data recovery query

[pawz]

Sorry all, I posted this message on the end of another thread (when is dead really dead?) by mistake when I meant it to be a new thread, so for those of you who have noticed that, you are not seeing double...

A friend asked me to look at his computer (XP SP2) because it would not boot and he was concerned that there was data on there that he needed.

I brought it home and got nowhere with recovery console, so slaved it to another system running XP to get his docs before trying anything else.
As soon as I slaved it I heard ( to my dismay) the hard drive clicking. I was able to get on to the desktop and read some of the files, and copy his docs over to the master, so that was ok - I thought.

I put the disk back in its own box again as master, and then found it wasn't even recognised, and apart from one brief 'revival', it has remained in that state and even its own diagnostic disk could not find it.
I got him a new hard drive and did all that is needed and he has the machine back and up and running, but now he has told me that there were - are- precious photos on the old disk and wonders if they can be retrieved.

I have told him I will try as the disk did seem to have intermittent activity, but I am not at all hopeful. You might know differently.
We are willing to buy recovery software if we can afford it as this situation is sure to arise again, and we have been pointed to Runtime's Getbackdata, which I have had a look at, and feel it might do the job as sometimes this drive is recognised in BIOS, but is reckoned to have zero bytes size and does not have an option to boot it..what makes me hesitant though and unwilling to part with £62 Great British Pounds too easily, is that this drive does click alarmingly and only sometimes 'settles down'. Would I be wasting cash on a drive that nothing can retrieve from or is there a reasonable margin for success do you think?
All suggests welcome

 

[edfair]

The fact that it occasionally is seen is a hopeful sign. But you are proposing what appears to be a long and expensive recovery with questionable results.

It sounds like it will require multiple things to get the data, 1) a probable replacement for the controller board to get the drive spinning and 2) data recovery software to patch back together the data that is scrambled on the hard drive because the file links are scrambled by the loss of the partition table.

You could try the "freezer" cure. If cooling the drive makes it visible regularly at POST you could buy cooling spray at an electronics store and use it to keep a heat sensitive part cool enough to get access. But be aware that the sprays are made to create thermal shock to heat sensitive parts and make them fail.

You could try to find a replacement controller board. These generally are from used drives and you need to be aware of the possible changes during a production run as engineering changes on the fly can make the difference in how things work together. A change in timing, for instance, can make everything invisible if it was formatted with a different timing setup.

 

[pawz]

sounds as if it's a no-no ed, but I might still get some recovery software for when the 'next time' comes along - thanks for your reply, appreciated