HDD data recovery?

[Ford (Cz)]

One more tech question - years back I accidently knocked into running desktop (more floortop) PC and HDD went KO. It is not detected even in BIOS and I tried on other PC, tried it as an external HDD. That's the reason I can't use any software (not as far as I know) because I can't see this drive. When switched on it sounds like perfect working HDD, no clicking sounds etc. The only reason why I still didn't bin it was like 10 years of photos and pictures which I never (obviously) backed up. Google said there are firms offering HDD recovery but many times I found reviews saying that guys were charged hundreds even when they couldn't recover any data so I think it's bit risky. Mentally I am almost ready for option that I lost all that photos. Almost. Recently I found this on eBay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/293949129017  (that's my HDD type). But as my account was previously banned on eBay I can't contact this guy. Also find on Amazon somebody is selling board from this HDD. Do you think it could work or should I keep searching for hdd recovery firms? When asked in FB groups if anybody has experience with hdd recovery firms I started getting answers like "my mate can build PC so he can fix it" or try this and that SW and it will deffo fix it for you etc. Pretty pointless advices. Any HDD God or Guru over here maybe? Btw it wasn't strong knock so I don't think it was strong enough to physically damage contact on board. One of those when you sit and your feet forgets there is PC when stretching.

[Snuffs99]

If its not showing at all then you will probably need to replace the PCB on the drive and would need an identical one, even then though there is no guarantee it is the PCB or if replacing the PCB will even work.

 

If it can been seen either via BIOS, POST screen or  in "Disk Management" then its a case of what format is it being seen as?, is it seen as an ntfs, fat/fat32 or RAW drive, a RAW drive requires a bit more skill to recover files as they would also need to be converted from RAW to FAT32 or NTFS etc in order to see the files.

 

To recover normal NTFS and FAT16/32 i always use GetDataBack, if the drive is in a bad way Spinrite is good for that....If its RAW well you would probably need help tbh as its not that easy to recover them if you dont have a clue and its all done via cmd lines etc.

 

 

[Ford (Cz)]

1 hour ago, Snuffs99 said:

If its not showing at all then you will probably need to replace the PCB on the drive and would need an identical one, even then though there is no guarantee it is the PCB or if replacing the PCB will even work.

 

If it can been seen either via BIOS, POST screen or  in "Disk Management" then its a case of what format is it being seen as?, is it seen as an ntfs, fat/fat32 or RAW drive, a RAW drive requires a bit more skill to recover files as they would also need to be converted from RAW to FAT32 or NTFS etc in order to see the files.

 

To recover normal NTFS and FAT16/32 i always use GetDataBack, if the drive is in a bad way Spinrite is good for that....If its RAW well you would probably need help tbh as its not that easy to recover them if you dont have a clue and its all done via cmd lines etc.

 

 

I can't see it in BIOS or Disk Management at all. It acts like HDD plugged only to power. I found PCB on amazon and it looks exact the same (even numbers on board), the only reason I didn't get it yet is price (about £40). So if I understand firms which are offering HDD data recovery are working just with SW (you need to be able to see HDD at least in BIOS for example), they don't change PCB? So I guess my best option is to change PCB and then try that eBay guy to unbrick disk? 

[Snuffs99]

Before you go the PCB route check first its not showing in device manager in windows and also humor me by trying another cable and plugging it into another free slot or even better another PC, you can also run an elevated cmd prompt and type diskpart [enter] followed by listdisk [enter] and see if the drive shows in the list, if it does then we can go from there........After all that and just to be really, really sure also see if any "legacy" or "Hard drive controller" settings are in your BIOS and try them both on or off and again double check BIOS and windows etc to see if its being seen or not, really don't want you wasting £40. 

 

If its still not showing at all then yeah IMHO all signs point to the PCB, please be aware that there is no guarantee it is the PCB that is damaged though and at this point its a case of process of elimination and literally throwing money at it.........so give it some thought and ask yourself if the pictures on it are that important or can you move on with life and make new pictures and save yourself the £40 plus any extra costs.

