2 weeks ago my 150gb Raptor died. I was getting BSOD regularly and read errors that meant Windows wouldnt boot sometimes. So i formatted and re-installed on my old 74gb Raptor that had been my main drive previously. This was ok for a few days then i kept getting BSOD again and the PC just slowed to a halt all the time, regularly freezing and restarting by itself. It finally refused to boot last night. I had been trying to copy some files off the Raptor to my 250Gb storage drive but it kept sticking and Windows eventually gave me another read error. So... I installed windows on a new Samsung HDD that i have for the case i am modding and things worked fine first time around (only this HDD connected). As soon as i connect the old 74 Raptor or the old Samsung and try to boot Windows refuses to load. It will either hang or give me a read error again (msg saying to press "Ctrl Alt Del to restart"). I am now typing this with just the new Samsung HDD plugged in. I guess i should add that all HDD are recognised in the BIOS. It's not the end of the world i guess but i would like to try and recover some data from the HDDs (mainly pictures) - any ideas? The only thing i can think of is that i noticed my PSU earth cable had worken itself loose and wasnt grounded - could this somehow create a magnetic field or something to damage the HDDs? From now on i am getting a separate NAS RAID setup as i dont want to build up a library of pictures only to loose them to something similar in the future. Cyp.
download and burn an ubuntu - live image. boot from image open a terminal window as root: edit the sources list ( sudo vi /etc/apt/sources.list ) and enable multiverse ... just add universe and multiverse to the end of the deb-http line (should look like that: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu gutsy main restricted universe multiverse) sudo apt-get update sudo apt get install ddrescue ddrescue -n [input device] [output(file)] (for example: ddrescue -n /dev/hda /tmp/hda.img)
boot the duffy HDD via esata, and transfer as little as possible, large data transfers can cause the HDD to throw a fit at you. treat the 74Gb raptor and old samsung as 'external' HDD's mean's you can load a stable windows, i would transfer across onto another HDD rather than my win disc, oh i set a restore point before plugging in those HDD's, gives you a fall back position. cant believe you've have had such bad luck with HDD's!
alecamused: Thanks for the reply. Could you elaborate some more though as I have never used linux before. Are these instructions for transferring each file individually? Yeah i am going to try eSATA first (a mate is coming round with a cable soon). I really want to know why they have failed as well so i can avoid it again. Is it normal for windows not to boot if one of the non-boot disks is damaged?
i do believe it can cause a pain in the arse, as windows checks all storage on booting so if any problems are there then it would cause an issue. i wouldn't scrap the drives yet, may just need a format and a good test to see whats going on.
ddrescue creates an image by reading byte after byte and writing it to a file on another disk. if bytes can't be read ddrescue just ignores the error and goes on.. little more detailed: get an image from here and burn it to a cd boot your machine from the cd you just created. after some time you will see the X-desktop "alt+f2" and type "gksu gedit /etc/apt/sources.list" you will see the content of a textfile, find the line that looks like that "deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu gutsy main restricted" and add " universe multiverse" to the end of that line. save the file. alt-f2 again and type "gnome-term" a window that will look somewhat like the "cmd" window in xp. type "sudo apt-get update" <scrolling> type "sudo apt-get install ddrescue" <scrolling> if you are asked any questions just answer yes now comes the tricky part. you'll have to identify the disks in your system. sata discs are called sdX (X ranges from a to z). type "sudo fdisk -l /dev/sd[abcdef]" and identify the disks (remember which sdX you want to backup and which one you want to use as target disk) type "sudo mount /dev/sdX /mnt" (the X of your target-disk) type "sudo ddrescue -n /dev/sdX /mnt/backup.img" (the X of your WD-Raptor) sit back and relax - will take a time i hope this gives you an idea how to do it
Really appreciate this. Thanks. I have actually managed to recover a lot of data using an eSATA enclosure. Im still not entirely sure what the hell happened though. One partition on my Raptor was completely innacessible (windows error saying it was corrupt) but when i ran a WD diagnostic it said it was fine. So i formatted it and it booted plugged into the PC. It wasnt the partition i had been using for windows though... Could overheating have caused this?
This is so odd. I got back from my friend's house (having gone over there to use his eSATA enclosure) and i have since had 2 BSOD with just the new install HDD connected. It crashes when i am in Firefox and i have noticed it wont load some pages (it tries to repeatedly connect and the page title flickers). Do you reckon i have a virus?
i must say this is starting to sound really odd. is this the HDD you slapped velco to the top? if so the small breather hole might be covered which may cause issues.
It is that HDD but its not in that machine (with velcro) it's in my old machine. :\ Edit: the hole was covered actually. Damn. Could that have caused a corrupted Windows install?
Hmm. See above edit. From what i have quickly Googled that wouldnt have helped! But that would only exaplin the current BSOD with this HDD, not the corrupted partitions on the other HDDs.
Ahh you covered the hole? Ive killed a HDD by heat over a long term period. The data is there but it CRC's constantly on me.
Too help the mod out, make a acrylic plate that can be screwed to the bottom of the HDD via the 4 mount points, and attach velco to the acrylic. oh and a 4 spacers between the acrylic and HDD to let a little air in there. Basically turning the HDD upside down. keeps the mounting idea as well! I know the old school raptors got really hot, stupidly hot so that may be an issue. but also the mobo is sounding to be borked aswell, best finish the mod and use the new gear!
