Trying to save HDD

Impr3ssiv3

Impr3ssiv3

New Member
ok when i came back from vacation i found out that my HDD was corrupt, dont ask me how all i know is that it is. today i hooked it up to my moms machine and put it on as a slave

the drive shows up in Windows as Local Disk F: but whenever i try and open it i alwasy get a message of "this drive is not formatted. Would you like to format it now. Yes. No"

from just a stray memory i think that this has to do with the Drive not being the same format as Windows is.

my question is if there is anyway to save this drive(or mainly just the music, videos, personal items, and Photoshop files)

i am building a new computer, or having someone do it tomorrow, and i was gonna get the drive hooked up by them but i have done it now and cant get it.

so how would i go about getting the files off of the drive
 
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PC eye

banned
First of all the master boot record was probably damaged somehow preventing the normal boot of Windows. If you boot with either Windows installation disk(XP) or a good old WIN98 or ME startup floppy you can use the "FIXMBR" from the recovery console or "FDISK /MBR" at the dos prompt when booting with a floppy. In the other system the error seen may be due to having a different version of Windows installed or a jumper from slave to cable select may help. A Linux live for cd distro is always a good thing to have onhand when a drive become inaccessible from Windows.
 
Impr3ssiv3

Impr3ssiv3

New Member
PC eye said:
First of all the master boot record was probably damaged somehow preventing the normal boot of Windows. If you boot with either Windows installation disk(XP) or a good old WIN98 or ME startup floppy you can use the "FIXMBR" from the recovery console or "FDISK /MBR" at the dos prompt when booting with a floppy. In the other system the error seen may be due to having a different version of Windows installed or a jumper from slave to cable select may help. A Linux live for cd distro is always a good thing to have onhand when a drive become inaccessible from Windows.
Click to expand...



ok well i have an XP disc on hand. well doing the FIXMBR probably help it. because when i normally boot off of it it does like 4 loading lines then flashes a blue screen for a split second and then restarts and repeats
 
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PC eye

banned
Here the quick command at the recovery console could work. That will also depend on what shape the partition table is in there. On one drive that command did fail. So it's a risk to use at times as well as not using it. Besides using a Linux live for cd/dvd type distro like Knoppix the option to perform an "install to repair" since you have the installation disk ready is another alternate method. http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm
 
The_Other_One

The_Other_One

VIP Member
But isn't the master boot record for BOOTING? That is not the problem, the problem is not being able to be read in windows...

As for using Linux or something, I breifly thought about this, but then you must realize... If it was once a windows volume, it should still work in windows unless something is majorly wrong with the disk. Now, as I mentioned, there could be some restore program I don't know of, but under normal circumstances, I feel quite sure it won't be able to be read using anything...
 
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PC eye

banned
10 things you can do when Windows XP won't boot

Source: TechRepublic

Date: January 2006

Version: 1.0

System Requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 or later

License: copyright


FREE Registration
is required


Overview: If your computer powers up okay, but the Windows XP operating system won't boot properly, you have some troubleshooting ahead of you. Here's a look at the likely culprits and what you can do to fix the problem.

When you're dealing with a Windows XP system that won't boot, it helps to know what areas to target as you try to diagnose the problem. Windows expert Greg Shultz put together this list to help you identify and resolve the boot issue. His suggestions include:

Recover and Repair Windows XP When a Computer Crashes or Fails to Boot

Note well that if you are to recover a system that is running Windows XP, or any other operating system, the cause of the problem must be software-related, not hardware-related. If a computer is suffering from a serious hardware problem or failure, none of the methods of recovery provided on this page will be of any use. An example of a serious hardware failure is a faulty hard disk drive that won't allow the system to boot. The Q&A on this site called Why do I get a black screen with an "Operating system not found" message at startup? is a good example of a hardware issue that can only be recovered by replacing the faulty hardware. Here is relevant Q&A on this site: Windows XP won't reinstall. Is it a software problem or a hardware failure?
If it is not possible to make use of any of the methods of recovering Windows XP provided on this page, then you should investigate hardware issues of that kind. The table above provides the links to the other pages on this site that deal with computer problems. http://www.pcbuyerbeware.co.uk/RecoveringXP.htm​
 
S

SirKenin

banned
Ok. The disk is probably not salvagable. Like The Other One said, it is not the Master Boot Record. :rolleyes: It is the MFT. The Master File Table.

I just had a client two days ago that had a server drive do this to him. On it was all his files for his business for the last year. The drive is finished. There is hope though. You can send it in to a clean room and they will take the drive apart and lift the data off manually. I'm warning you, though, it's expensive. You can try Stellar Phoenix first and you might get lucky. You won't know until you try.
 
S

SirKenin

banned
It's top secret. I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.



Ok Ok. :p It's drive recovery software and it's very effective at what it does. www.stellarinfo.com Obviously I use it and it has served me well. Best $100 you'll ever swipe.
 
Impr3ssiv3

Impr3ssiv3

New Member
yeah i figured it out on my own but i dunno if i wanna spend $100 on it when i just spend $1500 on the computer

the only reason i want to save teh disk is because of my music on there and my photoshop files and videos and special stuff
 
Ku-sama

Ku-sama

banned
well, i have Get Data Back NT and i think i might be able to help him... cause i deleted the MBR on my 80GB harddrive....
 
P

PC eye

banned
Ku-sama said:
well, i have Get Data Back NT and i think i might be able to help him... cause i deleted the MBR on my 80GB harddrive....
Click to expand...

I've wiped a few mbrs when XP first came out. But the repair install corrected that fast enough. The idea of using a Linux live distro will not only copy files off of an inaccessible parition but can also show if a drive has failed. Live distros can also tell you just how many partitions are on any drive with it's hardware detection process. All hard drives are seen as desktop icons upon reaching the desktop.
 
Ku-sama

Ku-sama

banned
have you ever used GDBNT? it will still get the files back... i deleted the partition on my harddrive.... with the MBR...
 
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