Computer on the fritz. NOW my external HD dies!

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

01/22/2008 07:08:11 PM · #1

I've really screwed up now...Here's the short story. My computer has been giving me troubles so I backed up everything on a Western Digital 500gb MyBook external hard drive awhile back. Eventually the computer got worse and threatened total failure due to being critically low on available memory. As a temporary measure I deleted all of the picture files on the computer to avoid a total crash. Now the external hard drive has failed. The technician that I took it to says that "the logical drive is physically damaged" and that there is no way to retrieve the data.

What do I do now!!!!!? Is this true? Is there really no way possible to download from that hard drive all of the images that I have taken in the last two to three years?

Please help me figure a way to retrieve that data. I don't need to hear what I should have done (backup at least three different ways like DVD, etc.) because I already know better. The reliance on a single record was supposed to be temporary. I'm just extremely disorganized these days with a lot going on in my life and I haven't gotten around to doing many, many things that I should have. This is one example of many.

I just need some hope and direction right now to get these images salvaged.

Thanks.

yann

01/22/2008 07:22:38 PM · #2

I got 2 options for you:

1. There are companies that will dismantle your external HD and try to recover whatever they can find on it but it will cost you ALOT. Something like //www.salvagedata.ca/

2. Try a recovery program like //www.data-recovery-software.net/ that you can run yourself on your INTERNAL HD, the one you deleted the images from. This option will probably work better than the first one so I would try this first.

In my opinion, you have a better chance to recover your deleted photos from the working HD than from your external HD that has failures.

Message edited by author 2008-01-22 19:25:29.

david_c

Canon EOS-7D

01/22/2008 07:23:33 PM · #3

Physical damage? Do you hear clunking or grinding sounds? That might mean physical damage. At any rate, if the thing spins, you might be able to recover some data with something like this.

01/22/2008 07:28:21 PM · #4

Originally posted by david_c:

Physical damage? Do you hear clunking or grinding sounds? That might mean physical damage. At any rate, if the thing spins, you might be able to recover some data with something like this.

What I heard was a not so loud clicking sound coming from it. The click occured every 2 1/2 seconds when I tried to access the images as usual.

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

01/22/2008 07:30:35 PM · #5

Originally posted by yann:

2. Try a recovery program like //www.data-recovery-software.net/ that you can run yourself on your INTERNAL HD, the one you deleted the images from. This option will probably work better than the first one so I would try this first.

In my opinion, you have a better chance to recover your deleted photos from the working HD than from your external HD that has failures.

The tech suggested that I try this also. I did not realize that this was even possible. If I did this, however, how would I go about retrieving the deleted data folders that I want when I have deleted tons of garbage that needed to never be seen again?

SamDoe1

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

01/22/2008 08:45:29 PM · #6

Well first of all, do you have another computer that you can take the external to and try it out? If the computer will recognize it, you should be able to pull off the data. If the disk is "physically damaged", you will hear clicking or grinding or something out of the ordinary fairly frequently (more often than every 2.5sec) because it's spinning at 7200rpm. Another option to try out is to take the drive out of the enclosure and freeze it. It sounds ridiculous but it actually works. Then plug it into a computer directly, not with an enclosure, and pull the data off quickly. You can do this a few times before it totally craps out if it is indeed damaged. External drives are essentially internal drives with a box around them so you should be able to hook it up fairly easily. Make sure you put it in a plastic bag and squeeze out the air before putting it in the freezer to avoid condensation. Otherwise the recovery on the internal drive is a good idea. There's really no way around not recovering all the intentionally deleted stuff though. Good luck!

robs

Canon EOS R6 Mk II

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

01/22/2008 09:07:24 PM · #7

Originally posted by yakatme:

Don't try to figure it out... If it's not obvious then just copy the lot and sort it out on the good drive after the fact. Good luck.....