Hi. First off, I'm a n00b, so sorry if this is a repost.
I've been looking around online for the last really long time to try and fix my problem. I even sent it in to a Drive recovery place. They wanted > usd 2000. Needless to say, I don't have that kind of money!!!

Here's the deal. I set a HDD password (ATA). Was gone for 3 weeks, came back and couldn't exactly remember the darn thing. Tried a whole bunch of stuff... nada. So, I called up Dell (maker of the Laptop I'm using) and was online with several people who tried giving me master passwords. I even looked around for the master password generators. (I forgot my original BIOS user pwd as well, one of the password generators cleared that out no problem.) So, ouch. I just ran SeaTools, and it gave me a FAIL code of AE9FF15C. It reported that about 100 or so of the first sectors (or blocks, don't remember off the top of my head) were bad and it couldn't repair them. My guess is that it probably scrambled the pwd in there. I'm really, really hoping to be able to recover the data as I can't afford a professional place. Maybe a couple hundred, but not 2 grand. I've played around in MHDD a bit, but not sure I can get anything to work. I want to try HDD Unlock, but unfortunately, I need a computer with two 2.5" drives on it (tried running it in Linux on a USB stick, but in WINE it just crashes, bummer). Even tried creating a BartPE disc, but since it was on a CD-ROM, when it tried to install a .sys file to the system director, it couldn't because it's a read-only disc.... ugh.

Anyway, I'm really trying to find a way to null out the pwd to see if I can even boot from this thing. I do have a backup from 2 months ago for most of the data, but it's still a real pain in the rear to have to re-install everything on a new drive... and I do lose 2 months of data.
I've looked at all sorts of stuff, probably spent upwards of 10 hours Googling stuff to do. Still coming up with Nix. So if there are any experts here who can help me out, maybe point me in the right direction, I would be extremely grateful.

HDD Specs:
Seagate Momentus 5400.3
F/W 3.CDD
120GB
Rev A00
S/N 5LZ33W3Y
M/N ST91208AS
P/N 9S1133-030

Many Thanks.

That is crazy to ask 2000 dollars to remove your password on this HDD if this is what the real issue is on this one now. I know of some good DR companies around but if you do this one you had better have real proof that this is your computer, your HDD, and you have legal ownership of this one other wise nobody in the world will touch this for you and unlock it. You might want to try Thatdellguy he is out of California, I know there is other in the US but I am so sorry I only know the place of a few. Jono is in Georga, Quassimodo is in Florida. Please anyone some others who might be closer for him to send this to them. You can try the three for starters. But if you do not or can not prove this is your HDD then you are out of luck on this one. Sorry

_________________
Iorana Haraharaini

Math doesn't add up...

@ BlackST
You're telling me. Unless the drive truly is messed up in the system/firmware area... :S

@poehere: Yeah, I'm not sure exactly what they'll want to ask me to prove ownership, but I am the original owner (well, my wife, anyway! ) and so I can show them whatever they want... I have a pretty good grasp on what's [should still!] to be on it, and Dell still lists us as the original owners.... So shouldn't be a problem... And thanks for the tips. Much appreciated. I'll try contacting them in the next day or two here.

Still, if there's any thing I can do myself, any tips that way would be appreciated also.

You could try using SeDiv to read the vendor track. I'm not a data recovery professional, but I believe that's where the password is stored. SeDiv has a demo version. Note that you may need to wind back your PC clock in order for it run.

Otherwise, there is a commercial data recovery tool called STR3000-UDMA. It sells for about US$150 and should be able to remove your password, and a whole lot more.

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A backup a day keeps DR away.

Frank, I hope you read original warning about illegal software copies....

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www.datarecoveryne.com

Anyone else notice that if drive is password locked Seatools wouldnt have been able to read any sectors not just the first 100.

Well Well ,
Have you Tried The STR3000-UDMA Yourself ? .Also @ harddrivespecialist franc is not selling cloned udma etc etc this is a software that looks like pc 3000 udma [ unfortunately does not work like that lol ]

_________________
Regards
Amarbir S Dhillon , Chandigarh Data Recovery Labs [India]
Logical,Semi Physical And Physical Data Recovery
Website-> http://www.chandigarhdatarecovery.com

Yes, I did notice that, only I understood the OP to mean that sectors 0-99 were unreadable. AIUI SeaTools gives up after 100 bad sectors.

