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 Post subject: In need of guidance with possibly bad HDD?
PostPosted: February 19th, 2019, 16:31 
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Joined: February 19th, 2019, 14:30
Posts: 9
Location: United States
I've been having problems with my laptop. For months its been having issues with "programs not responding". I didnt think much of it. Its an older laptop so I figured its just slow. BTW, the laptop is Compaq Presario CQ62, running Win 7. About a week or two ago it got noticebly worse. Programs not responding and also noticed that when I clicked start menu and clicked accesories, the folder wouldnt expand, just show the magnifying glass searching. I knew it was time to be concerned. So I started to transfer some files to an external hdd, the transfer speed showed incredibly slow, like 22 hrs for 10-20 gbs of files. So I stopped the transfer, and decided to not use the laptop until i knew what was going on. After looking up some info on what the problem could be it seemed that a failing HDD was most likely. I need help determining my next course of action. If the HDD is failing, I dont think its too bad off yet. I dont hear any audible clicks or other sounds from it. It still boots up fine.

I did notice awhile back that my date/time had reset mysteriously a cpl times. A lil research pointed me to the cmos battery. But ive read that shouldnt affect hardware. Anyways a cpl days ago i opened the laptop up to look inside, the inside was quite dirty in some areas, so maybe dust got in the hdd. Also the cmos battery looked corroded. I replaced the cmos battery. Maybe none of this matters, thought id mention it just in case.

Whats the best way to go about getting my files off the hdd?

HDD Info.
Seagate Model: ST9500325AS


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 Post subject: Re: In need of guidance with possibly bad HDD?
PostPosted: February 19th, 2019, 18:29 
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Joined: February 19th, 2019, 14:30
Posts: 9
Location: United States
Thanks for your reply Spildit. I dont have have a desktop. Using the same laptop the HDD is from. I removed the HDD a few days ago, i'm currently using puppy linux off a usb as a temporary situation. I'll try to run that test on the HDD soon and post back. Thx again.


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 Post subject: Re: In need of guidance with possibly bad HDD?
PostPosted: February 20th, 2019, 16:31 
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Joined: February 19th, 2019, 14:30
Posts: 9
Location: United States
I just installed the HDD back into the laptop. I turned computer on and windows starting booting from HDD, before i was able to boot the linux usb. It started running CHKDSK automatically. It appeared to have corrected some indexing errors. I took some screenshots of the chkdsk process ill try post soon. After CHKDSK ending, it booted into linux though. Those programs you recommended seem to be for windows. I'm going to look for similar programs for linux to check smart info.

I only have an external hdd enclosre to connect an internal hdd via usb.
This exact one..

https://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-3-0-SATA-2 ... 2749.l2649

I just got it a few weeks ago. Its cheap and I dont trust it. I believe its causing drives to connect and disconnect. Probably gonna return it.


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 Post subject: Re: In need of guidance with possibly bad HDD?
PostPosted: February 20th, 2019, 16:40 
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Joined: February 19th, 2019, 14:30
Posts: 9
Location: United States
Dont know if this says much..


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 Post subject: Re: In need of guidance with possibly bad HDD?
PostPosted: February 20th, 2019, 16:48 
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Joined: February 19th, 2019, 14:30
Posts: 9
Location: United States
I put the HDD back inside my laptop. Turned on the computer and windows started booting HDD before I could boot the linux usb. Windows automatically started chkdsk. It seemed to have corrected some indexing errors. I posted some pics i took of the process. After it was done it automatically booted into linux though.

those programs you recommended are for windows. so im going to look for some linux alternatives i can use from the usb to check smart info.

I dont have a reliable way to attach the HDD externally. I have a ext hdd enclosure that i got cheap off ebay a few weeks ago. I dont trust it though. it seems to have a disconnect/reconnect issue. Probably going to return it.


