Recovering Data from Partitions - Need Help

[zakiel29]

Hi, first post here. Reason: Found this forum by accident while was looking for some help about my problem.

First of all, sorry about my english, I hope you can understand my problem and give me a solution. Im a newb...so be patient . This will be a long post, but i think its necesary to explain my problem (for me that im not a pro)

HDDs:
(yeah, spanish , sorry about it )


HDD 0) Samsung 80GB (IDE)
- Partition C:\ (20GB) - WinXP on it
- Partition D:\ (60GB) - SoftW

HDD 1) Western Digital 160GB (SATA)<-- This is having problems
- Partition E:\ (80GB) - Data1 | (Now I see that these "two", are not showing
- Partition F:\ (80GB) - Data2 | as NTFS. Cant remember if they ever did)
*Note: My motherboard is old (4 years), and only support IDE drives. I connected this SATA drive to the mother, through a SATA to IDE converter (i know it's not the best option, but i could not get an IDE drive). Question: Could be this the problem?

The Problem:
Day ago WinXP show me a msg saying that one of my folders (in E:\) was having some errors and that I have to run CHKDSK to fix it. Restarted the PC, CHKDSK autorun, but after that, the subfolders in it, disapeared. Rebooted and CHKDSK again, and the folder itself disapeared. After a few Reboots and CHKDSKs, i could not access the E:\ unit anymore. It was there, in "My PC", but when I Double clicked it, it gave me a msg that the HDD structure was damaged or cannot be read.
I checked F:\, and it was there, with all the folders, but when i clicked on a .jpg img (for example), i could not see it, or it showed like this:
.
Tryed with .PSD files (Photoshop), and it had a mess with the layers, or just another error msg.

Well, reboot after reboot (CHKDSK afert CHKDSK), I couldn't access the F:\ unit anymore, giving me the same msg as the E:\ unit.

Well, closing this...
I tryed lot of softw trying to recover my files. Some folders and subfolders are "intact", but others just get a random name as "DIR01", "DIR02" and so on.


The files recovered, are corrupted. For example, a .JPG file still shows like the example above or just not show, with an error msg. The same with all my files. The same result I get with the different soft i tryed.

The question is:
What is the problem? The HDD is damaged, so the recovery fails? Or there is another problem that im missing? and...My data can be recovered? (Im getting tired, and sometimes I just want to format both partitions )

If anyone can answer me, I can go and see a "pro", as you say, but here, in my city, there are no real "pros"; more like "scammers" (its the true). But if I know what is the problem and a possible solution, at least I can go and talk with the guy with the necesary knowledge. And of course, if you give me a solution that i can do by myself, would be better (no one knows more than me which data is important and which not).

Dunno if im missing something...and sorry about this long post.

Thanks in advance.-

[beto]

Hello i was reading u post, its like a File System Problem, but if u tried to get data with comercial software then need an DR company, wich should be check all Sytem Structure, Partition Table, Volume Boot Sector, MFT from NTFS, check the most important records, to know if its linking to cluster of user data, some times we had check when the HDD has some bad sectors, the HDD cannot access and some times hangs, and Chkdsk, Scandisk, trieed to repair that, causing more damaged to the File System

Best Regards

Alberto

[zakiel29]

Hello i was reading u post, its like a File System Problem, but if u tried to get data with comercial software then need an DR company, wich should be check all Sytem Structure, Partition Table, Volume Boot Sector, MFT from NTFS, check the most important records, to know if its linking to cluster of user data, some times we had check when the HDD has some bad sectors, the HDD cannot access and some times hangs, and Chkdsk, Scandisk, trieed to repair that, causing more damaged to the File System

Best Regards

Alberto

Thanks for the reply Alberto (I know you speak spanish like me ). So you are telling me that is a Logical problem, not Physical. I was thinking that, because the HDD does not make any noise (like a damaged disk), and was working fine until the night before I got the problem. So bad that here there are no real DR companies to go, just technicians, that maybe 1 in 10 will know how to recover my data. Im a graphic designer, and the data I've lost it's like my life...

If someone can suggest me a real good comercial soft to try, maybe I can buy it, or try it...dunno. A soft that really works...

Thanks again =)

PS: I know you guys, suggest going with a "Pro" to do the job. Im agree with that, because i never did this. I fixed lot of things in my PC (easy things), and this is out of my knowledge...But, as I said, no DR companies to go, no real "Pros"... Im feeling that im going to lose all my data...

[mr_spokk]

Hi, you have not specified witch recovery software you have tryed.
Get Data Back is one program you could try.

Regards/ Bosse

[craig6928]

remember using some data recovery software
will write over or try and fix the files.

so your have to be careful

dont use CHKDSK as this can destroy your files
as the programs knows there a error so it will write to fix it

[dick]

Hola!

Sorry to say it but you are already making things difficult for any recovery.

I would suggest you make an image of the faulty partition if you are going to continue any further. Then carry out your work on the image..

As the filing system is now damaged you might have to go through every folder and open every file to see if its one you need to keep. A raw recovery might help you get back the required missing files but of course file names will be lost.

[shahij]

Your first mistake is already happened as you ran CHKDSK. you made more difficult the job, might missing few files.

First Step: You must image your Source HDD To new one.
Second Step: try to use GDB.

