virus damaged drive invisible to management consol 2

[jlockley]

Background: Virus attack this am. Windows defender opens a few dozen windows, freeze, reboot, windows won't open. Attempt to repair XP. Windows CD seems to recognize program, but won't repair (repair key not valid???). Bios registers drive.
Get new Seagate drive, install W7 Pro (OEM), then attach damaged SATA drive. Reboot and Windows sticks at the boot screen (butterflies???).. set up drive different computer. Bios recognizes drive, windows (Vista) boots but management console does not show it, and the programs suggested here do not see the drive.

Virus is apparently win 32.pav 64 A (according to Wiindows Defender, which might actually have been the virus masquerading as the Windows defender?)

Right now I don't have any money for data recovery. Some stuff backed up, but had just started a new backup routine when the thing struck and have not been able to see what if anything was saved.

Any other idea on how to salvage the partitions long enough to copy off data? (I assume this is about partitions)

Thanks. Also posting in Virus.

 

[jlockley]

Well, I was right about the the "trojan" emulating Windows Defender.

http://windowsprotection.net/remove...at-trojan-horse-win32-pav-64-a-removal-guide/

If this is not a trojan, the hard boot damaged my drive. It was pretty spectacular. Forty windows must have opened in succession with constant beeping.
No matter what happens, I need to get back to the data. Windows repair console opens the program.

 

[BadBigBen]

First off, I would get the Ultimate Boot CD, and test out the drive with the appropriate HDD Diag tools...

it sounds like more than a partition problem here... even when it is JUST a partition problem, the drive should show up in the "Management Console"...

another suggestion would be to boot with PartedMagic CD, a Live Linux boot cd, and attempt to see if it recognizes the drive...





Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[jlockley]

Will do. The odd thing is that the XP CD not only recognized the drive but showed the files in the windows directory. Since this was apparently not a virus, I think that the cold shut down might have blown the drive. Thanks. I'll get back with results.

 

[jlockley]

Thanks Big Bad Ben, but I am afraid the drive is damaged beyond that point now. It quit showing and began clicking this morning, so it's either mortgage the ranch for data recovery or muddle on without 25 years of collected data.

Since the @#%%E's at Western Digital didn't see fit to provide Windows 7 software fot the 500gb external drive I purchased for this situation two years ago, I won't know what is saved until I get a look at it on an
xp.

 

[BadBigBen]

Hmmm... what external drive do you have? all the External drives that I have ever used worked without a hitch on Win7, was plug and play...

and sorry to hear that the drive is toast...

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[jlockley]

Ben..it's a WD My Book 2500 (500 gb) about two years old. I am pretty mad about it. You buy it for back up, you should be able to use it to restore, assuming that a data loss will possibly result in a total system upgrade. It's dumb. I went through the same when I upgraded another one to vista.

But the good news is that I fiddled with the drive and have got it recognized again, althogh I may have messed up some in the process. Now to try your suggestions again. Stars all round, but I need to try to get my data back first. If not, I am going to try dry ice. (will explain later.)

 

[BadBigBen]

I am going to try dry ice. (will explain later.)

No need, I am familiar with the shock freeze technique... though it should not work anymore with more modern drives than the old venerable MFM drives...

unless that is not what you meant, and instead you are creating a fancy cocktail, then by all means explain... ;-)

for back up purposes, I either use eSATA or a Sharkoon Docking Station, this allows me to plug any bong standard SATA drive to the system... eSata is preferred over the Sharkoon, due to the tranferspeeds (SATA vs. IDE)...

have not had much experience with the MyBook line of external drives, so there I am not able to say much, except that according to the WD website that they are plug and play...




Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[Freestone]

I don't know if GetDataBack is included in your "the programs suggested here do not see the drive" collection, but if the drive is still being recognized, I would give that a try. There are two versions (FAT or NTFS), and each will at least show you what is recoverable. The freezing method should be a very last resort.

http://www.runtime.org/data-recovery-software.htm

 

[jlockley]

It got recognized yesterday for a minute, but no more. It's toast. This is the first machine where I did not put all data on a separate drive, and I checked the backup last night. I can't find the files I need there.
Thanks all for the good info on programs and backup options. I'll check them out.