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All pictures lost : ( / please help!



 
 
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  #1  
Old October 25th 04, 11:56 PM
Digital Paul
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Default All pictures lost : ( / please help!

My 2-month old Western Digital WD2500 Serial ATA
hard drive stopped working and I lost all my digital family
pictures (from the last seven years).

WD people will replace the HD under warranty, but only if I don’t
open it or if I choose one of their service partners
for a data recovery service. I just found but they charge
no less than $1000 just to recover the 30 gig folder where my
pictures were stored, so it is a no win situation for me.

I’m running Windows XP Professional in a Pentium-4 PC, and
the damaged driver was working as a NTFS file system “slave”.

Last Saturday I was adding some more pictures to it, and
suddenly without making any noise nor previous problem
at all, the driver froze and stopped working. After several attempts
restarting windows, trying different computers, etc. Windows “saw”
the driver for one last time. I saw my precious pictures folder there,
but I couldn’t retrieve a single file, as after a couple of
minutes the driver stopped working for good.
All attempts that followed were not successful.

My dilemma is that if I open the drive with the hope that
I can free the disk to make it rotate once again just to retrieve
the picture folder, then Western Digital will void
the warranty. This won’t matter if I succeed
recovering my pictures, but if not?

My questions a

Do I have a chance to make the drive spin, at least
for a while if I remove the cover?

Does anyone know if there is a less expensive service
to retrieve my data, even if doing so I loose the
WD warranty?

I have found some software designed to retrieve lost data
from damaged drives, like HDD Regenerator, but I can’t
try anything because my PC does not even boot when the drive
is connected.

I’ll appreciate any help regarding this matter.

Thanks in advance.
Paul


  #2  
Old October 26th 04, 12:08 AM
Bob Hayden
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Default

I feel for you...I am no expert but one thing I might try is to install a
new hard drive and put your operating system on it making it the "master"
and your current hard drive the "slave". Once the new drive is operating
then you could see if you can read the files from the old drive. If you can
then you can copy all the picture (and other) files over to the new HD and
then get rid of (or repair/reformat) tthe old one.

Good luck...I know others will have some good advice for you as well.

Bob in RSM, CA


"Digital Paul" wrote in message
...
My 2-month old Western Digital WD2500 Serial ATA
hard drive stopped working and I lost all my digital family
pictures (from the last seven years).

WD people will replace the HD under warranty, but only if I don't
open it or if I choose one of their service partners
for a data recovery service. I just found but they charge
no less than $1000 just to recover the 30 gig folder where my
pictures were stored, so it is a no win situation for me.

I'm running Windows XP Professional in a Pentium-4 PC, and
the damaged driver was working as a NTFS file system "slave".

Last Saturday I was adding some more pictures to it, and
suddenly without making any noise nor previous problem
at all, the driver froze and stopped working. After several attempts
restarting windows, trying different computers, etc. Windows "saw"
the driver for one last time. I saw my precious pictures folder there,
but I couldn't retrieve a single file, as after a couple of
minutes the driver stopped working for good.
All attempts that followed were not successful.

My dilemma is that if I open the drive with the hope that
I can free the disk to make it rotate once again just to retrieve
the picture folder, then Western Digital will void
the warranty. This won't matter if I succeed
recovering my pictures, but if not?

My questions a

Do I have a chance to make the drive spin, at least
for a while if I remove the cover?

Does anyone know if there is a less expensive service
to retrieve my data, even if doing so I loose the
WD warranty?

I have found some software designed to retrieve lost data
from damaged drives, like HDD Regenerator, but I can't
try anything because my PC does not even boot when the drive
is connected.

I'll appreciate any help regarding this matter.

Thanks in advance.
Paul




  #3  
Old October 26th 04, 12:15 AM
Casey Wilson
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Posts: n/a
Default


"Digital Paul" wrote in message
...
My 2-month old Western Digital WD2500 Serial ATA
hard drive stopped working and I lost all my digital family
pictures (from the last seven years).


Paul,
I can't do anything to help you recover your files. But I can
certainly make you feel worse about the whole thing. Perhaps in doing that,
maybe your lesson will help someone else, someday.

BACKUP!!!!



  #4  
Old October 26th 04, 12:15 AM
Casey Wilson
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"Digital Paul" wrote in message
...
My 2-month old Western Digital WD2500 Serial ATA
hard drive stopped working and I lost all my digital family
pictures (from the last seven years).


