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Posted by rantr13 on November 1, 2006, 7:48 am
Please log in for more thread options Barry Watzman wrote:
> RE: "it said it was missing a system file and to put in Windows Recovery
> disc in and press R. I did that and ..."
>
> With all due respect, you don't learn very well. >
On the contrary, I do learn very well.
It's just that some people try and be helpful when they're not.
(Read on):
As a matter of fact, I apparently learn a lot better than experienced
tech's do. I brought the hard drive to a proffessional tech, who claim
there wasn't a hard drive they couldn't salvage the data from. After
giving up my hard drive for over a week in their hands, I was told the
drive was too corrupted to retrieve anything from. However, I refused
to believe "the impossible" and continued tackling the problem on my
own.
I, actually, learn so well that after weeks of misery, I have fixed the
problem on my own with, of course, what information I could find here
and there on the internet.
I've just finished copying onto another computer the final files
(approx 10 or so gigs of data) that needed to be taken off of the
original laptop's hard drive.
For those who are ever struck with that blue screen attack where the
computer (my case was a laptop) crashes and causes Windows (XP, in my
case) to keep rebooting over and over never allowing you to reach
Windows to access any of your files, don't give up.
My problem was that after I bought a few laptop adapters including both
the USB port type where you put your laptop hard drive into a little
external box then plug it it's data cord and power cord into another
computer or laptop's USB ports & also the adapter where you plug the
laptop's hard drive into the IDE cable inside a PC. On the computer's
I was using, I found none of them being very receptive to either of the
adapters. The most I could get was one computer we had out of several
to create a new drive (J drive) but it would not reach the point of
actually reading the drive.
Before when the hard drive was in the original laptop and I had tried
to fix it through Windows Recovery, it would give out approx 75% of the
way through saying there were more than one errors on the drive that
were unrecoverable. A task that always took nearly a whole 24 hours to
reach.
This time, I decided to try and fix the problem with a faster speedier
Computer.
About a week and a half ago, a friend of mine had just bought a top of
the line computer with the fastest mhz and highest ram out. He told me
to bring my hard drive over knowing I've been desperately trying to
retrieve the data from it for about 2 months now.
We used the IDE cable adapter hooking it inside his computer to what
was labled "SLAVE".
Only this time, when we turned on his computer, it booted directly onto
my laptop's "corrupted" hard drive, something that had never happened
in any of the other computers I ever had the adapter in before. Sure
enough, we got the screen that gives the choice of: the Safe Modes,
Windows that last worked correctly, Windows normally, etc. Only sure
enough, when we'd choose one, the hard drive would crash causing the
new computer to reboot.
So I decided to do a Windows Repair on the hard drive. Maybe in this
new speedier computer, it would go beyond 75%. After choosing "R", it
went through all the file loadings bringing the screen to the C:\>
prompt where I typed in "chkdsk /r".
On it's way, the PC went to repairing. Only this time, it took just a
few hours to actually fix the c: drive 100% compared to the original
laptop's 24 hours that only reached 75% to tell me there were
unrepairable errors.
So now, I had the C drive repaired 100% with a new prompt which was
something like:
c:\>windows
Eventually, I was led to a point of being asked which Windows did I
want to load, which the only choice given was 1 so I typed in "1" where
I was asked for an administrative password, having to refer to the net
to find out that the password is more than likely none, just hit enter.
Then I was brought to the initial Windows screen where you pick which
name you want to log into:
1
or
Administrative.
There was only one problem.
The new speedier computer had an electronic mouse with the red light at
the bottom.
My laptop's hard drive only recognized the ball-on-bottom type mouse so
the curser on the screen could not move to choose which to log into.
So then I decided to use one of my external hard drives that plugs into
the USB ports and see if they could finally assist.
Logged onto a screen we couldn't do anything with, we had to unplug the
PC's power cord, unplug the IDE cable adapter and boot the PC we were
using onto it's own Windows.
Once there, I assembled the laptop's hard drive in one of the external
boxes that plug into the USB ports. Right away, the plug and play
began to pick it up creating a J drive and finally reading it.
At last, I was FINALLY looking at all of the contents of my hard drive
just exactly like it was the last time I had seen it 2 months before.
Immediatley, I began copying all of the important files into the new
PC.
Only I had a hard time because just like before the J drive kept coming
and going, appearing and disapearing.
I copied about a fifth of all the files I wanted until the J drive
disapeared all together and never came back.
I was back to the point to where I was at before, only this time, I, at
least, had my most important files recovered.
But I still wanted more.
If it could be fixed once after being told by "so called" experienced
tech's that it was "impossible" and that I "don't learn very well",
this inexperienced tech was determined to fix it again.
My take, from all that I had experienced before and after the crash was
that it was infected with a virus corrupting files in the hard drive
making it impossible to load Windows keeping the hard drive from being
repaired.
