Recovering data from a hard drive

[gacpac]

Hi,

i wanted to know what can be another choice for recovering data when a imaging process it's taking very longer to complete.

[lcoughey]

I don't think your question could be more vague.

1. What is the drive you are trying to recover from?
2. What was the problem with the drive when it arrived?
3. What did you do to work around those issues?
4. What data recovery resources do you have available to work with?
5. Is this your drive or a client's?
6. How valuable is the data on the drive?
7. Have you considered getting it assessed by a professional lab before any further damage is caused by your efforts?

[Dmitri]

what can be another choice for recovering data when a imaging process it's taking very longer to complete

I'd personally choose a cigar.
And maybe a glass of Scotch.

[gacpac]

what can be another choice for recovering data when a imaging process it's taking very longer to complete

I'd personally choose a cigar.
And maybe a glass of Scotch.

loool hahahaha


Well, it's a simple question actually because i've used software like r-studio and stuff. I like the Data recovery stuff and i have a friend that use DataCompass from Salvation Data, and i was wondering that when a hard drive has a further damage and you cannot use r-studio, you go to another expensive tools and the most of the time when recovering directly from a disk fails you start an image process. But what if you start an image process and takes like a month to succesfully finish?

i was doing some research that i don't understand to much like modifying micro-jogs can help or something.

[HaQue]

If you tell us the exact problem with the specific drive, then we can tell you the best way to image.

otherwise your question is like asking a doctor what the best way to get over an ilness could be, as you have used some health stuff and also a friend that took a pill and you don't know much about paracetamol or stuff like that...

[gacpac]

Well,

The drive exactly is a Toshiba 640GB that can be detected but it freezes and i get read errors. If i do recovery direct from drive i can recover some files but i don't want to damage the drive further. That's using a data compass. So imaging the partition takes more than usual because of the freezing of the drive. Best method so far i've tried was using ShadowDisk and recovering the most important files at least. And for the other files i wanna do another more secure process for the drive.

So my question again is

What happen if imaging the drive fails or is taking longer time than usual because of the drive. Will you wait about a month for the image to finish or you will try another thing?

[HaQue]

Thanks for clarifying, I hope you can see that even though you know your question, and it is fairly generic, meaning you want to know what generally someone would do: persevere or do something else. We dont know the context.

whats wrong with the drive? has it been diagnosed? It may be easier / quicker to fix the issue.

BTW what other tools do you have at your disposal? I cant comment on best way to image or recover files themselves.

[gacpac]

Thanks for clarifying, I hope you can see that even though you know your question, and it is fairly generic, meaning you want to know what generally someone would do: persevere or do something else. We dont know the context.

whats wrong with the drive? has it been diagnosed? It may be easier / quicker to fix the issue.

BTW what other tools do you have at your disposal? I cant comment on best way to image or recover files themselves.

Well,

I have a data compass and some HD Doctor stuff.

This drive have a changed head stack assembly "apparently" and well basically i can acces to the data and recover but the drive it's failing on some files and it's making some click noises when it fails.

As i know imaging the drive it's the best way but it's taking a lot really a lot time and i can recover with shadow disk and i don't wanna damage the drive.

[gacpac]

Hi, i got my problem solved in a way.

Tried with r-studio, open drive files. It taked about 5 hours to open i could access and the files that cannot be copied. I exported to a txt and let the owner of the drive choose.

This can be a tricky solution but still i want to know what to do because i know there is a way. As i can see the hard drive has a media damage because i got like 55gb of a total of 70gb :S

[lcoughey]

Will your client be happy with a sloppy recovery with a bunch of corrupt files or should you consider outsourcing the project to a lab who has professional recovery tools and resources to do a better job? I am currently working on a drive that has been mirroring since December and have finally broken the 30% mark (based on the number of sectors read, not the position in the drive).

[gacpac]

Will your client be happy with a sloppy recovery with a bunch of corrupt files or should you consider outsourcing the project to a lab who has professional recovery tools and resources to do a better job? I am currently working on a drive that has been mirroring since December and have finally broken the 30% mark (based on the number of sectors read, not the position in the drive).

Well that's always the question that i do to the people. It's their choice.

And btw. you're telling that you have a drive imaging since december. Do you think that is cost effective? There's no other thing to do because of the time you are spending and stuff?

[lcoughey]

And btw. you're telling that you have a drive imaging since december. Do you think that is cost effective? There's no other thing to do because of the time you are spending and stuff?

Some projects are really tough. If it was the only project we were working on, we'd be in trouble. But, I'm not going to call it unrecoverable just because it will take time to do it right.

[gacpac]

Wow that's pretty awesome. But i still have that question because on some hard drives sometimes you're trying to recover and the drive simply don't recover the exactly file you want. I know there can be some tricks for thoses cases.

[HaQue]

Wow that's pretty awesome. But i still have that question because on some hard drives sometimes you're trying to recover and the drive simply don't recover the exactly file you want. I know there can be some tricks for thoses cases.

I think the "Trick" is to have the right tools, and experience. It sounds like a shitty answer, but it is probably the most truthful you will see.

[lcoughey]

Wow that's pretty awesome. But i still have that question because on some hard drives sometimes you're trying to recover and the drive simply don't recover the exactly file you want. I know there can be some tricks for thoses cases.

I think the "Trick" is to have the right tools, and experience. It sounds like a shitty answer, but it is probably the most truthful you will see.

Yes, tools and experience go a long ways in data recovery.

[digitalferret]

But what if you start an image process and takes like a month to succesfully finish?

One reason companies are moving / have moved to systems that image by files rather than entire disks.

First ascertain what files the client *needs* recovering.
This can be vastly different to what a client *would like to get back*
(For some DR co's simply saying "oh, My Documents please" will not do).
Recover the file table (if possible) first and foremost.
Your file selection then targets the sectors containing these and ignores ones that don't
This has the added advantages that you neither waste time nor risk further damage by imaging areas with no useful data.
You can also identify if the files you request span bad areas and are therefore prone to be corrupt even tho you may have what looks like a complete file.

AIUI some hardware utilises a single sweep, even for fragmented files rather than thrashing the disk to and fro picking fragments up one piece at a time.

Depending upon file size and quantity, this can reduce the time taken for a successful recovery from weeks or months to just a few hours. For time critical data that is the difference between collecting money and not.

K

[gacpac]

Wow I never heard something like that. I most thing i've ever tried it's imaging an allocated space of a drive