Hard Drive Recovery. What Should I Do Next?

[BY4FTF7b98JKktZc2z]

Hi. My name is Phil and I'm a newbie, a newbie to the issues of potential data loss. I find that my life has now become unmanageable because of it. In fact, I may be in the middle of a hard drive crisis. I need help.posting.php?mode=post&f=1#

Before describing my issue any further, though, I want to say thanks in advance for any attempt to aid me. Even if no one hear can answer my questions (or honestly provide the answers I'd prefer) I appreciate the knowledgeable people on these forums who are generous enough to at least attempt to help all of us non-experts.posting.php?mode=post&f=1# I also hope I'm asking this question in the right forum. I have searched all around the internet and this site (as well) looking for posts that address this issue. I found several posts here regarding DiskWarrior, but nothing that told me what I need to know. If I missed a thread where my questions were answered, I apologize. Please understand I made a good faith effort to look.posting.php?mode=post&f=1#

Now to my situation: I attempted to back up data from an 1TB Lacie 2big (Raid 0) external hard drive (with the volume name LaCie) to a drive inside my Mac Pro (volume name Mac Pro Video). When I tried to mount LaCie it did not mount or show up in OS X 10.5.8's Disk Utility. So, I booted up Alsoft's DiskWarrior 4.2 from a third hard drive, found the damaged LaCie drive (now called "Untitled"), and told DiskWarrior to rebuild it. I have now received the following result:

DiskWarrior has successfully built a new directory for the disk named "Unknown Disk." The new directory cannot replace the original directory because of a disk malfunction.

A disk malfunction is a failure of or damage to any mechanical component of the disk device or any component connected to it. The malfunction will likely worsen. Therefore, recovering your files from the DiskWarrior Preview as quickly as possible is essential.

It is highly recommended that you backup all of your data from the preview disk.

The replace button was predictably greyed-out. So, I found the preview of the damaged LaCie disk mounted on the desktop and opened it. All the data appeared to be there. I could even use Finder's "Get Info" feature to see the sizes of various files and folders. However, when I tried using Finder to copy files and folders from the preview of LaCie over to the Mac Pro Video drive, I got the following error:

The Finder cannot complete the operation because some data in ".DS_Store" could not be read or written. (Error code -36)

So, I now have the following questions:

1. How do I backup the data from the preview disk (as DiskWarrior directed) if Finder won't let me copy that data to another disk (one that is not running DiskWarrior)? Should I try doing a block-level clone from the preview of LaCie onto an empty external hard drive with something like Carbon Copy Cloner?

2. DiskWarrior said the malfunction will likely worsen and I should recover my files from the preview as quickly as possible. Yet, I'm not sure how to do this. I'm worried that if I don't eject, disconnect, and turn off this damaged disk soon, the damage will worsen. Yet I'm also worried that if I close DiskWarrior, disconnect the damaged drive, and run DiskWarrior on it after learning how to recover the data from the DiskWarrior Preview, I won't even be able to get DiskWarrior to get another preview of the disk. What is the safest thing to do? (Also. I'm not sure I believe DiskWarrior when it says there is physical damage on the drive. I don't hear any strange noises or spinning and I could see all the files in the preview, if not copy them).

3. Does it make a difference that I am not running DiskWarrior from the DiskWarrior DVD (which I have not received in the mail yet)? I am running DW from a separate hard drive than the one I am trying to recover and the one I'm trying to copy to.

It's just my luck (at least I hope it's not bad karma) that this happened right before I was about to backup the data.posting.php?mode=post&f=1# I quickly scoured the DiskWarrior support manual and Alsoft's forums and FAQ pages as well as other web pages and forums, but found nothing that told me what I should do next. I also sent Alsoft an e-mail, but it is the weekend and I have not received a reply from them. I'm especially worried about whether it is safest to eject the drive or to leave it running. Please help ASAP.posting.php?mode=post&f=1#

Thanks again for anything you can do,http://forum.hddguru.com/posting.php?mode=post&f=1#

Phil B

[jono-ats]

Disk Warrior will not work (successfully) on a drive with read or write errors.

[BY4FTF7b98JKktZc2z]

Disk Warrior will not work (successfully) on a drive with read or write errors.

Hey, Jono. Thanks for the info. If that's the case, I'll just exit DiskWarrior, eject the drive, and turn it off. Should I try something like Data Recovery 3 or just save up some money for a professional data recovery service? If I have to do professional data recovery, is it best to do it quickly or can I let the drive sit for a year or so without worrying about it getting damaged further and becoming totally unrecoverable?

Cheers,

Phil

[poehere]

Disk Warrior will not work (successfully) on a drive with read or write errors.

Hey, Jono. Thanks for the info. If that's the case, I'll just exit DiskWarrior, eject the drive, and turn it off. Should I try something like Data Recovery 3 or just save up some money for a professional data recovery service? If I have to do professional data recovery, is it best to do it quickly or can I let the drive sit for a year or so without worrying about it getting damaged further and becoming totally unrecoverable?

Cheers,

Phil

I would first off try to clone this bad drive to a new one and see what your results are on this one. You should do a image or clone of this drive. If you still find bad results and want to see proferssional DR services leaving your drive sit in a safe place in a static bad and keeping it from being dropped or what ever during your time this one is possible. The drive will not change if you keep it safe for how ever long you want to wait to seek professional help.

Cone your drive and see what you can read after it is cloned. This might give you a better idea of how to proceed once the cloning is done. You might even be surprised to have access back to your drive after this one and can take off the data on it by yourself.

[jono-ats]

Poehere offers some excellent advice! I can't improve on it . . .

[BY4FTF7b98JKktZc2z]

Thanks, to Poehere for that great advice and to Jono for your help as well. I'll see if cloning (via Carbon Copy Cloner) can save the data.

Kind Regards,

Phil

[HDD Spaz]

you might be forgetting that cloning the hard drive can cause more serious faults if the sectors are extremely bad or you got a failing head. If the data is important leave it to the experts or invest 3-4K in cloning equipment.