Only this time, the problem was more difficult to fix than before
because now the hard drive would not load on the new speedier PC's IDE
slave cable at all like it did before.
After a very lengthy period of trying, I gave up and decided to try to
repair the hard drive in the original laptop it came from since that
seemed to be the only machine that would pick up any detection of it.
I put the hard drive back in the original laptop and sure enough was
right back at the same point I was at before: blue screen crashes, not
being able to boot into the safe mode, being left with no choice but to
do another Windows Recovery.
Only this time, it would take me days to complete the process.
The first time I tried it, after about 7 hours, it stopped at about 70%
telling me there were too many errors on the disc that were
unrepairable.
But as one probably guesses by now, I do not take bull-crap like that
for an answer. After all, how many times have I been told crap like
that by computers, experienced tech's, etc the past few weeks?
I tried again by unplugging the laptop and before it even attempted to
even try to "R" the drive, it gave me the exact same message.
Oh no! Screw that crap, take the hard drive out, reboot the laptop
without the hard drive in it, let it tell you it can't find it's
operating system, then shutdown the laptop, stick the hard drive back
in it and try Windows Recovery all over again!
After doing all that, sure enough, Windows "R" began on it's way to
attempt to fix the hard drive all over again.
This time, it took a period of 3 days!
3 whole days to FINALLY reach 100% !
After it had reached 50 or so percent it began taking about 2 or 3
hours to travel even one more percent that at first, I thought the
laptop was just jammed and started to give up and unplug it.
Then suddenly it moved up a notch adding another digit to the
percentage.
As long as there was life being added to the process, I wasn't giving
up.
However, it was going so slow, I just knew it was going to crash on me
again. After all this laptop had been through, it was not in the best
shape at all.
Finally, I was back at the point of having fixed the latop's hard drive
100% all over again.
Only what was going to happen when I plugged it back into the external
USB adapter to the other speedier computer?
After all, the hard drive was still crashing with blue screens on the
original laptop refusing to load Windows.
So back into the USB adapter it went. Only this time, I was going to
do something different.
This time with the hard drive in the USB adapter of the new speedier
computer, I was going to boot the PC in the Safe Mode and see if I
could copy files from there. Perhaps the Safe Mode would keep the
virus from corrupting the external hard drive from reappearring over
and over to the point of disapearing and not being able to be read all
together as it had done the past few times after it's initial first 30
minutes.
So I booted the new speedier PC into the Safe Mode, plugged in the
external USB adapter with the hard drive all hooked up. Plug and Play
didn't pick up like the last time but the PC still managed to create
the new "J" drive---and sure enough once again, all my laptop's hard
drive content was there all over again right before my eyes.
This time, I had much better luck copying files into the new PC.
A few times, the "J" drive disapeared then reappeared.
But it never disapeared all together.
Practically, nothing else can be done nor works in the Safe Mode
including the Virus Protection the computer is loaded with.
But at least I was able to copy almost every file from laptop's hard
drive.
There was one large unimportant 500 meg file I was going to copy that
was corrupted and not possible to copy.
But at least I got about 99.5% of my hard drive content back that was
termed impossible to get from a tech.
That is why it is sometimes not a good idea to fool with techs. They
have too much to do and just assume lable your drive "an impossible
task, give it up" so they can move on to the next job.
So let's refer to this tech's here comments:
> You don't want to actually do ***ANYTHING*** to this drive EXCEPT read
> it and recover the files by copying them to another drive. >
Exactly.
That's what I wanted to do.
Only what I wanted to do and what I was being allowed to do from a
infective drive are 2 different things.
< By attempting to boot from it, you have made matters WORSE, you have
> DECREASED your chances of ever recovering ANYTHING. >
That wasn't the case at all, only your opinion.
> STOP "DOING THINGS" to the drive! >
If I had stopped "doing things to the drive" and listened to people
like you, I would be stuck with a dead drive nothing at all could be
done with.
> The drive is apparently damaged, >
The drive is not damaged at all.
"Infected" was the more accurate term.
The drive has been put back into the original laptop, only this time
since the files were no longer needed from it, I reformatted Windows XP
onto the drive and the laptop & it's hard drive boots Windows up
perfectly.
You'd swear tech's know very little about viruses that causes your
computer reboot constantly.
It's actually so sophhisticated that experienced tech's can't fix it
without wanting to completely reformat your hard drive since that's the
easy way out.
It makes one wonder how many times people have been told the same
things I've been told the past few weeks that it actually takes an
inexperienced tech determined to fix the problem to beat the virus,
restore all of the hard drive's files and reformat the drive.
Sounds a LOT simpler than it really is to the point to where tech's
don't have the time for the "restore" part of that problem.
