I shall try be as most concise as I can.

Hard Disk: Seagate ST3500320AS SATAII ,
4 partition on it
1. XP Sp3 ----30Gb
2. Data -------40Gb
3. extended with 2 logical partition
4. Win7-------45Gb
5. Data ------350Gb

Problem appear during copying files to 4-th partition ....Windows freeze and only thing which I can do is to turn off power. After that no more boot.

Running Test Disk ....following tips/steps from http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Step_By_Step
and have those messages:



When it analyze, TestDisk find partition but with same error for number of heads

Then I go to Geometry and find this:
Cylinders: 1107463
Heads: 14
Sectors: 63
Sector size: 255

I change it to manufacturer numbers:
Cylinders: 60801
Heads: 255
Sectors: 63
Sector size: 255

After "Analyze", TestDisk find all 4 partition, and second is marked as D /deleted/, and I can live with it.
Most concerning for me is partition no 4. /350 Gb/. After continue, and after "P" command I see files and directories on it. So, I decide to write that structure even second partition is marked as deleted.

Reboot ....Windows /from second disk, freshly instaled/ , affter allmost 45 minutes finally boot. Device manager see disk, but no in Disk Manager. After initializing it show me 2 partiton /4 and 5 in "extended enclosure" / as healthy. Unfortunately, no file system so I can`t reach my files.

Back to TestDisk but now with second disk attached. It`s 2 partition on it - 1. Win7 and second 450Gb empty logical NTFS partition - place to save data.

Test disk again find problems with number of cylinder/heads. Geometry again, and find partition but again with warning about numbers of head. Finally I managed to see files on most valuable partition where is about 220Gb data which I need to save.
I chose directory which I need ...press "C" for copy it and then try to select second disk, but can`t ... I try all letters which was given but every time it bring me back to selection.
Then, I try by guessing to chose partition ..it start copying and after 3 hours I`ve message Copy process finished.... Unhook bad drive, boot to Win7 but I can`t find copied files.

Questions:
I have same type of disk in my sons computer and it work without problem. Can I switch PCB and try to save data ?
Is it possible to permanently put numbers for cylinder/heads/sectors/sector-size and what change it back?
How to "tell TestDisk" that I put another HD where I want to copy/save my data and how to select it?
Does anybody have suggestion for other free program to fix this issue?


This series of Seagate HD had problems with firmware few years back, but i have latest firmware on it and don`t have any problems until now.

Hopefully You shall understand what I wrote because English is not my native language

Any Help is most appreciated ...Thank You in advance

There are several risks with your process so far (search the forum for "risks" to read other threads discussing this) and there are further risks attempting further DIY ("do it yourself") recovery yourself, especially if the data is valuable - but based on what you've written, and if you accept that you could lose the data forever, here are some comments:


That behaviour is a typical symptom of a hardware problem (e.g. unreadable sectors or worse). However you decided to ...


... which is primarily a (limited, free) utility for some types of logical (not hardware) problems as explained on the TestDisk website:


Therefore I do not agree with the decision to use TestDisk in your situation. Before you start trying to run TestDisk, cloning the drive (ideally with a non-Windows utility) would be a typical DIY next step for any drive with a (suspected) hardware fault, as explained on the TestDisk website and on many previous threads on this forum. Read those sources of information for discussions of various cloning utilities which you can consider.

FYI, although TestDisk offers an option to clone a drive, do not use that one - for many reasons, it is a poor choice for cloning a drive with any hardware fault.

As always, if your data is valuable and you do not want to take further risks, then use the services of a professional DR company.

Vulcan, Thank You for reply!

Problem is that I live in Bosnia, we do not have any professional DR company here, and I can`t afford it to send HD anywhere else /specially when I read that it can make xxx $ bill/ .
Data for which I am concerned was mostly music and some pictures taken by camera. Music is from my collection of LP`s, collected last 30 years, which I record to my computer. I still, of course , have all of mine LP`s, so ... definitely, this isn`t end of world. But, I never calculated how many hours I spend to do it, only what I know that it is big ...well BIG-BIG number .
Because of that fact, I try ..well, trying to save, at least part of it.

Please, when You catch a time, point me to some software which is suitable to do what You already mention about "cloning the drive (ideally with a non-Windows utility)". Because I do not have access to Apple/MAC computers, I think that only other possibilities is one of Linux distro.

I Hope that was not against the forum rules to give names of programs/aplications!?

Once again, Thank You for reply Vulcan, and give explanation which give more light/knowledge then days spend in reading articles on Internet.

Best regards

sorry to administration for post-after-mine-post


Update!

I bring HD to my friend who use linux. His computer boot well without waiting and it recognize model and size of HD, but can`t see folders/files. I write this update because my friend saw something which is /his words/ "extremely strange"!

1. partition is visible in exact size /30Gb, NTFS, primary - boot/
2. partition is unalocated/unformated /free space 40Gb/ - obviously deleted D: partition
3. and 4. partition is visible in exact size too /45Gb and 350Gb/ << those two was logical drive in extended partition

but, 1. and 3. partition was shown with 14 heads and 4. with 255 heads /number of sectors and sector size was the same 63/512/.
His words again: "...newer heard about this, and I have no clue how this can happened or how this disk work at all ..."

we do not "touch" anything else, just turn it off to not make more damage

You have to clone the disk to another working disk of larger capacity.
Then run recovery tools like R-studio on the clone disk.

Always work with the clone, not the original disk.

As Vulcan suggested, use a non-windows utility ( like GNU ddrescue) to clone the disk.
Connect the drive to a PC (with default settings for Hard disk in BIOS)along with the another empty drive and boot from the cd to run the clone tool.

Take your time to practice with other drives so that you do not make mistakes and overwrite your data.

You will need two working drives of larger capacity, one to clone the original disk and another to copy the data from the clone ,after running recovery tools.

DIY has its risks, so think again before you go ahead.

@sathyan - all agreed

@fantom - Sorry, I don't have time to repeat what I have already written about cloning utilities and the various choices, several times before. There is no one utility which is best for every person, every system, every situation. Your choice depends on many factors, some of which I have described before. If this situation is important for you, you will need to spend time reading previous postings and the recommendations from different members.

Re: "non-Windows" - that does not imply Macs; typical options include Linux/Unix-based utilities and DOS-based utilities.

Re: "obviously deleted D: partition" - no, it is not "obviously deleted". There are insufficient details of exactly what Linux utility provided that result, but unless you did really delete that partition (and forgot to mention that to us), IMHO it is more likely some filesystem metadata could not be read.

Thank You sathyan and Vulcan!

Then I shall try when buy one HD more, probably next month.
In meantime shall try to collect more knowledge reading article written by You Guys.

Thank You for Yours time and willingness to help. Appreciate it a lot.

Best regards
f.

PS.
@Vulcan ...when I said "obviously deleted D: partition" I mean on: /from first post/



presume that it was my mistake and I didn`t need to accept it /D: partition doesn`t have needed files so I accept to TestDisk mark/delete it/, but I do
Is a matter of fact, I will accept to delete all other partition, just to have access on F: one, where was what I looking for.