Hi guys,

I really have an issue here. Did search the net on how to recover my data from a damaged/corrupt (don't know if is either) HP dv8 laptop 2.5" 500 GB Hitachi HDD but no luck...
I do have to tell that I managed to save some data out of it and took ages till finally recovered my photos and couple of short-medium (from 50 MB to 700 MB) videos.
Main problem is that I wanted also to recover my very last long video file which had about 2.3 GB. Can't remember how I've done it and what software I did use. Sorry...
I do know that at one point the software stops telling me the file is too big and couldn't be recovered. Most of these files were .MOV stored on my HDD from my Iphone.
Two days ago I found this HDD in one of my office-desk draws and decided to repair it somehow...
My laptop has two brackets so that I can use 2xHDD's. Momentarily, I'm using only one having two partitons running Windows 8.1 pro.
Firstly, I would like to recover that long video file and, secondly, to try to repair the bad sectors or whatever is on this damaged/corrupt HDD. My questions are:

1. Do you think is better to hook the damaged HDD on the other bracket and checking it this way with a software that you recommend?
2. Is there any software to do a full diagnostic report first and see what has to be done afterwards?
3. Is the command promt based software better than a designed one?
4. Where do I start first???

Just to mention that the HDD doesn't make any sound when I'm shaking it, just a very slightly noise which could be from the slider head...
Thanks for listening and hope I'll get a positive answer soon.

Cheers!

David

G'day Dave,
1. DONT SHAKE YOUR DRIVE!

many drives will make a noise when shaken even when nothing is wrong. This is not a test to do.

Put the drive into the second slot and use GetDataBack to recover.

You could take an image of the drive and work on the image as well.

I would get my data off the drive and forget about fixing sectors or such. Its been sitting around, and shaken, and that's after it has already had an issue. I wouldn't ever trust it with anything again There isn't any software to check out the drive and tell you what to do regarding recovery.

G'day mate,

And thanks for your quick reply. Didn't shake it a lot though But, seriously, I'm afraid even to connect it in the second bracket of my laptop. Which version of "GetDataBack" should I use? FAT or NTFS? I don't think is a free version though... I was thinking to change the operation system from Windows 8.1 to XP pro or Home. Do you think it would be helpful? It won't matter to change it cause I need to find the right answers. Found an article here: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2421302,00.asp

Cloning or image is the question because I don't want to 'stress' the hard drive too much. Sorry to bother much but I'm a novice now in all this and just want to do it right. If you could explain me step by step how to do it, would be appreciated. Promise, I'll buy you a native VB beer, mate! Have a lovely day! Cheers...