> although the damage may be either actually physical or only to the data
> structure (e.g. a low-level format could fix the drive, but all data
> would be permanently and irretrievably lost). >
There goes those famous words from an experienced tech people dread to
hear.
> If you care about the data on that drive, you need to get assistance
> from someone who knows what they are doing. >
Yea, right.
Just so I can be told those famous words people dread to hear all the
time.
"Your data is permanently and irretrievably lost!"
< You have already done a lot
> of damage that has already drastically reduced your chances of ever
> seeing any of that data again. >
On the contrary, I have recovered nearly everything that needed to be
recovered from the drive of approx 10 gigs or so worth of data,
reformatted the hard drive with Windows XP and am going to use the 60
gig hard drive as a spare.
>
> rantr13@yahoo.com wrote:
>
> > Tried it all night long.
> >
> > Again ! Another all nighter.
> >
> > I even put the laptop drive in the Master Drive cable just to see what
> > would happen but it said it was missing a system file and to put in
> > Windows Recovery disc in and press R.
> > I did that and never succeeded in recovering the problem.
> > '
> > I just don't understand why it onjce worked when I first put it in this
> > particular computer.
> >
> > And now it won't work at all.
> >
> > It creates a drive for the hard drive whether in the USB adapter or on
> > the IDE cable but that's as far as it it gets. It never reads the
> > drive.
> >
> > Yet Device Manager says it's working perfectly.
> >
> > I don't know if the Bios is rejecting it for some reason or what.
> >
> > Why would it work in the beginning and after 30 minutes, reject it and
> > never let it read again.
> >
> > There has just got to be some way to retrieve the files off this
> > computer.
> > Truthfully I am only after about 5 or 6 crucial files that are
> > irreplaceable.
> > the rest I don't care about.
> >
> > And I am to the point of paying almost anything to get the files.
> >
> > But because of the contents on the drive involving personal files, I
> > have to be the one to do it.
> > Not a tech.
> >
> > See the bind I am in?
> >
> >
> >
> > rantr13@yahoo.com wrote:
> >
> >>I'll try what you suggest by unplugging all other devices on the
> >>secondary cable.
> >>
> >>But, no, with the pin present, the female PC IDE cable automatically
> >>keeps the male adapter from being plugged in with a piece of plastic
> >>blocking it. Look in the middle of an IDE cable female plug. Nearly
> >>all IDE females have the piece of plastic blocking in the middle where
> >>the missing pin should be.
> >>
> >>So if the male adapter plugs in to the female IDE cable then you broke
> >>off the correct pin.
> >>
> >>I'm going try unplugging all secondary cables.
> >>
> >>However, I expect to get some "Can't find...." error messages while
> >>doing so.
> >>
> >>We'll see.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>Barry Watzman wrote:
> >>
> >>>Normally the laptop drive will be configured as a master, but sometimes
> >>>as "cable select". Put it on an IDE channel BY ITSELF (NO other drive
> >>>present), then it can be seen (since the desktop's hard drive is, by
> >>>definition, on the primary IDE channel, put the laptop drive on the
> >>>secondary channel. If there were other drives on the secondary channel,
> >>>temporarily disconnect them).
> >>>
> >>>Yes, there is a pin that is used for "keying" the connector. The
> >>>adapter may or may not have that pin present. on the desktop side, and
> >>>it may not have the key on the laptop side. You have to carefully
> >>>insure that you get pin 1 to pin 1 all the way from the motherboard IDE
> >>>port to the laptop drive (and all of the cables and adapters in
> >>>between). You can put it on backwards. Usually won't do any damage,
> >>>but it won't work. You also have to connect power to the 2.5" to 3.5"
> >>>adapter. If the drive doesn't spin up, then you definitely have
> >>>something wrong.
> >>>
> >>>There is a chance that you broke off the wrong pin, if your reference to
> >>>"pin 1" was wrong somewhere. [Breaking off a pin is sometimes necessary
> >>>if you have a desktop IDE cable which is keyed. It's usually easier to
> >>>get an unkeyed cable than to break off the pin, and it's not difficult
> >>>to break off the wrong pin if you have the cable backwards (in fact,
> >>>there's almost a 50% chance of that).
