So I got this forum off of the videos that Scott Moulton made on YouTube, and I'm hoping for a little advice regarding trying to get some data back from a failing hard drive.

All ("you should have backed up") comments aside, the drive is not mine, it's for a friend that neglected to create a backup before it died.

Manufacturer: Western Digital
Model: WD1500AHFD-00RAR05
Size: 150GB

Upon boot, the computer sees the drive, and left alone, actually starts to boot windows (loads files in safe mode, etc..), so I know that parts of the drive are accessible, but fails at a point because of a read error.

A local computer repair company that I contract for uses Media Tools Pro for data recovery on some failing drives, which I tried on this particular drive. Media Tools will boot, sees both drives, and I can start a copy from the failing drive to a new WD5000AKS 500GB. It will start copying until about the 12th cylinder, then start getting read errors, and start taking forever, even, with read-retries set to 0. Following Scott's videos, I tried a Reverse-Cycle Clone, but that won't even start. Media Tools will prompt with a "Write Error" immediately upon starting the Reverse-Cycle Clone.

I would like to, if possible, start a Reverse-Cycle Clone, on this drive to try and retain as much data as possible, either through fixing the problem with Media Tools failing right away, or through use of something like ddrescue, before attempting to try and transplant any parts.

I have downloaded mhdd, as well as a linux boot distro including ddrescue, and while I am familiar with computers and software, I'm also smart enough to know not to run a low level tool like ddrescue without knowing exactly what command I'm looking for.

I can provide any information needed for anyone, and would appreciate any and all help in trying to recover as much data from this drive as possible.

Thank you in advance for any help.

ddrescue is pretty simple, the online docs should tell you everything you need to get started

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You don't have to backup all of your files, just the ones you want to keep.

i came here after I read through the documentation because I wasn't sure what specific command line options I'd need.

First would be a way to identify which hard drive is on /dev/hda, and which is on /dev/hdb, since I don't want to overwrite the drive with data with the blank one.

Second, I'd like to make sure of the exact command so I don't screw anything up, from the examples listed on http://www.gnu.org/software/ddrescue/ma ... anual.html, it looks like i want something like



Would I need any other switches when using the command?

Also, through my understanding of ddrescue, this should make an initial pass forward, then pass backwards on all sectors that couldn't be read forward, is that correct?

Thanks!

Sounds like you've got a bad head?

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http://www.datasaversllc.com

I had thought about that, but wanted to try all imaging options before I go about trying to swap the heads on a Western Digital drive. From what I've read and seen, Western Digital drives are a pain to try and replace parts with.

Given that parts of the drive are obviously readable if it tries to boot and actually loads some files, I was looking for imaging help before I go about replacing the hardware.

Media Tools Pro refuses to reverse image, citing a "Write error at xxx" on the first sector it tries to copy, but forward imaging at least proceeds to start to copy sectors, pausing at the bad ones obviously. Since the bad sectors start at around cylinder 12 (out of 18241), I was hoping to start some kind of reverse image, but was unsure of the proper commands to start a ddrescue image (including telling which drive is which).

I had another reply, but it said that it needed to be approved by an administrator, but then my earlier reply was put through without an issue, so i'm going to try this one.

As far as ddrescue goes, I know that it can be pretty powerful, and want to be sure that I choose the right drives as well as the right commands.

Going off of the examples on their site, I believe I need something like this...

My main questions are, how to tell which drive /dev/hda is (same for /dev/hdb, don't want to image in the wrong direction).
This example was given when trying to copy an ext2 partition, but I'm trying to copy an NTFS partition (Windows XP), so would I run the last three lines?

I agree. And where one dies, others soon follow. If professional help is not an option, then I think the cloning from readable heads option is best, but each attempt to read with a potentially defect head will cause more deterioration of the disk. But if data is important, and while disk is still partially accessible, I would consult a professional firm. These disks are not easy, even for professionals.

If this is a case that cannot afford a pro:

If your still using Media tools pro a good way to check heads is to modify to start location of the CHS.

Say your getting stuck on Cyl 12 try starting from 20,50,500 etc forward and check the results. If it is a case of surface damage or bad sectors you'll get away with 99% of the drive. If you see a pattern in the bad sectors (EG every XX Cyl) when it stops/slows you can be sure a head has failed.

Leigh

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DataWreck Data Recovery Services
www.DataWreck.co.uk

Tried changing the starting cylinder to a higher one, and it just gets stuck right from the beginning.

Given that this is looking more and more like a hardware issue, is there a way I can run something like mhdd that would narrow down which hardware exactly needs to be replaced?

... and even if the headstack sends you a text message saying "it's me" what would you do next ?

With appropriate diagnostic tools (no, you can't download it from the net) it is possible to pinpoint exactly what the problem is, OR SAFELY squeeze a bit of life out of that failing head and get data out before the last breath.

All the symptoms seems related to weak head(s) but also other things can be.

But probably this is what you didn't want to hear.

If drive has a failing head, not a totally failed one, it will cost much cheaper to recover data.
If head will fail completely, it will cost you a little fortune.

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www.datarecoveryne.com