibility another family member has the pictures? Would you have emailed them to someone after taking them or perhaps added them to an online photo album? Not to touch on a sensitive subject, but you did say newborn son, so considering the sleep deprivation you get with a newborn, perhaps you have another source for the pictures that you didn't even realize?
    Looks like I have most of it backed up except for the very latest photos. Some of those are recoverable from being emailed to family, but the images where reduced in size -- still, it is better than nothing. Now, I make sure to burn DVD's of photo's regularly. Seagate wanted $700 minimum and up to $3,000 to recover my hard drive - NO THANKS! I'll take this one in the shorts and consider it a learning experience.
  • MrBondMrBond Member
    edited August 2006
    If you've still got the drive you could try some...unorthodox methods.

    I've heard that freezing your hard drive (literally -- throw it in the freezer in an airtight plastic bag for a few hours), then plugging it in works sometimes. Never done it myself, though...
  • KrazeyivanKrazeyivan Newcastle, UK
    edited August 2006
    If its clicking probably drive failure soon - fridge idea work sometimes, I would also try out Spinrite from gibson research www.grc.com - worked wonders for me, with damaged sectors and it has a no questions asked money back guarantee, up to you!
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