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 Post subject: Re: In need of guidance with possibly bad HDD?
PostPosted: February 20th, 2019, 19:30 
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Joined: February 19th, 2019, 14:30
Posts: 9
Location: United States
My other reply i posted with the pics must not have posted. I didnt run chkdsk intentionally. I put the hdd back in laptop, i intended to run linux. But windows booted hdd before i could and automatically did chkdsk. After chkdsk finished, the computer booted up linux. I checked and my files still there.

What is a linux program i can use to run those tests. Those programs you recommended are for windows.


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 Post subject: Re: In need of guidance with possibly bad HDD?
PostPosted: February 20th, 2019, 21:11 
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Joined: February 19th, 2019, 14:30
Posts: 9
Location: United States
Okay so i used Gnome Disks to check smart info. Posting the pics of results. Most of it shows OK. I tried to do the short self test and it apparently failed to do that.


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 Post subject: Re: In need of guidance with possibly bad HDD?
PostPosted: February 21st, 2019, 18:33 
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Joined: February 19th, 2019, 14:30
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Location: United States
Can anybody help sort through this?


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 Post subject: Re: In need of guidance with possibly bad HDD?
PostPosted: February 22nd, 2019, 19:52 
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Joined: February 19th, 2019, 14:30
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Location: United States
Whats some good options to backup my files? Trying to copy the files directly from the HDD doesnt work, the transfer just stalls. So is cloning the drive the way to go? Does cloning require the same size of drive? The bad drive is 500 gb. I only have a 320gb drive to backup to? Is there a way to only backup the files/folders I want?


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 Post subject: Re: In need of guidance with possibly bad HDD?
PostPosted: March 4th, 2019, 21:49 
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Joined: November 22nd, 2017, 21:47
Posts: 309
Location: France
Quote:
Whats some good options to backup my files? Trying to copy the files directly from the HDD doesnt work, the transfer just stalls. So is cloning the drive the way to go?

The most recommended tools for that are ddrescue and HDDSuperClone. Both are on the HDDLiveCD, a custom-made Lubuntu distribution proposed by the author of HDDSuperClone :
http://www.sdcomputingservice.com/hddlivecd
He's a member here under the nickname “maximus”, and may provide some guidance if he happens to see this thread, or if you summon him with a whispered prayer...
As has been said above, there's a risk involved, attempting a recovery by yourself could result in further damaging the drive and reducing the chances of successful recovery if you end up bringing it to a professional lab after all, but if you're lucky and careful you could recover upward of 95% with this method.

Quote:
Does cloning require the same size of drive? The bad drive is 500 gb. I only have a 320gb drive to backup to?

Depends if it's almost full or has a lot of free space. With ddrescue, you can create an image file (instead of a direct clone) in “sparse” mode, which will save a lot of space as it only allocates non-empty sectors, so if there are only 200GB worth of files on the drive, the image will appear as 500GB but its actual allocated size will be 200GB, in this case the 320GB drive may suffice (although a 500GB drive is quite cheap nowadays... even if money is an issue you could find a used one for ~$20 – be sure to ask a SMART report before buying). HDDSuperClone probably has a similar option.

Quote:
Is there a way to only backup the files/folders I want?

Almost impossible with free tools. Some programming wizards may be able to design clever scripts, and I used myself a dirty method once to do this for just a few files, but if all this is new to you, you'll be lucky if you manage to get it done with the basic method.
There's a tool – also designed by “maximus” from what I understood – called ddru_ntfsbitmap, contained in a package called ddr_utilities, which, in combination with ddrescue, allows to :
– extract the MFT first (very important system file which contains all the metadata from files / folders : names, timestamps, allocated sectors...)
– extract the allocated sectors only, based on the Bitmap (another system file which indicates which sectors are in use or not).
The first feature is always useful (if a chunk of the MFT is located at the very end of the drive, and the drive fails completely before reaching that area, a major amount of recovered data is likely to be undecipherable, especially if there's a high degree of fragmentation). The second feature helps in reducing the size of the image, as well as avoiding to stress the drive to extract deleted files. The operation is very quick.


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