Bitlocked drive sector by sector copy is it possible?

[RPT]

Data recovery from Bitlocked Seagate ST9160314AS Momentus 5400.6 160GB, has some bad sectors and unable to boot.
There are bad sectors and drive doesn't feel stable, therefore I'd take a copy of content as first step.

I'm not familiar with bitlocker but is it possible successfully to copy sector by sector a bitlocked drive?
Assumption is, that copy will have enough data to unlock bitlocked content from stable drive.

Is Acronis startup CD bit to bit copy suabale for bitlocked drive?

Later I hope to get a key and to try to suspend or unlock copied image for general data recovery.
Or is it possible to recover data without bitlocker key which may be lost?

[dick]

Is Acronis startup CD bit to bit copy suabale for bitlocked drive?

No! Because there are bad sectors.
Best is to use a hardware imager like DDI or PC3000. If you have to use a software imager Dmde would be my choice.

[RPT]

As far as I remember, Acronis HDD sector copy supported also ignore bad sectors function.
But I'm not sure right now about this.

What concerns Dmde, is there any disk copy limitations in free version?

[digitalferret]

Hi RPT,
to maximise chances of recovery you need to get as much of the image back as possible.

Concur with dick, a hardware solution rather than software or at a push ddrescue.

Altho s/w solutions reckon to be able to bypass bad sectors it can take forever if you have more than a few units of them and if it indeed it passes them at all rather than locking up totally.

DMDE limitations free v paid:
http://dmde.com/editions.html

K

[labtech]

Though it all depends on damage extent...

Seagate ST9160314AS Momentus 5400.6 is a notoriously difficult drive to deal with even with hardware imagers. With software solutions chances are significantly lower.

Plus, I suspect you have not had a chance (nor have the ability due to lack of advanced tools), to actually properly evaluate all current issues with the drive and potentially foresee any occurring during the imaging process. Might want to check its firmware status, SMART, mechanics, etc.

Since it is an encrypted drive, I assume the data must be important, so may want to consider the best chances of recovery using the best tools available.

Best wishes

[lcoughey]

If I didn't have access to DDI or DE and was limited to a software clone, I'd be using ddrescue. But, I wouldn't recommend learning how to use ddrescue on a live case...to much risk of cloning the wrong way and causing a lot more damage.

If you are confident that you can handle the decryption and software recovery of this drive, you might want to approach a data recovery shop in "Faraway" land and offer to pay them to get the cleanest clone possible. This way, they can fully diagnose the drive and use hardware imagers to clone the drive as quickly and safely as possible.

[digitalferret]

not a great fan of +1 and me too posts but:

wouldn't recommend learning how to use ... on a live case

^^ This ^^