Please Help, I killed my drive!

[simpleton681]

I could use some help badly. I have a 100 gig western digital wd1000bb. I had it in an external usb enclosure and was using it to back up information because I wanted to reinstall windows on my desktop. When I had gotten all my data on it, I restarted with the windows cd in and chose what I thought at the time was a partition on my c: drive to delete and install windows on. What I actually did was delete all of my backed up data from the portable drive and now I can't format the drive. I finally got it to show up in windows explorer by using some western digital hard drive diagnostic tools but I can't access the drive because windows says it isn't formatted, but it won't format the drive either. Also, if I have both of my hard drives attached and powered on when I start my computer, windows will not start. It says something about s.m.a.r.t. being incorrect, but this is the only instance that it mentions s.m.a.r.t. If I start the computer with ONLY the busted drive attached, it just doesn't start at all but gives me an error regarding choosing the correct master drive. Please Help!

 

[Wishdiak]

if I have both of my hard drives attached and powered on when I start my computer, windows will not start

Do you have either:

a) The two drives connected to different IDE controllers, or
b) One drive jumpered as master and the other as slave?

I finally got it to show up in windows explorer by using some western digital hard drive diagnostic tools but I can't access the drive because windows says it isn't formatted

Do the WD diagnostic tools indicate that the drive is damaged? Does it give you any useful feedback?

Wishdiak
A+, Network+, Security+, MCSA: Security 2003

http://www.wishdiak.com

 

[dberg35]

Check this link out

http://www.download.com/3120-20_4-0.html?tg=dl-20&qt=file recovery&tag=srch

 

[wahnula]

First, don't feel bad, I have done this exact thing ((formatting the wrong drive) myself. If you want to recover the data on the backup drive STOP USING IT. There is an excellent app called Zero Assumption Recovery

http://www.z-a-recovery.com/

That can help once you get a working install of Windows ON ANOTHER DRIVE.

I would remove the backup drive frome the equation entirely, start with a single drive and install Windows.

It says something about s.m.a.r.t. being incorrect

In system BIOS, look around for a setting to turn S.M.A.R.T. off temporarily. It will be hidden under 'Hard Drive Options' or the like. Once you get a working install, try installing the second drive on the IDE secondary and run ZAR on it. If you cannot see it in Windows, RIGHT-click 'My Computer'>Manage>Disk Management and see what happens. Good luck.

 

[simpleton681]

I'm going to try turning smart off but in the meantime; My primary drive is a sata drive and I don't know how to change the jumper settings on it. I'm assuming it is setup as the master but I'm not completely sure. The broken wd drive is set to cable select but I had the same problems when I set it to slave. Also, the WD diagnostic tools don't tell me anything negative. I can see a list of "advanced information" but at no time does it tell me that there are errors or anything. Beyond that, I was able to run "drive setup", make a partition, and format the partition, but to no avail. It still won't let me access the drive because windows thinks it's not formatted. Thankk you all for your replies!

 

[Freestone]

SATA drives do not have jumpers as they use a completely different interface from IDE.

Am I correct in assuming you now have a functional Windows system up and running now? If so, what version - 98, 2000, XP?

If 2000 or XP then look in Drive Management (Start, Run, diskmgmt.msc). Does it see the drive? If so, right-click on the drive partition. Is format an option available?

 

[Freestone]

I should have asked in my prior post: are you looking to recover data or just get the drive functional? If you want to recover sata, don't format the drive...

 

[wahnula]

Please, more info, especially about the working install.

If we can start with a working install let us know and of what OS as mentioned then we will try one thing at a time to repair your drive problem.

As I am understanding, there is one working SATA drive, holding the new OS, and some sort of formerly-external (USB?)formerly-backup drive, until accidentally formatted during Windows load-up. Is this the correct assessment?

 

[simpleton681]

Yes, Wahnula, that is the correct assumption. I am using Windows XP, and have a working drive with it installed. Everything works with the exception of the 100 gig (it's a western digital wd1000bb which was formerly housed in an external usb case). I turned off smart but now when I start the computer with both drives online, it tells me to restart and select the correct boot device. Freestone, when I use the drive management tool in windows xp, the drive is recognized and the option to format is available. I am, however, trying to recover data from the drive and have already tried to format it once but with no positive results. Thanks again! You guys/gals are awesome!

 

[G0AOZ]

To recover data from a formatted drive, you may need to use something like GetDataBack or Easy Recovery Pro. I have used both to good effect, but they're not free...

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[wahnula]

when I start the computer with both drives online, it tells me to restart and select the correct boot device.

Go into the system BIOS and look under "Advanced" or "Boot" for boot order. Chances are your system boots to IDE by default. Sometimes you will have to select "Hard Disk Boot Order" and in that case you will move your SATA drive to the top, push the IDE to the bottom.

But, do we really WANT for Windows to see the drive? Every time you start Windows you write some data to the drive, the more you do it the more you might overwrite some important data. Right now that data is still there (we hope) just not viewable.

As a disaster recovery measure, you can re-install the drive in the USB enclosure, boot into Windows, and then plug the USB drive in to see if data recovery is possible.

All the data recovery programs mentioned above are good, but I would loook into one that will give tou a freee trial (You can see the data on the drive, just not retrieve all of it) like:

http://www.z-a-recovery.com/download.htm

Keep at it!

 

[Freestone]

Here is a free file recovery program I've used with very mixed results:

http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/uk/welcome.htm

 

[simpleton681]

Ok all, I was able to restore the drive to working condition with partition magic. I'll try some of the things that you are suggesting for recovery. Thank you so much!

 

[wahnula]

Ok all, I was able to restore the drive to working condition with partition magic.

OUCH hope that did not overwrite or corrupt the data... Good luck and keep us posted!