HD mounts but is unusable

[BryanX9X]

I have a Seagate ST3750630AS that i am having some issues with.

The drive mounts & is visible at post as well as from within OS.

I can see the main files & folders in the parent directory, but can not access anything in any of the sub-directories.

Anyone have any ideas on what i might be able to do to get the data off of the drive?

[pcimage]

I have a Seagate ST3750630AS that i am having some issues with.

The drive mounts & is visible at post as well as from within OS.

I can see the main files & folders in the parent directory, but can not access anything in any of the sub-directories.

Anyone have any ideas on what i might be able to do to get the data off of the drive?

Sounds like media degradation.

If the data is important then send it to a pro before it gets worse.

But if it's not important and you accept the risks of DIY, then you can try cloning it with a non-windows sector cloner such as Media Tools Pro or dd_rescue. Then run regular software recovery on the clone.

But beware that DIY attempts could make the drive much worse, or even unrecoverable. So don't expect to have a stab at DIY and then have a pro recovery for the same price as you'd get it now!

[BryanX9X]

Sounds like media degradation.

If the data is important then send it to a pro before it gets worse.

But if it's not important and you accept the risks of DIY, then you can try cloning it with a non-windows sector cloner such as Media Tools Pro or dd_rescue. Then run regular software recovery on the clone.

But beware that DIY attempts could make the drive much worse, or even unrecoverable. So don't expect to have a stab at DIY and then have a pro recovery for the same price as you'd get it now!

Of course the data is important. why would i be trying all of this if it was not important? Is the data super important that i would want to pay $2000 to $7000 to have some one else get the data for me? then no it is not THAT important.

I have tried to clone using Acronis, CloneZilla & Ghost, all with no success.

Again more of the same issues, it sees the HD, & i can select it to make the clone, but when it goes to actually copy the data, it gets a read error, or can not access the file.

I'll give those other two a try & see what happens.

I'm thinking that it might just be a problem with the MBR, that maybe some sectors have gone bad corrupting it & that a rebuild of the MBR might set things straight. But i don't know of any software that tests MBRs.

[pcimage]

Sounds like media degradation.

If the data is important then send it to a pro before it gets worse.

But if it's not important and you accept the risks of DIY, then you can try cloning it with a non-windows sector cloner such as Media Tools Pro or dd_rescue. Then run regular software recovery on the clone.

But beware that DIY attempts could make the drive much worse, or even unrecoverable. So don't expect to have a stab at DIY and then have a pro recovery for the same price as you'd get it now!

Of course the data is important. why would i be trying all of this if it was not important? Is the data super important that i would want to pay $2000 to $7000 to have some one else get the data for me? then no it is not THAT important.

I have tried to clone using Acronis, CloneZilla & Ghost, all with no success.

Again more of the same issues, it sees the HD, & i can select it to make the clone, but when it goes to actually copy the data, it gets a read error, or can not access the file.

I'll give those other two a try & see what happens.

I'm thinking that it might just be a problem with the MBR, that maybe some sectors have gone bad corrupting it & that a rebuild of the MBR might set things straight. But i don't know of any software that tests MBRs.

Your attitude stinks.

You have been told what the likely issue is, and been given advice on what to do, with caveats as a matter of course. But of course no thanks, just snide comments.

And where on earth did you pluck those figures ($2000-7000) from? NO WAY should it cost even a fraction of the costs you have stated.

Good luck.

[Vulcan]

@BryanX9X,

You've received lots of good advice so far, even though you don't seem to appreciate it.

Of course the data is important. why would i be trying all of this if it was not important?

Be careful with that attitude. You are new here and you haven't seen the folks who come here begging for help as if the data is vital for them; they get many hours of assistance from members on the basis that this is really worth the effort; and then they say the data wasn't important in the first place! So now I've explained why the question from pcimage is normal and relevant, and your sarcasm isn't appreciated, OK?

Now that we see you've decided to accept the risks of DIY recovery (which can make any future professional recovery more expensive or even, in the worst case, impossible) ...

