Dead hard drive data recovery

[Cliffh]

DW has an old Win98 desktop with years worth of photos, music, etc. on it.  The motherboard or CPU crapped out last year so I got a motherboard/CPU combo off eBay.

Finally got around to installing it a couple weeks ago.  Spent 2 days re-configuring Win98 to work with the new hardware, ended up buying a sound card 'cause I couldn't get the on-board sound to work.  Got everything running except the printer, it needed a new print cartridge.  Bought 2 new cartridges.  Fired off the computer in the morning & let it sit idle for a few hours until she had time to install the cartridges.  She put the new black cartridge in and attempted to navigate to Printers to run a test page - there was no response from the system.  We rebooted using CTRL/ALT/DEL and the system hung when attempting to access the HDD.

Let it sit overnight and tried to use an old version of Ghost stored on that drive to copy the drive to an 80GB drive - Ghost started, but didn't complete.  

There are no "unnatural" sounds from the drive.  Sometimes the BIOS will see it, sometimes it won't.  It's a WD600BB-00CAA1 EIDE drive.

Any suggestions/recommendations on data recovery methods or companies?

And yes, it should have been backed up - plan was to get everything working, then back it up, like the night it died.

ETA:  I'm going to try cleaning the PCB to head contacts and possibly replace the PCB once I get a T8 driver (and another HDD).

[lee n. field]

Any suggestions/recommendations on data recovery methods or companies?

companies -- Kroll Ontrack, but you probably aren't going to want to pay what they'd charge.   Multiple hundreds for an evaluation charge, in which they tell you what they can do.  Probably on the order of a couple grand when done. 

If I had it in front of me I'd be hooking it up as a second drive in a linux system and using either ddrescue or rdd (obscure forensic disk copy program) and cloning the drive, either to a new drive or (in this case probably) a disk image file.   Hopefully it finishes.  Chkdsk the target drive until clean, then see what files are accessable.

I'm a little suprised you got Win98 running -- was it an older motherboard you picked up?

[Ben]

You might try:

https://www.system-rescue-cd.org/SystemRescueCd_Homepage

Are you trying to get to it while it's internally connected as the primary drive? If so, you might try pulling it and popping it into an external USB case . Plug that into another computer and see if you can see files. If not, try running the rescue CD.

Edit: Lee beat me to the punch on a couple of suggestions.

[Cliffh]

Kroll Ontrack offers a free online estimate, but after sending in the request you'll get a message that they'll be calling you in the next 30 minutes to discuss options.  OK... if I wanted to talk to them I'd have called in the first place.

Yep, it was an older motherboard/CPU combo (a pull).  Lots of fun re-configuring Windows.

Using a software solution I'm guessing requires the dying drive to be accessible (working) during the recovery process - right?  Problem is that this drive stops responding after a short period of time.

I haven't tried accessing it in another computer yet, I'm assuming that it's not going to last too much longer and the more it's run, the less time is left for recovery efforts.  I've got a system setup with a removable HDD rack, I can try using that.   

[KD5NRH]

It's a WD600BB-00CAA1 EIDE drive.

Probably time for a new distributor cap.  Also check to make sure the starter cord reel is properly engaging the flywheel.

You do realize flash drives that big are like $40, right?

[lee n. field]

Using a software solution I'm guessing requires the dying drive to be accessible (working) during the recovery process - right?  Problem is that this drive stops responding after a short period of time.

You're probably SOL, short of using a $ervice.

You've got no idea how many times I've had this dialog:

"All my pictures!"

"I didn't have any luck getting anything.  We could send the drive out.  The last time I did this, it ended up costing the customer about two grand."

"Doesn't matter that much."

[Cliffh]

Found a place that sells PCB's, it's not looking like that's the problem:

http://www.hddzone.com/western_digital_pcb_swap_replacement_guide.html

1. We should know not every HDD's problem is caused by damaged PCB. Damaged PCB has the below symptoms:
Damaged PCB always has the obvious burnt marks.
The HDD can't spin. You can't hear any noise or just hear a tick sound, which means the PCB is probably faulty.

Which HDD's problems are not caused by PCB:
HDD has a buzzing voice or a sound like it is trying to spin.
HDD can spin. However, it makes a lower clicking noise. It spins for a moment and then slow down.
HDD will power up normally (no ticking noises, errors etc) but will not be recognized by the computer
HDD will power up normally and be recognized correctly but will report a size of 0 bytes
HDD will power up but report SMART errors on boot.

The two in bold above are why.  The drive does spin and it's not always recognized by the computer.

Oh, and WD's PCB's are a PITA.  They have their own little BIOS chip on them that works with that drive only.  Have to take the BIOS off the old board and solder it onto the new board.

[Ben]

A very last resort before (or just after) you decide the drive is trash is to put it in the fridge for a couple of hours and then try one last time. Grab a beer while you're there. :)

[never_retreat]

When you said works for a bit then stops, I'm thinking some sort of heat problem.
Get that thing hooked up to an external-usb adapter on the desk and point a fan at it and give it a try.

