HDD function - How to copy.

[Saimon]

I've seen from time to time HD's that are easly seen by MHDD since it reads from the drives interface instead of the BIOS and then the same drives are unreadable by Windows OS's. I"ve used HDDRawCopy1.01Portable.exe to make a duplicate of a normally functioning drive [ a drive seen by the OS], but then we come to the drives that are only seen by at tool such as MHDD - now I come to the point.

How could I copy a drive that is seen by MHDD, but not a OS.
If this can'be be done is there another told that works in a simular fashion.
The bottem line is that the drive can only be seen at the access level that MHDD is using.

- Thoughts and sugestions are welcome.

[Vulcan]

@Saimon:

IMHO the answer can vary, depending on exactly why Windows is unable to read the drive. However a good starting point for copying some drives with that behaviour, especially if you can gain the skill & experience to use it efficiently (it is not a "one click solution"), is to use ddrescue under Linux/Unix.

Some DR companies have specialised cloning equipment, which can clone drives that ddrescue (or other software-only cloning) is unable to. That is one of the services that you pay for

Edited to add: As always, the usual warnings about DIY recovery apply - the more you use a faulty drive, the greater the chances that you will turn a recoverable situation, into an unrecoverable (or much more expensive recoverable) situation.

[mr_spokk]

Hi,
You can use any imaging tool, like Media Tools and similar.
And why it can be seen, can be different things
Saimon says...

Regards/ Bosse

[Saimon]

Yes, I am aware of these things - however if MHDD can see the drive does it allow a copy function.

Thanks for the respones !

[Vulcan]

Yes, I am aware of these things

Oh! You didn't say that, and you were asking for info about a similar "told" (I assumed you meant "tool") as MHDD. So I wasted my time (same as mr_spokk) telling you something that you now tell us you already knew, but hadn't mentioned.

if MHDD can see the drive does it allow a copy function.

Yes, but not typically useful for cloning failing drives, as MHDD was not designed for that - see its TOF and ATOF commands, but note the lack of control over retries & error recovery etc., which are often needed for successful cloning. The usefulness of MHDD depends on exactly what you mean by a "copy function", as well as the exact problem(s) with your disk.

[mr_spokk]

You should use a non Os depended SW such as Media Tools, Acronis , it runs from floppy or cd and can therefore copy without the Os looking into the indexation i.e.

Bosse

[Saimon]

Thanks guys