Dont try to do any job into the source hd anymore... otherwise u r likely messing it up more.

[zakiel29]

Hi all...thx for all the replies. Sorry about these days that passed, and never show again (most of you maybe think that "this is just another noob guy who came screamin for a magic solution, and now is gone )...

The fact is, that after my last post, i tryed GetDataBack (dunno about giving the name, in some forums is not allowed). Well, now i read the other replies, maybe I messed it up more...

Ran GDB (took almost 15 hours)...and well, after the tree recovery, i surfed the folders and copied some random image files, to my 80GB disk. The result is the same...the image files, like .jpg shows corrupted (like the example i show). But the same image shows corrupted once, then shows well, and then it not shows. Pretty weird for me that i dont understand much of this. And there are lot of things that i dont understand of GDB due the lack of knowledge, things that Pros may use to do a "real" recovery.

Anyways, too late, i didnt do an image of my disk...and CHKDSK tryes to run and "fix" everytime WinXP starts, even if i disable the HDD from the BIOS setup.

I read somewhere, that compressed files are almost imposible to recover. Dunno this is true. As far as i know, .jpg files,.mp3, etc. are compressed files, and i guess .psd files too. So, if this is true, 98% of my data is lost.

Now im ready to copy from my 160GB HDD the "recovered" data, to my 80GB HDD, 15GB per copy (its the free space I have in my 60GB partition), and then copy the data to DVDs. After that, i will format the entire 160GB HDD, and see what happens.

Thanks for all guys, and hope my problem could help anybody (any noob like me) who is suffering the same lost .

Learned a lot Great forum, great people...thanks very much!

[zakiel29]

Tryed to edit my last reply, but doesnt allow me. These are pics during the "recovery" proccess. Maybe you can see things that probably im missing...




(at this point, dunno which one to pick. I choose the green one, but in the yellow ones, there are
folders that doesnt show in the green ones...dunno nothing...)



(Info that i dont get...but i know it is pretty useful for anyone with the proper knowledge)

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j212/ ... /shot7.jpg
(Result of one file system)

[dick]

When testing the image files you have to take into account several things.....some of the image files recovered are thumbnails or temp files and not the original. In your first post the example file is very small so unlikely to be an original. Use filter options to isolate the jpeg files, or any others, by size and date and see what you get.
Good luck!

[shahij]

offcourse 100% data recoverable if partition table corrupted.
Just keep concentrate to the definition of data recovery written myself:

Which Datas are Existed into the Digital Storage Media But Invisible & Inaccessible to the users, to make those datas visible & accessible to the users is called DATA RECOVERY.

you need a real pro to exactly see ur hd sectors. u made ur hd data recovery possibility more complex.

already u stated in ur area real pro not available, try to submit the hd to ur nearest state/country to recover ur data (if possible, as u already made the job more complex).

[wiseleo]

I read somewhere, that compressed files are almost imposible to recover. Dunno this is true. As far as i know, .jpg files,.mp3, etc. are compressed files, and i guess .psd files too. So, if this is true, 98% of my data is lost.

Now im ready to copy from my 160GB HDD the "recovered" data, to my 80GB HDD, 15GB per copy (its the free space I have in my 60GB partition), and then copy the data to DVDs. After that, i will format the entire 160GB HDD, and see what happens.

Thanks for all guys, and hope my problem could help anybody (any noob like me) who is suffering the same lost .

Learned a lot Great forum, great people...thanks very much!

OK, stop.

If your drive is still spinning, stop using it in Windows. You must go and purchase a large capacity drive. I suggest at least 320GB, and probably 500GB. Split it into a couple of partitions (200GB/300GB). You must make a disk image of your existing drive. No exceptions.

Something is going bad, which is probably your IDE/SATA adapter, and every time you attempt a recovery using your methods, you are simply making things worse. That means that you are really making sure that your data will not be recoverable by one of us. Stop trying to save a few dollars or whatever is your currency, and follow my advice.

Please understand that a data recovery professional will charge you a lot more than just the cost of the drive. You must get a new drive with sufficient capacity. Do not attempt your 15GB at a time method. You are contributing to data corruption and only losing more data.

What you read about compressed files is false.

Here is what you really need to do.

1. Acquire a disk image of your disk on another system or at least on a proper SATA or USB controller.
2. Run GetDataBack (if that's your choice) on the image. I use @ctive Undelete with good results.
3. If the resulting recovered files are corrupt, run photo_rec.exe on that image.

The tool that can do both for you is called Testdisk. http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk

It is free, and it is superb at automated recovery of corrupt JPEGs. The program photo_rec is no longer named correctly - it's basically an automated data carver that can run on a disk image without a working file system and reconstruct corrupt data.

Runtime also has a tool called DriveimageXML that is free that can take disk images.

Do NOT allow CHKDSK to run. Do NOT run defrag.

By the way, I am thinking it's your controller and not your disk that is at fault. You need to plug in this disk to an alternate SATA host. I had these exact symptoms with a SCSI disk a couple of months ago.

Based on this assumption, you should at least try to acquire a PCI SATA controller. A workable alternate solution is to put the disk inside an external USB enclosure.

These are the steps I would be taking with your drive and you'd be at probably about $500 in billing from my lab by now, so that's what this post is worth to you.

Let us know when you are ready to proceed using the correct methods.