[Cliffh]

Once upon a time, decades ago, a customer brought their computer in for me to work on.  It'd been in the car trunk overnight on a cold night.  Plugged it in, hit the power button and watched all the smoke come out of the HDD.  Turns out that condensation had formed on the drives' PCB and shorted it out. 

How likely would that be to happen after stuffing it in the freezer?  Now that you mention it, I remember hearing about that technique way back when, but don't recall anything about the possible condensation problem.

Setting it up with a fan blowing on it is easy enough.  I could probably even set it up over the AC vent, get some cold air blowing directly on it.

I'm reading a lot about WD firmware problems, that seems to be a common problem with WD's. 

[Ben]

Once upon a time, decades ago, a customer brought their computer in for me to work on.  It'd been in the car trunk overnight on a cold night.  Plugged it in, hit the power button and watched all the smoke come out of the HDD.  Turns out that condensation had formed on the drives' PCB and shorted it out. 

How likely would that be to happen after stuffing it in the freezer?  Now that you mention it, I remember hearing about that technique way back when, but don't recall anything about the possible condensation problem.

Setting it up with a fan blowing on it is easy enough.  I could probably even set it up over the AC vent, get some cold air blowing directly on it.

I'm reading a lot about WD firmware problems, that seems to be a common problem with WD's. 

That's why the fridge is a last resort. I only tried it once on an overheating work drive on its last legs, but didn't have condensation problems. I made sure to take it into a cool room though. You can also try turning a can of canned air upside down and giving a few squirts to the exterior of the metal plate side of the drive. I used that method before to recover files from a dying drive that was shutting down from heat every five minutes or so.

[lee n. field]

Turns out that condensation had formed on the drives' PCB and shorted it out.

How likely would that be to happen after stuffing it in the freezer?  Now that you mention it, I remember hearing about that technique way back when, but don't recall anything about the possible condensation problem.

Seal it in a zip-lock baggie first.

[Cliffh]

Her computer's up & running again - still have to R & R a couple of drives, but it boots to Windows, the printer works, music plays & her pictures display.  Might even look at replacing the secondary case fan, it's always been a bit noisy anyway.

Took the dying drive out of the case, rotated it 90* (set on the floor on edge instead of bottom down), directed a fan at it and used an old, old version of Ghost to copy it over to another drive.  The drive actually performed better than I'd expected/hoped for, it ran long enough to go through 3 attempts at Ghosting, one Scandisk w/o a surface test and another Scandisk w/surface test, and another Ghosting.  The Scandisk's were run 'cause Ghost stopped at ~98% saying it couldn't read some sectors, still couldn't read sectors after 1st Scandisk, and still couldn't read the last <200MB on the last Ghosting.  That's when I said screw it, plugged the "new" drive in as primary and hallelujah!

Not sure yet what's missing, but it doesn't seem to be essential Windows files.  We may never know what's not there, but right now I'm just happy the damn thing's running again.

I did find that some of my >12yr old 3 1/2" floppies still work.  Dug out the stash I kept for basic work such as this and most of them can still be read.

I've been checking hard drive prices on Amazon, going to get another 60GB drive to hold a Ghost image of this drive before she uses it.

Thanks for the help!

ETA:  Never did hear back from OnTrack.

[lee n. field]

IDE drive, I assume?  I can probably dig up a good used drive if you need one.

It's been a long time since I've used Ghost, and it was an old version then, but I remember an option for the copy process to proceed on past bad sectors.  (I also remember that it would still stall sometimes, which is why I went looking for other options.)

[230RN]

Question 1:  Did you get a POST (Power On Self-Test) beep?

[Cliffh]

It is an IDE drive, and thanks for the offer, but there's no need for you to go through the hassles of packing & shipping, etc.  They're cheap enough now-a-days & include free shipping.

This version of Ghost may have that option, since the drive might have quit at any time I felt a bit rushed on just getting it done.  Once I get another drive I might play around a bit more with the dying one to see if I can get more off it.  Then again, maybe not.

No, never did get a POST beep.  The BIOS either saw the drive or didn't, if it didn't it just went on with the boot process.  If it saw the drive the SMART message showed " SMART Enabled", if it didn't see the drive there was no SMART message at all and, of course, it wouldn't boot.

ETA:  And I have "Stop on all errors" enabled in the BIOS.

[230RN]

The reason I asked about the POST beep is there was a big thread recently somewhere (maybe another site) on a similar problem, and among all the other problem data was there was no POST beep.

Apparently, from what I can gather, it is possible (especially since you changed out the mother board) that there was a bad connection from the power supply (or a bad power supply) such that there was enough power to drive the logic, but not to power the drives (5v vs 12V).

So I thought it might be worthwhile to ask that question and suggest you go in there and make sure the connectors were all solidly seated.

But what do I know --the last computer I built from scratch was a 286.

Terry

[Cliffh]

In a case like this any & all possible problems/fixes are welcome.  Would have felt better if it'd been the power supply.

Can't really fault the drive, it's been in use since '02.