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>rantr13@yahoo.com wrote:
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>>< In this type of situation, you will have more luck (if any) using an
> >>>>IDE
> >>>>interface instead of USB. Get a 2.5" to 3.5" ide cable adapter and try
> >>>>
> >>>>that. >
> >>>>
> >>>>< The information that you get from device manager relates only to the
> >>>>USB
> >>>>controller in the external box, not to the drive itself. >
> >>>>
> >>>>< USB external adapters are fine for drives that work ok and don't have
> >>>>
> >>>>any fundamental underlying problems. They do not work well, however,
> >>>>when dealing with a drive that is failing or which has significant
> >>>>hardware or data structure problems. >
> >>>>
> >>>>< [The best way to use an IDE adapter is to temporarily put the laptop
> >>>>drive, via the adpater, onto the secondary IDE port of a desktop
> >>>>computer (temporarily disconnect all devices currently connected to
> >>>>that
> >>>>port, usually optical drives).] >
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>In the original message I mentioned:
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>>>I have even tried one of those internal IDE plug adapters.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>I don't know if I need to set jumpers or what but I have tried
> >>>>>>everything I possibly know how to try.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>The weird thing is those adapter plugs come with 40 pins when laptop
> >>>>female IDE cables have one of the pins in the middle blocked. PC's
> >>>>block one of the pins in the middle probably to insure that it is being
> >>>>put on correctly since it doesn't use that pin. So basically, you have
> >>>>to break the middle pin off of the adapter. Neither PC's or laptop's
> >>>>use them. I looked at the laptop drive and it has no middle pin
> >>>>either.
> >>>>
> >>>>So if you have a 40 pin adapter, it isn't able to be fit into your PC's
> >>>>IDE cable until the middle pin s broken off. Since the laptop has the
> >>>>pin missing anyway, it evidently is not needed.
> >>>>
> >>>>So I connected the adapter to the laptop and to the PC's IDE cable
> >>>>9after breaking off the middle uneeded pin) and connected the power
> >>>>cable of the adapter-----and it still did absolutely nothing.
> >>>>
> >>>>I had at least something trying to go on with the USB version (the
> >>>>extrenal box adapter)....but nothing with the IDE cables. I don't know
> >>>>if I need to set some jumpers to accept the hard drive as "slave" or
> >>>>what.
> >>>>
> >>>>If so, I have no clue how to do that.
> >>>>
> >>>>Any advice how to use the IDE cable adapters to where they work?
> >>>>Because they come with absolutely no directions at all whatsoever.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>Barry Watzman wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>>Re: "I started switching files around from one folder to another to
> >>>>>prepare to burn them on DVD discs. Stupid mistake! I should have
> >>>>>immediately copied the files from the old hard drive into
> >>>>>the computer!!!!"
> >>>>>
> >>>>>You got that part right. In this type of situation, always, always,
> >>>>>always treat the source drive as "read only".
> >>>>>
> >>>>>You may have lost the date irrecoverably, but maybe not.
> >>>>>
> >>>>>In this type of situation, you will have more luck (if any) using an IDE
> >>>>>interface instead of USB. Get a 2.5" to 3.5" ide cable adapter and try
> >>>>>that.
> >>>>>
> >>>>>The information that you get from device manager relates only to the USB
> >>>>>controller in the external box, not to the drive itself.
> >>>>>
> >>>>>USB external adapters are fine for drives that work ok and don't have
> >>>>>any fundamental underlying problems. They do not work well, however,
> >>>>>when dealing with a drive that is failing or which has significant
> >>>>>hardware or data structure problems.
> >>>>>
> >>>>>[The best way to use an IDE adapter is to temporarily put the laptop
> >>>>>drive, via the adpater, onto the secondary IDE port of a desktop
> >>>>>computer (temporarily disconnect all devices currently connected to that
> >>>>>port, usually optical drives).]
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>rantr13@yahoo.com wrote:
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>>I am trying to recover data from my laptop's hard drive.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>I took the hard drive out of the laptop and put it in one of those
> >>>>>>external hard drive boxes that connect to the USB port of a PC and
> >>>>>>within a few minutes the drive showed up including access to all the
> >>>>>>files inside the old hard drive.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>I started switching files around from one folder to another to prepare
> >>>>>>to burn them on DVD discs.
> >>>>>>Stupid mistake!
> >>>>>>I should have immediately copied the files from the old hard drive into
> >>>>>>the computer!!!!!
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>Within about 30 minutes of switching files around, suddenly that
> >>>>>>particular hard drive disapeared from the computer saying I no longer
> >>>>>>had access to it.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>I've tried it on other computers using the same external box and even
> >>>>>>went to the point of buying another brand's external box---which the
> >>>>>>computer never even recognzied, meaning I had less success with it.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>Now, still trying to access the data, all the computer does is set up a
> >>>>>>drive for it but it tries yet never actually reads it. All the hard
> >>>>>>drive does is turn and turn and turn for hours until I get tired and
> >>>>>>unplug it.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>Device Manager says the device is working perfectly.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>I have even tried one of those internal IDE plug adapters.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>I don't know if I need to set jumpers or what but I have tried
> >>>>>>everything I possibly know how to try.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>Does anyone know of any other possible way or some other method to get
> >>>>>>data off this laptop hard drive?
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>Or is there something I am possibly doing wrong with the devices I have
> >>>>>>because most of these devices come with absolutely no or very little
> >>>>>>directions.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>Help please !
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>:)
> >>>>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >
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