 

However If you do go the replace PCB route make sure the PCB is identical including the revision in which case you wont need to flash the bios on the HDD.......if once changed the drive is visible i'll more than happily talk you through recovery processes or your welcome to post me the drive (i'm also in the UK) and i'll recover the files for you free of charge, i'd rather that than you wasting more money paying some guy on Ebay etc who may or may not be able to recover the drive.

 

Finally whatever you decide and regardless of the outcome from now on BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP .  😃

 

 

If others have any more ideas then by all means try them before you go spending money.

 

 

Just looking at the ebay link you posted and from reading the seller will re-flash the bios on your current PCB which could work and fix the problem and mean you wont have to change the PCB......Its all about getting it to show up, until then the data recovery part cant be done.

Maybe message then seller, explain your problem and ask if the re-flash would 100% make it show up?, again once its showing i'll happily either talk you through the recovery process or you can send it me and i'll recover the files for you.

 

Edited February 3, 2021 by Snuffs99

[-=HipKat=-]

12 hours ago, Snuffs99 said:

Before you go the PCB route check first its not showing in device manager in windows and also humor me by trying another cable and plugging it into another free slot or even better another PC, you can also run an elevated cmd prompt and type diskpart [enter] followed by listdisk [enter] and see if the drive shows in the list, if it does then we can go from there........After all that and just to be really, really sure also see if any "legacy" or "Hard drive controller" settings are in your BIOS and try them both on or off and again double check BIOS and windows etc to see if its being seen or not, really don't want you wasting £40. 

 

If its still not showing at all then yeah IMHO all signs point to the PCB, please be aware that there is no guarantee it is the PCB that is damaged though and at this point its a case of process of elimination and literally throwing money at it.........so give it some thought and ask yourself if the pictures on it are that important or can you move on with life and make new pictures and save yourself the £40 plus any extra costs.

 

However If you do go the replace PCB route make sure the PCB is identical including the revision in which case you wont need to flash the bios on the HDD.......if once changed the drive is visible i'll more than happily talk you through recovery processes or your welcome to post me the drive (i'm also in the UK) and i'll recover the files for you free of charge, i'd rather that than you wasting more money paying some guy on Ebay etc who may or may not be able to recover the drive.

 

Finally whatever you decide and regardless of the outcome from now on BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP .  😃

 

 

If others have any more ideas then by all means try them before you go spending money.

 

 

Just looking at the ebay link you posted and from reading the seller will re-flash the bios on your current PCB which could work and fix the problem and mean you wont have to change the PCB......Its all about getting it to show up, until then the data recovery part cant be done.

Maybe message then seller, explain your problem and ask if the re-flash would 100% make it show up?, again once its showing i'll happily either talk you through the recovery process or you can send it me and i'll recover the files for you.

 

Hey @Snuffs99 Seems like you really know what you're doing.

When you get done helping out @Ford (Cz) maybe you can give some me direction on a 2TB HDD I have that got riddled with bad blocks. I copied everything I could to another HDD, but there's a ton on there I'd like to recover, but not sure how to go about it.

 

DM me when you get a chance and maybe you can give me some ideas.

 

Thanks, mate!

Edited February 4, 2021 by -=HipKat=-

[RedBaird]

16 hours ago, Snuffs99 said:

If its not showing at all then you will probably need to replace the PCB on the drive

 

I had searched for the problem and found a site that described that and other procedures.  I did not link to it here because I don't have the knowledge to judge its validity.  You seem to be confirming their guidance information.

[Snuffs99]

Hahaha.

Replacing a PCB can be a bit daunting and personally i've not needed to do one in a long time.

I've had to recover many drives mind but luckily data recovery hasn't changed that much over the years so the procedures now are the same as they were 10+ years ago. 

Best thing about the older mech drives is the neodymium magnets you get to keep when you smash them up for not working lol.

[Buckwild]

You should have backed up those pictures on the Cloud...

Mediafire is good(free), I've had for Years...They never deleted anything!

https://app.mediafire.com/

[Buckwild]

In the future, Maybe try Raid Mirroring