My notebook drive was failing, so bought a new Samsung drive. Of course, that made me too confident to back things up as it is only 3 months old (and yes, I know better). My notebook was on and I left the room for a bit, coming back to an error message telling me to hit ctrl alt delete to reboot because of a hard drive problem.

I thought it may have overheated, let it cool, and tried again. This time I got the error message saying there was a potential failure, hit F1, then it went right back to telling me to hit ctrl alt delete.

I took out the drive and put in in my usb enclosure to plug it into my desktop and pull off the files. This is where the problem came in. The hard drive is so hooped, it is not even recognized enough to pull files.

I have tried several utilities. Some do not see the HD at all (even though the BIOS recognizes it) if the drive is in the notebook. Others try to scan but end up freezing. Most of the utilities won't scan it from my desktop when it is attached via USB, they will only scan/repair non-USB.

The only utility Samsung provides executes to create a floppy, but the notebook doesn't have a floppy. The files don't work if I copy them onto a boot cd.

I am running out of creative ideas and if I don't retrieve my work files, I will be in deep trouble. Any suggestions would be so appreciated.

Using an imaging utility, image the entire drive to another drive. Do this first.

Next, use logical DR software to recover the files.

There are plenty of suggestions here for imaging and recovery software. Any job is made much easier with the right tools.

what the best imaging utility do you use m8

i use nortons ghost

I thought about that, but can not get the computer to even recognize the drive. It sees the USB cage, but not the actual drive. I can't use any software with it.

That's not good. If you have access to a desktop, you could try and connect it directly to the IDE Bus. Or, you could put it back in your laptop, boot with a Knoppix or Windows PE disk, put a good drive in the USB, and image to that (Drive is recognized in BIOS, right? You have a shot.). If that doesn't work, it's time to decide how much the data is worth to you. You may decide not to hire a Pro, but if you decide to do your best recovering it, THEN send it to a Pro, chances are neither of you will recover anything.

Also, don't bother with any other utilities. Image first. If you can't image, other programs will just make things worse.

Which imager is best? That's a question likely to start a fight

The drive is failing. Eligible for replacement? About data, if hdd not recognisable by bios, hire a pro. Sad...

Hi,

If the usb enclosure not recognized the drive, the best you can do, to find a pro.
Seek for local DR company, and ask for a diagnose, i suggest.

Regards,
Janos