Trying to recover a file from HDD with bad sectors

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1850 posts

Uber Geek

Topic # 111338 30-Oct-2012 19:48
Hi My parents windows 7 install died on their laptop, probably due to bad sectors on the HDD. I've replaced the HDD.I'm trying to recover their outlook emails/contacts. I put their old HDD into an external enclosure. I ran chkdsk /f which found 93kb of bad sectors. I found outlook.pst on their old HDD (which presumably has all the outlook information) however I get an error when I try to copy + paste the file from the HDD. Is there any command I can perform on this file to allow me to copy it off the old HDD? HTPC - Intel i3-2100 / 12GB / 13TB Storage / HD4670 / HVR2200 / Win 7 x64 + MediaPortal 1.3 Final PC - Intel e8600 / 8GB / HD5830 / Win7 x64

1525 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

Reply # 709411 30-Oct-2012 20:02
I seem to be recommending this piece of software quite a lot over the past few days. It's not free, but it's your best bet if the data on the HDD is critical. SpinRite - http://www.grc.com/spinrite.htm I should probably add: Disclaimer - I have no affiliation whatsoever with SpinRite, I just know it works well. If the data is recoverable, SpinRite will most likely recover it.

1850 posts

Uber Geek

Reply # 709428 30-Oct-2012 20:16
Also tried terracopy and bbcopy. bbcopy was able to process the whole file but when it finished it didn't create a copy. terracopy failed at 64mb of 320mb HTPC - Intel i3-2100 / 12GB / 13TB Storage / HD4670 / HVR2200 / Win 7 x64 + MediaPortal 1.3 Final PC - Intel e8600 / 8GB / HD5830 / Win7 x64

805 posts

Ultimate Geek

Reply # 710161 1-Nov-2012 01:34
Chkdsk /r is the cmd line for bad sector recovery or CHKDSK /B which re-evaluates bad clusters Asus Crosshair IV Formula AMD Phenom II X4 965BE, 8GB Corsair Vengence LP, Sapphire Radeon HD7850 2GB 950/1250, 1x WesternDigital WD2500AAJS 7200rpm 8MB cache SATAII , 1x Samsung spinpoin F1 HD502IJ 1x storage mode, 2x Samsung Spinpoint F1 HD502IJ RAID0 Boot, 1x Pioneer DVR212s 18x DVDRW, SilverStone ST75F-P (750W) Full Modular PSU, OS WINDOWS 7 x64 ultimate (7600), SilverStone RaVeN RV02B-W

1850 posts

Uber Geek

Reply # 710164 1-Nov-2012 02:24
oh i thought chkdsk /f fixed them ??? HTPC - Intel i3-2100 / 12GB / 13TB Storage / HD4670 / HVR2200 / Win 7 x64 + MediaPortal 1.3 Final PC - Intel e8600 / 8GB / HD5830 / Win7 x64

1789 posts

Uber Geek

Reply # 710166 1-Nov-2012 06:51
If the hdd has bad sectors running a chkdsk is a bad idea! You want to try and recover your data first. The best software I've found for this is getdataback. Computer Repairs Whangarei Remote Support

606 posts

Ultimate Geek

Subscriber

Reply # 710192 1-Nov-2012 08:10
+1 for GetDataBack. Not free, but it's saved me and family several times with hard drive recovery, including an SD card with irreplaceable photos.

1247 posts

Uber Geek

Reply # 710206 1-Nov-2012 08:51
I'd say a CHKDSK /R will get fix the bad sectors for long enough to recover the PST file. I've used it heaps on HDDs with a few bad sectors (it won't work on a really borked drive).

527 posts

Ultimate Geek

Subscriber

Reply # 710213 1-Nov-2012 09:05
This software is free and excellent for getting data off a bad drive: http://www.piriform.com/recuva Free version from here: http://www.piriform.com/recuva/download/standard

446 posts

Ultimate Geek

Reply # 710227 1-Nov-2012 09:56
I used the free Unstoppable Copier when I tried to get data from a decaying external hdd, it got more off than the windows standard file copier: Unstoppable Copier: http://www.roadkil.net/program.php?ProgramID=29

356 posts

Ultimate Geek

Reply # 717378 14-Nov-2012 22:21
allan: +1 for GetDataBack. Not free, but it's saved me and family several times with hard drive recovery, including an SD card with irreplaceable photos. + 1 for Get Data Back. This is what I use at work, We paid for this and it has paid for its self 10 fold with all these people buying cheap and nasty hard drives from these white wear sales places and the hard drive fails lol when will people learn. Hu? did i do that? 16Mb (EDO RAM), K6-II processor, 2Mb of onboard graphics. 32k dial up modem. 12 speed CD ROM. 5¼-inch floppy drive. 500Mb HDD.