OS Harddisk Crashed, Experts pls Help

[janzguy81]

Hi, my main (OS) harddisk suddenly died on me this morning. Fortunately, I have backup my data on a secondary Sata 240Gb Harddisk of 4 partitions which consist of all my important data and other personal stuff.

To my horror, I realised that the 4 partitions are now undetected and the Sata Harddisk seems to show only 1 main partition in the Windows installation setup.

I have yet to delete or format any stuff. Is it possible to retrieve all my data from my secondary Sata harddisk now? They are extremely important to me and I hope you guys out there can give me some advice.

Thank you...

 

[scandisk]

are you using the earlier version of Win XP (non SP2) ?? the partitions may not be detected...the data are still in those partitions.

if the 240GB is your secondary HDD, its still safe to format and reinstall OS in ur primary HDD. make sure to upgrade to SP2 if you are installing using a non-SP2 windows xp installation disc.


errrr...dun claim myself to be an expert, just trying to help...

 

[Deadpoet]

depending on how bad is the problem, and how important are the data, I had used one company here in Sin that even managed to retrieve data from a crased raid 0.

pm me if you wnat the contact. they are not cheap, but they did manage to retrieve 300 GB of data.

 

[jnet6]

spending $$$ may something help you to solve the problems.

but first, you can try putting yr secondary HDD to another PC. If still can't detect, then the only way is to do data recovery which will cost $$$. Hope you understand.

 

[Adiemus]

Wait... Sit back... Relax first.... Don't panic...

Did you format your Secondary drive as NTFS?
If so, are you using MS-DOS to access the secondary drive? It would not show up anything at all.

If your Secondary HDD did not crash, all the data WILL BE intact.

Do not, format the HDD.

Do not run any recovery software on the HDD that could possibly damage the FAT or erase the data.

What you need now is a Primary HDD with the original OS (Win Xp?) installed and you will be able to have access to your stuff on the Secondary drive.

If all the above does not help. PM for help.

 

[hwchoy]

depending on how bad is the problem, and how important are the data, I had used one company here in Sin that even managed to retrieve data from a crased raid 0.

pm me if you wnat the contact. they are not cheap, but they did manage to retrieve 300 GB of data.

can tell me how much it cost you to do that?

 

[dreamerz]

most likely ur MBR table is corrupted...

 

[Deadpoet]

can tell me how much it cost you to do that?

$1k to recover al the data

 

[Big Kahuna]

I guess your screen only shown extended partition......most likely the extended partition was further partitioned into 4 logical drives......but don't take chance if they are important...the best way to check is to borrow another healthy PC and plugin your HDD as slave to ensure your files are intact...but make sure this PC is Win2k and above so that NTFS file format can be viewed :think:

 

[janzguy81]

Thanks for all replies. I really appreciate it!

Perhaps I should update more on what actually happened in the following:

Before crash:
Primary IDE: Harddisk 1 (which crashed; OS resides here)
Secondary IDE: Harddisk 2 (partial backup)
Primary SATA: 240Gb Harddisk 3 (which backup all my very important stuff in 4 partitions)

After crash:
Primary IDE: Harddisk 1 totally condemn (loud cranking sound whenever I power it now)
Secondary IDE: Harddisk 2 intact
Primary SATA: 4 partitions undetected! (Only show 1 main partition of 240Gb in Windows Installation Setup)

note: All in NTFS format

Remedies:
I tried reinstalling Win XP w/o SP2 onto Harddisk 2. Sata drivers are installed. However, the 4 partitions are still undetected.

My last bet would be to reinstall Win XP w/SP2 (but my copy with a friend! ) . Hopefully, it would reveal the 4 partitions by then. Im still hopeful that the data are not lost as I did not repartition or format the Sata drive at all.

Lesson learnt:
I thought I am protected enough as I actually invested on the additional Sata drive to store my important stuff. However, it proved me wrong. Once the harddisk where OS resides in screws up, everything else is affected. I guess backing up on external harddisk is a better solution now.

Any other advice you Gurus can give me? Thanks a lot!

 

[ah.zeep]

Thanks for all replies. I really appreciate it!

Perhaps I should update more on what actually happened in the following:

Before crash:
Primary IDE: Harddisk 1 (which crashed; OS resides here)
Secondary IDE: Harddisk 2 (partial backup)
Primary SATA: 240Gb Harddisk 3 (which backup all my very important stuff in 4 partitions)

After crash:
Primary IDE: Harddisk 1 totally condemn (loud cranking sound whenever I power it now)
Secondary IDE: Harddisk 2 intact
Primary SATA: 4 partitions undetected! (Only show 1 main partition of 240Gb in Windows Installation Setup)

note: All in NTFS format

Remedies:
I tried reinstalling Win XP w/o SP2 onto Harddisk 2. Sata drivers are installed. However, the 4 partitions are still undetected.

My last bet would be to reinstall Win XP w/SP2 (but my copy with a friend! ) . Hopefully, it would reveal the 4 partitions by then. Im still hopeful that the data are not lost as I did not repartition or format the Sata drive at all.

Lesson learnt:
I thought I am protected enough as I actually invested on the additional Sata drive to store my important stuff. However, it proved me wrong. Once the harddisk where OS resides in screws up, everything else is affected. I guess backing up on external harddisk is a better solution now.

Any other advice you Gurus can give me? Thanks a lot!

Forget the reinstalling of WinXP. Pass the SATA hd to the experts to recover stuff from it.

 

[Adiemus]

Thanks for all replies. I really appreciate it!

