Hard drive failure

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ADKM

860 posts

Ultimate Geek

#119531 4-Jun-2013 22:08

Just like that... suddenly gone. Windows doesn't show it anymore.
I suspect mechanical failure as there's a tick - tick from it now and again.

Is there software or tools that might let me at it to copy anything from it ?

Thanks.

Cheers - Kirk

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1574 posts

Uber Geek

#830737 4-Jun-2013 22:24

SpinRite.
If that can't fix it, not much else other than professional data recovery services will help.

https://www.grc.com/spinrite.htm

ADKM

860 posts

Ultimate Geek

#830745 4-Jun-2013 23:01

$89US... probably a bridge too far for a home PC but thanks for letting me know.

Cheers - Kirk

grant_k

3539 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#830754 4-Jun-2013 23:13

Since I had a Seagate 3TB drive nearly die on me earlier this year, I have installed Acronis Drive Monitor and keep it running all the time to warn of any potential problems. After hearing a repetitive drumming noise from the drive when it should have been quiet, I downloaded this software and it revealed that my drive was on borrowed time with only 5% health.

It had been shuffling data around avoiding bad sectors, and the pool of spare sectors was almost exhausted. Without Acronis Drive Monitor, I would have been unaware how serious the situation was, and probably would have lost all data since the most recent backup. As it was, I managed to copy the data off in time, and sent the drive away for a warranty replacement.

surfisup1000

5288 posts

Uber Geek

#830761 4-Jun-2013 23:27

As soon as you see a single bad sector you should backup then trash the drive. I've sometimes managed to prolong the life by formatting but they all die in the end in my experience.

I've had the clicking prob and never rescued from that.

When I need a new drive I always buy 2 and use crashplan to constantly backup.

Drives fail more often than the mtbf would suggest.

mattwnz

20164 posts

Uber Geek

#830763 4-Jun-2013 23:30

grant_k: Since I had a Seagate 3TB drive nearly die on me earlier this year, I have installed Acronis Drive Monitor and keep it running all the time to warn of any potential problems. After hearing a repetitive drumming noise from the drive when it should have been quiet, I downloaded this software and it revealed that my drive was on borrowed time with only 5% health.

Thanks for the tip. I have never had a harddrive die on me that actually lost data. Alwasy caught them in time, but that tool looks interesting. Just hope it doesn't have any nagware in it seeing it is free.

grant_k

3539 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#830766 4-Jun-2013 23:44

mattwnz:
grant_k: Since I had a Seagate 3TB drive nearly die on me earlier this year, I have installed Acronis Drive Monitor and keep it running all the time to warn of any potential problems. After hearing a repetitive drumming noise from the drive when it should have been quiet, I downloaded this software and it revealed that my drive was on borrowed time with only 5% health.

Thanks for the tip. I have never had a harddrive die on me that actually lost data. Alwasy caught them in time, but that tool looks interesting. Just hope it doesn't have any nagware in it seeing it is free.

Nope, no nagware at all. They offer it to whet your appetite for some of their other products which have a link from the main window that you can click.

I ended up buying Acronis True Image after dumping Windows Backup in disgust, so the freebee Drive Monitor has paid dividends for Acronis in my case.

ADKM

860 posts

Ultimate Geek

#830774 5-Jun-2013 01:15

I was very impressed with Seagate Disk Wizard (which mentions 'powered by' Acronis). I will check out Disk Monitor. Co-incidently I was considering a 3TB as a replacement... LOL now I'm worried.

But in this case is was my own stoopid fault. The drive is an IDE and over 5 years old, maybe more. I should have backed up... but it had gone so well for so long.....

Cheers - Kirk

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DravidDavid

1907 posts

Uber Geek

#830828 5-Jun-2013 09:39

Take it out right now. Don't use it anymore just yet. Put it in the freezer for a few weeks and then plug it back in again. It will either work perfectly for another 6 months or work just long enough for you to get important stuff on to another drive.

I have a laptop hard drive I had in the freezer for 3 months after it died (I forgot about it). I plugged it back in and it worked for about 8 months before becoming unstable again. I just labelled it "Mr.Dodgy" and put crap I don't really care about on it. If it dies, I don't care.

timmmay

20581 posts

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Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#830858 5-Jun-2013 10:52

Backups are essential, preferably offsite. There are free tools that look at disk SMART status, I forget the one I use, but it gave me an early warning of a disk failing recently. That means it was replaced under warranty, but I have multiple levels of backup anyway.

jaymz

1133 posts

Uber Geek

#830869 5-Jun-2013 11:37

dontpanic42: SpinRite.
If that can't fix it, not much else other than professional data recovery services will help.

https://www.grc.com/spinrite.htm

I can agree on SpinRite, amazing bit of software!

It is a one off payment and does wonders, i have managed to recover photos from a friends drive with the aid of SpinRite.

At the end of the day, it comes down to how much your data is worth to you. With a ticking sound, it could be a head issue which professional data recovery is really your only option.

A neat site that can come in handy when trying to determine the cause of the failure is:

http://www.datacent.com/hard_drive_sounds.php

Klipspringer

2385 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#830892 5-Jun-2013 11:49

Crashplan costs AU$7.00 per month for unlimited automatic backups. It runs in the background and you forget about it.

Prevention is always better than cure. Money well spent if you ask me.

grant_k

3539 posts

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Trusted

#830895 5-Jun-2013 11:54

Acronis True Image cost me NZ$103 for a 3-user "Family Pack". I'm very impressed by the functionality it has compared to Windows Backup. I have full control over Incremental / Differential / Full with an optional Verification step which I'm running during the first Full Backup, just to be sure.

timmmay

20581 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#830900 5-Jun-2013 12:07

Klipspringer: Crashplan costs AU$7.00 per month for unlimited automatic backups. It runs in the background and you forget about it.

Prevention is always better than cure. Money well spent if you ask me.

I use the A$3.50/month for 10GB service, but I get a discount for paying annually. I have 2TB+ of RAW files, but they're too large to practically back up online.

kiwijunglist

2981 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#831156 5-Jun-2013 17:45

Recommend

CrystalDiskInfo - Free software, no nags, no compulsory bundled crap.

http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskInfo/index-e.html

Monitors smart state, I use it on my HTPC, it monitors all 5 of my HDDs and will email me if any HDDs SMART data's are concerning. I did a test where I plugged an old usb HDD (with known bad sectors) into my HTPC and I got an email right away.

HTPC / Home automation (home assistant) enthusiast.

mxpress

376 posts

Ultimate Geek

#831162 5-Jun-2013 17:59

ADKM: Just like that... suddenly gone. Windows doesn't show it anymore.
I suspect mechanical failure as there's a tick - tick from it now and again.

Is there software or tools that might let me at it to copy anything from it ?

Thanks.

Ahhhh the dreaded "Click Of Death"

mxpress

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