I have tried to clone using Acronis, CloneZilla & Ghost, all with no success.

That result is completely expected, unfortunately. Notice how pcimage didn't mention any of those utilities. That's because those aren't designed for cloning disks with read errors. If you search the forum for threads discussing cloning, you'll find many previous discussions about cloning utilities, some different ones recommended by various members, and some of the reasons why you might choose one over another.

I'll give those other two a try & see what happens.

Note that MTP is commercial software, and dd_rescue requires some Linux skills. Personally I use GNU ddrescue (unrelated to dd_rescue) again under Linux/Unix. However, as I have explained in the previous threads, these utilities often get better results when used by someone with experience in using them - there are many different options in these programs, and you need to know when to use each one. As a minimum I'll just say that if your chosen cloning utility has a log file option, then enable that feature. And if your chosen cloning utility doesn't have a log file option, then personally I wouldn't use that utility in the first place.

I'm thinking that it might just be a problem with the MBR, that maybe some sectors have gone bad corrupting it & that a rebuild of the MBR might set things straight.

No. Yours is not (only?) an MBR problem.

[Edit: @pcimage - I see my post overlapped with yours, with many of the same points. Thanks for reminding about the unrealistic (guess?) prices being mentioned by the OP - I'd forgotten to mention that point.]

[harddriverecovery]

Your attitude stinks.

Hey! Guy's from New York! Careful what you say about New Yorkers

There are a few local labs in New York you could take your drive to. If you do value your data as much as it sounds like you do, you will need to pay some cash. Fortunately:

And where on earth did you pluck those figures ($2000-7000) from? NO WAY should it cost even a fraction of the costs you have stated.

is also quite true.

[BryanX9X]

Is drive visible at POST with CORRECT SIZE ?

Maybe translation problem. Try MHDD and see if reports the correct capacity.

If drive doesn't report correct capacity most likely it's firmware problem and not heads problem.

I'll give that a try & see what i get & get back to you.

[BryanX9X]

Your attitude stinks.

You have been told what the likely issue is, and been given advice on what to do, with caveats as a matter of course. But of course no thanks, just snide comments.

And where on earth did you pluck those figures ($2000-7000) from? NO WAY should it cost even a fraction of the costs you have stated.

Good luck.

I'm sorry you felt that i had an attitude, or that i was giving you snide remarks.

I do appreciate any & all of the help that i have or will get on here.

But i also think that it is a bit of a silly question to ask if the data is important. To me that would be like bringing your car to a mechanic because it is making a horrible noise & smoke is coming out from under the hood, & the mechanic asks you if you want it fixed. Nope i just brought the car in so that i could show it to you, because i know how much you like this kind of stuff. No offense was meant, & it was not meant as a rude statement. Perhaps a better question for you to have asked would have been something akin to, how much is the data worth to you. At that point you could have then went the route of well if it is worth $2000 then your best bet is to ship it off to a professional, however if it is only worth $100 then you probably won't mind FUBARing the drive when you try the DIY options.

Now as for the prices that i mentioned, they were quotes that i received from 5 of the "top" data recovery specialists, as rated by cnet, & seagate. Now granted those prices are also for their level 2 & level 3 range of damage, & not from their level 1 range.

Their level 1 range was for things of a non "physical" nature, such as firmware problems, partition problems, controller problems & so on.

That being the case. That is why i came here to look for some answers. To see if this would fall under a level 1 case or if this would be something a bit more severe. & if this was something in the level 1 region, would it be worth it to send it out to them or is it a simple problem that i could fix myself. I was really hoping to find out if maybe someone had come across a problem like this in the past, in which they could possibly relate what their issue was & what they did to resolve it.

& again i am sorry if you took offense. None was meant.

[BryanX9X]

@BryanX9X,

You've received lots of good advice so far, even though you don't seem to appreciate it.

I do appreciate it. I'm sorry that i did not express my appreciation, as i do appreciate any & all help/support that i get.