Perhaps I should update more on what actually happened in the following:

Before crash:
Primary IDE: Harddisk 1 (which crashed; OS resides here)
Secondary IDE: Harddisk 2 (partial backup)
Primary SATA: 240Gb Harddisk 3 (which backup all my very important stuff in 4 partitions)

After crash:
Primary IDE: Harddisk 1 totally condemn (loud cranking sound whenever I power it now)
Secondary IDE: Harddisk 2 intact
Primary SATA: 4 partitions undetected! (Only show 1 main partition of 240Gb in Windows Installation Setup)

note: All in NTFS format

Remedies:
I tried reinstalling Win XP w/o SP2 onto Harddisk 2. Sata drivers are installed. However, the 4 partitions are still undetected.

My last bet would be to reinstall Win XP w/SP2 (but my copy with a friend! ) . Hopefully, it would reveal the 4 partitions by then. Im still hopeful that the data are not lost as I did not repartition or format the Sata drive at all.

Lesson learnt:
I thought I am protected enough as I actually invested on the additional Sata drive to store my important stuff. However, it proved me wrong. Once the harddisk where OS resides in screws up, everything else is affected. I guess backing up on external harddisk is a better solution now.

Any other advice you Gurus can give me? Thanks a lot!

You should unplug the 240Gb SATA drive while working/reinstalling on the other drives. This would ensure that you don't wipe out the 240Gb HDD by accident.

Even if the 240Gb HDD is wiped out (by accident). Don't do anything to it (format, etc.) Data receovery programs are still able to retrieve data from this.

The Primary HDD should not affect the SATA Backup drive in any way.

Unless...
- You were hit by virus
- You are using RAID

 

[Deadpoet]

Thanks for all replies. I really appreciate it!

Perhaps I should update more on what actually happened in the following:

Before crash:
Primary IDE: Harddisk 1 (which crashed; OS resides here)
Secondary IDE: Harddisk 2 (partial backup)
Primary SATA: 240Gb Harddisk 3 (which backup all my very important stuff in 4 partitions)

After crash:
Primary IDE: Harddisk 1 totally condemn (loud cranking sound whenever I power it now)
Secondary IDE: Harddisk 2 intact
Primary SATA: 4 partitions undetected! (Only show 1 main partition of 240Gb in Windows Installation Setup)

note: All in NTFS format

Remedies:
I tried reinstalling Win XP w/o SP2 onto Harddisk 2. Sata drivers are installed. However, the 4 partitions are still undetected.

My last bet would be to reinstall Win XP w/SP2 (but my copy with a friend! ) . Hopefully, it would reveal the 4 partitions by then. Im still hopeful that the data are not lost as I did not repartition or format the Sata drive at all.

Lesson learnt:
I thought I am protected enough as I actually invested on the additional Sata drive to store my important stuff. However, it proved me wrong. Once the harddisk where OS resides in screws up, everything else is affected. I guess backing up on external harddisk is a better solution now.

Any other advice you Gurus can give me? Thanks a lot!

Y? Y? Y? Unless you really know what you are doing, if you have to post on this forum asking for advise, you don't, you should not mess with data recovery.

Or unless, the data is not that important to you.

 

[yanyewkay]

$1k to recover al the data

cheap!!!! ;( i was quoted $2500 exld GST for a crashed 40 GB HD. They just say hardware errror, must open HD.

 

[Adiemus]

Wow! Maybe I should offer Data Recovery services at lower prices! Hmm.. But then I'll be spoiling the market.... :think:

 

[Deadpoet]

cheap!!!! ;( i was quoted $2500 exld GST for a crashed 40 GB HD. They just say hardware errror, must open HD.

Anytime if the disc platters need to be removed inorder to recover the data, you are talking about a clean room job, meaning big $$$.

 

[match80]

Another option, change from WINXP to Mac Tiger.

 

[vince123123]

Actually, I won't be too quick to learn this lesson. From what you are telling us, it was only HDD 1 which screwed up. HDD 2 and HDD3 had no problems at all.

If I were you, as a first step, I'll connect HDD3 to another computer and test if it is working. TO make it easier, you can get one of those $20-30 external SATA/IDE cables convert to USB and you can connect your SATA drive to another computer via USB - quickest and easiest way to check if HDD3 has a problem.

Backing up on external harddisk vs your additional Sata drive makes no difference - if your Sata drive was somehow screwed, having an external harddisk makes no difference.

Lesson learnt:
I thought I am protected enough as I actually invested on the additional Sata drive to store my important stuff. However, it proved me wrong. Once the harddisk where OS resides in screws up, everything else is affected. I guess backing up on external harddisk is a better solution now.

Any other advice you Gurus can give me? Thanks a lot!

cheap!!!! ;( i was quoted $2500 exld GST for a crashed 40 GB HD. They just say hardware errror, must open HD.

Anytime if the disc platters need to be removed inorder to recover the data, you are talking about a clean room job, meaning big $$$.

I just had two HDDs recovered very recently. The guy told me that it had to be sent to a clean room to open up (true or not I don't know). One was a 40GB 1.8" Notebook hard disk and the other was a 120GB 3.5" IDE HDD. Each cost an average of $650 to $750 to recover. If the thread starter needs a recommendation, let me know - I'm going to visit them again in the coming week to take my notebook back .

Cheers!

 

[vince123123]

This advice sounds strange, unless you are telling us that hardware with Mac Tiger installed on it suffer less from hardware crashes from hardware with WinXP installed on it. :think:

Another option, change from WINXP to Mac Tiger.

 

[Fok Weng Wai]

Try re-installing the same software used to partition the hdd. It shld able to display the partitions.