Paul,
I can't do anything to help you recover your files. But I can
certainly make you feel worse about the whole thing. Perhaps in doing that,
maybe your lesson will help someone else, someday.

BACKUP!!!!



  #5  
Old October 26th 04, 12:25 AM
Michael A. Covington
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Posts: n/a
Default

Do I have a chance to make the drive spin, at least
for a while if I remove the cover?


Don't remove the cover. Twist it around in all positions without opening
it.

I have found some software designed to retrieve lost data
from damaged drives, like HDD Regenerator, but I can’t
try anything because my PC does not even boot when the drive
is connected.


Sounds like your problem is most likely "stiction" (drive will not spin up).
Moving it around a lot is a good way to open it up. Twist it back and forth
about the axis of rotation.

And once you get it going, KEEP IT POWERED UP until you get all the files
copied off of it.


  #6  
Old October 26th 04, 12:25 AM
Michael A. Covington
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Do I have a chance to make the drive spin, at least
for a while if I remove the cover?


Don't remove the cover. Twist it around in all positions without opening
it.

I have found some software designed to retrieve lost data
from damaged drives, like HDD Regenerator, but I can’t
try anything because my PC does not even boot when the drive
is connected.


Sounds like your problem is most likely "stiction" (drive will not spin up).
Moving it around a lot is a good way to open it up. Twist it back and forth
about the axis of rotation.

And once you get it going, KEEP IT POWERED UP until you get all the files
copied off of it.


  #7  
Old October 26th 04, 12:34 AM
Chris D
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Posts: n/a
Default

On Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:56:54 -0700
"Digital Paul" wrote:

My dilemma is that if I open the drive with the hope that
I can free the disk to make it rotate once again just to
retrieve the picture folder, then Western Digital will void
the warranty. This won=92t matter if I succeed
recovering my pictures, but if not?


Are you sure it's not working because the drive isn't spinning?=20
A Trick we use sometimes to try and free a 'stuck' drive, is to
hold it vertically, and give it a few flicks with your wrist.=20
Hard to explain in text, but it's worked for me before.

Do I have a chance to make the drive spin, at least
for a while if I remove the cover?


Probably not, and you have a very large change of screwing it
even further. Harddrives DO NOT like even the littlest bit of
dust. From my limited understanding, The heads of the drive
float just a couple of microns above the drive platter. At a
glance, it looks like they are touching it. A Human hair is
about 20 microns in diameter, or about 10 times the distance
that the head is off the platter. Little bits of dust on there
are not going to get along.

Does anyone know if there is a less expensive service
to retrieve my data, even if doing so I loose the
WD warranty?


I Don't know, but I do know a friend who lost a heap of wedding
photos, and sent them to a third-party recovery service, and
paid about $1500 Australian. It's not a cheap service.

-Chris D
  #8  
Old October 26th 04, 12:34 AM
Chris D
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Posts: n/a
Default

On Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:56:54 -0700
"Digital Paul" wrote:

My dilemma is that if I open the drive with the hope that
I can free the disk to make it rotate once again just to
retrieve the picture folder, then Western Digital will void
the warranty. This won=92t matter if I succeed
recovering my pictures, but if not?


Are you sure it's not working because the drive isn't spinning?=20
A Trick we use sometimes to try and free a 'stuck' drive, is to
hold it vertically, and give it a few flicks with your wrist.=20
Hard to explain in text, but it's worked for me before.

Do I have a chance to make the drive spin, at least
for a while if I remove the cover?


Probably not, and you have a very large change of screwing it
even further. Harddrives DO NOT like even the littlest bit of
dust. From my limited understanding, The heads of the drive
float just a couple of microns above the drive platter. At a
glance, it looks like they are touching it. A Human hair is
about 20 microns in diameter, or about 10 times the distance
that the head is off the platter. Little bits of dust on there
are not going to get along.

Does anyone know if there is a less expensive service
to retrieve my data, even if doing so I loose the
WD warranty?


I Don't know, but I do know a friend who lost a heap of wedding
photos, and sent them to a third-party recovery service, and
paid about $1500 Australian. It's not a cheap service.

-Chris D
  #9  
Old October 26th 04, 12:46 AM
grenner
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Posts: n/a
Default

Two suggestions that may sound stupid but I have tried both and at times
they have worked.

If the voice coil in the HD is damaged or stuck remove the drive and give it
some light but firm taps with a hammer. There is a very strong magnet that
moves that coil and thus the heads. You might loosen it long enough to get
your files.