As for the test code (AE9FF15C), my understanding is that the second last digit identifies the failing test, as follows:

xxxxxx4x - SMART Fail
xxxxxx5x - Long Test, long LBA test
xxxxxx6x - Short Test, short LBA test
xxxxxxAx - Self-Service SeaTools Test Code
xxxxxxCx - Short Generic
xxxxxxDx - Long Generic
xxxxxxEx - Short DST
xxxxxxFx - Long DST

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A backup a day keeps DR away.

I haven't seen anything to suggest that STR3000-UDMA or any of its related products are illegal copies of any sort. A user has told me that the GUI looks similar to another commercial product, but imitating a GUI is a far cry from pirating the code. In fact, AFAICT from the user manual, STR3000 accesses the drive via its serial console, so I'm wondering where the "UDMA" part fits in. Does it in fact incorporate both interfaces (like SalvationDATA's HD Doctors)? I guess I'll have to buy it and find out.

Another component of the suite, WDR-UDMA, has been well received in another thread (which the moderator has chosen to delete). It was said that it included functions (Arco) that were not present in PC3000, so this would suggest that it, and STR3000-UDMA, are not copies of PC3K, as the superficial similarity in the names would suggest.

Moreover, if these utilities, and their Maxtor and Samsung stablemates, were in fact pirated copies of PC3K or some other product, then where are the corresponding Hitachi, Fujitsu, Toshiba, and Quantum tools? AISI, if you can crack one, then surely you can crack them all.

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A backup a day keeps DR away.

@fzabkar, Do you have any idea where to get this? I Googled it, but didn't come up with much.

Also, Forgive the n00b ignorance, but am not sure how to PM people on this forum... specifically I'm wanting to contact a couple of the people above-- if they have no other contact info listed.... ?

Here is a link to one of Jon's recent posts, containing a link to his company website:

http://forum.hddguru.com/label-western-digital-external-hdd-t22551.html#p151439

I am certainly not here to defend PC3K, but even Steve Wonder could see that the STR3000 is a total rip off from the PC3K. The GUI would be an exact 100% copy if it did not exclude some functionality and some icons. And the code is also ripped.


Well actually WDR-UDMA is not a rip from PC3K, that's correct, but it's a rip from another program, it includes both ripped code from a Russian product as well as from a WD in-house proprietary tool.


This is a for profit business, WD and Seagate have the biggest market, therefore HDD repair and Data recovery are most in demand for WD and Seagate. FYI, Toshiba, Fujitsu and Quantum are not well developed in PC3K either.

PM has been sent.

small correction, I meant

@quasimodo, have you actually examined and compared the code that you say has been ripped off?

Would it be an industry busting revelation if you were to identify the "Russian product" and "WD's in-house proprietary tool" by name? I think I know which tools you mean, but let's be clear about it.

How is it that you can say that STR3000 is an exact copy of PC3K, yet Amarbir is saying that "this is a software that looks like pc 3000 udma [ unfortunately does not work like that lol ]"?

If it "does not work like that", then surely it must be using different code, ergo it cannot be a rip-off?

BTW, I am not selling anything, nor do I have any relationship with any supplier of hardware or software tools, nor am I involved with any HDD manufacturer. My recommendations are based solely on reliable feedback from end users.

Finally, not only have you not provided a logical answer for why someone would not copy the Hitachi, Fujitsu, Toshiba, and Quantum components of PC3K once he has gone to the trouble of cracking the suite (after all, there is no additional cost or effort required), but your claims have now prompted an even stranger question, namely why would China HDD Union (?) not offer the WD components of PC3K in preference to, or in addition to, the allegedly pirated copies of some other (unspecified) tools?

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A backup a day keeps DR away.

I see it took you some sleepless days to come up with a response
But I have no time to get into a ego debate with you ( some of us are not retired and actually have to work). Anyways, read what I said again and don't twist my words. What I have said was accurate! I will leave it at that!

I think you and Amarbir should get together and decide exactly what each of you mean, even if you have to do it under Maxwell Smart's Cone of Silence.

BTW, thank you so much for taking time away from your busy schedule to deign us with your presence here on this forum.

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A backup a day keeps DR away.