hdd data recovery?

[METAL MONKEY]

does anyone have the capabilities to do this? my secondary hdd seems to have crapped out. it is recognized in the bios and hardware manager, but not in the disk manager. it still spins, and does not make any bad sounds. there's roughly 40-50 gig worth of data i'd like to try to get back.

thanks

 

[XJTodd]

Try using something like Knoppix.

http://www.knoppix.net/

It's saved me a few times.

 

[Glacialbass]

You can also try throwing the drive in the freezer for a couple of hours and then hooking it up and booting the machine.

This will only work a few times but will often help you recover the data that you're after.

 

[YELLAHEEP]

You can also try throwing the drive in the freezer for a couple of hours and then hooking it up and booting the machine.

This will only work a few times but will often help you recover the data that you're after.

Yeah, more than once and the HDD starts getting chewy when you re-heat it......

 

[METAL MONKEY]

You can also try throwing the drive in the freezer for a couple of hours and then hooking it up and booting the machine.

This will only work a few times but will often help you recover the data that you're after.

I read about people doing this. Is it more related to a mechanical issue, or will it (maybe)work regardless of failure mode?

 

[dennis461]

Try windows safe mode...
Try a boot CD and uses a DOS directory search to confirm it is spinning and has data in the boot sector.