Be careful with that attitude. You are new here and you haven't seen the folks who come here begging for help as if the data is vital for them; they get many hours of assistance from members on the basis that this is really worth the effort; and then they say the data wasn't important in the first place! So now I've explained why the question from pcimage is normal and relevant, and your sarcasm isn't appreciated, OK?

Very valid point, it would suck to devote so much time helping another person just to find out that they didn't care in the first place.

To me it just seemed that the question was rhetorical. Who would even bother with trying to recover the data if the data didn't matter? But i see your point.

That result is completely expected, unfortunately. Notice how pcimage didn't mention any of those utilities. That's because those aren't designed for cloning disks with read errors. If you search the forum for threads discussing cloning, you'll find many previous discussions about cloning utilities, some different ones recommended by various members, and some of the reasons why you might choose one over another.

That is exactly what i was looking for. Information on where to start & where to not waste my time. I only added in those programs in case the info would be helpful in some way. But being told that it was a waste of my time in my case is very helpful. (no sarcasm intended or included)

Note that MTP is commercial software, and dd_rescue requires some Linux skills. Personally I use GNU ddrescue (unrelated to dd_rescue) again under Linux/Unix. However, as I have explained in the previous threads, these utilities often get better results when used by someone with experience in using them - there are many different options in these programs, and you need to know when to use each one. As a minimum I'll just say that if your chosen cloning utility has a log file option, then enable that feature. And if your chosen cloning utility doesn't have a log file option, then personally I wouldn't use that utility in the first place.

Again, good to know. & is there a reason why you prefer GNU ddrescue to dd_rescue?

No. Yours is not (only?) an MBR problem.

[Edit: @pcimage - I see my post overlapped with yours, with many of the same points. Thanks for reminding about the unrealistic (guess?) prices being mentioned by the OP - I'd forgotten to mention that point.]

If not just an MBR problem then what would your best guess also include as possible additional problems? So that i have an idea of where to start looking.

& the price quotes mentioned were explained in another post.

[BryanX9X]

Hey! Guy's from New York! Careful what you say about New Yorkers

There are a few local labs in New York you could take your drive to. If you do value your data as much as it sounds like you do, you will need to pay some cash. Fortunately:

And where on earth did you pluck those figures ($2000-7000) from? NO WAY should it cost even a fraction of the costs you have stated.

is also quite true.

Yes i might be able to find a company that would do the job for a fraction of the cost, but would they be reliable?

& if anyone has suggestions of companies that do it cheaper that they trust, then by all means give me some names.

As i stated i got quotes from the top 5 companies that i could find.

[BryanX9X]

- If you are using the drive on a USB case / adaptor, just connect it to the PC directly using the SATA port, use MHDD and see if the drive is detected with correct size. You can run a "scan" on the surface to see if it reads ok or if it doesn't read anything at all.
If size is incorrect, or if drive doesn't read at all or doesn't read starting on one location, it can be firmware problem. If drive have a huge amount of bad sectors in "patches" with good sectors on the middle, it can be a damaged head.
Replacing heads to extract the data on your drive will be expensive and not a Do it Yourself job. Fixing the firmware whitout causing more damage it's not easy too.
The only thing that you can do is if you only have a few bad sectors when scanning with mhdd, clone the drive to another one using something like porsoft media tools and run a recovery software like r-studio if needed no the clone (if you manage to do a clone).

If you can't read data at all i'm afraid you will have to send the drive to a data recovery lab or bin it.

ThanXX for the very helpful information.

The drive is connected directly to the computer. Using a USB connection would be unreliable & slow at best. I'll see what MHDD turns up.

[mr_spokk]

It could be media degradation as Pcimage pointed, or one or more heads failing.
The best you can do is to try clone it with an non os depended software...like Mediatools or dd_rescue.
If that fails then it's not longer DIY:able, and you need a pro to reach your files.

[BryanX9X]

It could be media degradation as Pcimage pointed, or one or more heads failing.
The best you can do is to try clone it with an non os depended software...like Mediatools or dd_rescue.
If that fails then it's not longer DIY:able, and you need a pro to reach your files.

ThanXX for the info.