Second and this tended to work on older drives and I have not tried it in a
few years but put your drive in a static bag in the freezer over night and
remove it install it and try to boot. I heard this from a tech several
years ago when drives were under a gig in size. I tried it a few times and
it did work once. I am not sure if it was the freezing or just dumb luck
but the drive worked long enough to get the files I needed.

Lastly see if Western will replace just the logic board, in rare
circumstances they go bad.

Otherwise pay the grand and consider this your hard lesson on backing up.
Extra hard drives are cheap and CD's or DVD's even cheaper.

Greg
"Digital Paul" wrote in message
...
My 2-month old Western Digital WD2500 Serial ATA
hard drive stopped working and I lost all my digital family
pictures (from the last seven years).

WD people will replace the HD under warranty, but only if I don't
open it or if I choose one of their service partners
for a data recovery service. I just found but they charge
no less than $1000 just to recover the 30 gig folder where my
pictures were stored, so it is a no win situation for me.

I'm running Windows XP Professional in a Pentium-4 PC, and
the damaged driver was working as a NTFS file system "slave".

Last Saturday I was adding some more pictures to it, and
suddenly without making any noise nor previous problem
at all, the driver froze and stopped working. After several attempts
restarting windows, trying different computers, etc. Windows "saw"
the driver for one last time. I saw my precious pictures folder there,
but I couldn't retrieve a single file, as after a couple of
minutes the driver stopped working for good.
All attempts that followed were not successful.

My dilemma is that if I open the drive with the hope that
I can free the disk to make it rotate once again just to retrieve
the picture folder, then Western Digital will void
the warranty. This won't matter if I succeed
recovering my pictures, but if not?

My questions a

Do I have a chance to make the drive spin, at least
for a while if I remove the cover?

Does anyone know if there is a less expensive service
to retrieve my data, even if doing so I loose the
WD warranty?

I have found some software designed to retrieve lost data
from damaged drives, like HDD Regenerator, but I can't
try anything because my PC does not even boot when the drive
is connected.

I'll appreciate any help regarding this matter.

Thanks in advance.
Paul




  #10  
Old October 26th 04, 12:51 AM
Ken Weitzel
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default



Digital Paul wrote:
My 2-month old Western Digital WD2500 Serial ATA
hard drive stopped working and I lost all my digital family
pictures (from the last seven years).

WD people will replace the HD under warranty, but only if I don’t
open it or if I choose one of their service partners
for a data recovery service. I just found but they charge
no less than $1000 just to recover the 30 gig folder where my
pictures were stored, so it is a no win situation for me.

I’m running Windows XP Professional in a Pentium-4 PC, and
the damaged driver was working as a NTFS file system “slave”.

Last Saturday I was adding some more pictures to it, and
suddenly without making any noise nor previous problem
at all, the driver froze and stopped working. After several attempts
restarting windows, trying different computers, etc. Windows “saw”
the driver for one last time. I saw my precious pictures folder there,
but I couldn’t retrieve a single file, as after a couple of
minutes the driver stopped working for good.
All attempts that followed were not successful.

My dilemma is that if I open the drive with the hope that
I can free the disk to make it rotate once again just to retrieve
the picture folder, then Western Digital will void
the warranty. This won’t matter if I succeed
recovering my pictures, but if not?

My questions a

Do I have a chance to make the drive spin, at least
for a while if I remove the cover?

Does anyone know if there is a less expensive service
to retrieve my data, even if doing so I loose the
WD warranty?

I have found some software designed to retrieve lost data
from damaged drives, like HDD Regenerator, but I can’t
try anything because my PC does not even boot when the drive
is connected.

I’ll appreciate any help regarding this matter.

Thanks in advance.
Paul


Hi Paul...

You have my deepest regrets; I can' imagine how that
must feel.

Couple of thoughts if I may?

It takes far more energy to start a motor than to
keep it running... how about (with power off, of
course) disconnect anything else in your machine
like floppy drive, cd drive(s) other hard drives,
card reader etc and then see if it will power up and
boot? Even if just long enough to get your data
off would be wonderful.

And another... how about seeing if you can't get ahold
of another identical drive; then swap the printed
circuit of the new one with your old one. This worked
for me waaaay back in the mfm days once.

As for running it with the cover removed, I
respectfully suggest that even if you did manage
to start it you'd only have a few seconds. One
speck of airborne dust is going to look like a
mountain coming at 7200 rpm to the head.

Take care, and good luck.

Ken


 




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