Windows 7 Restoring Lost Files

[Fenway16]

Recently made a major housing move - in the process of crazy packing, boxing up, redoing living area, I lost my drive on my desktop to who knows what. Old age maybe. 5 year old desktop. Anyway, I have since replaced the drive and many of the older files that I had backed up on an external drive are still with me. A tech volunteer on another windows help site said that the files on the main drive that I lost might be recoverable by attaching the "dead" drive in an enclosure to a pc. Does anyone know about this or how to do it. Thanks very much.

 

[Digerati]

If the drive is really "dead", you are out of luck except maybe taking it to a data recovery service. But that can be VERY expensive ($100s, even $1000s) because it may require disassembly, very specialized equipment, highly skilled techs, and lots and lots of time. And even then, there is no guarantee of success. So you will have to determine if the data lost is worth it.

But if the drive still spins up, you might be able to recover the data with a data recovery program like
Link Removed from the makers of CCleaner (my favorite), or Wise Data Recovery.

If me (since you already know how to physically install drives) I would install this bad drive as a secondary drive (NOT boot drive) in your computer instead of an enclosure. Then try running Recuva on it from there. Unless you already have an empty enclosure handy, this way will be faster and easier (again, if the drive spins up).

 

[Fenway16]

Thanks for that. I suspect it is a waste of time as it is most likely dead. When I tried to use the recovery disks on it, the error msg that came back was something like no drive recognized. Most of my files were offloaded and saved but a few didn't make it. Thanks again for your thoughts.

 

[Digerati]

Well, that is up to up, but yeah, if the drive is not even recognized when directly connected (that is, via SATA or EIDE and not USB) then it likely is shot. There are ways to replace the controller board but it can be very difficult to find the correct one. And then there's still no guarantee that will solve the problem. So, again, it all depends on how valuable the missing data is to you.

 

[Fenway16]

Would you like to hear a sad story? I had lots of stuff offloaded to about 10 dvd's. From about 2002. With all the craziness of packing everything up and getting rid of stuff, I decided to put the files back on my desktop pc so I wouldn't inadvertently lose the dvd's in the process of the packing. I know this all sounds crazy but I had lived in my house for 35 years - lots to keep and lots to dump. Anyway, that's what I did and then I destroyed the dvd's-"how will I find these 10 dvd's in all these boxes even tho the boxes are labelled"?. And then the drive failed. Oh dear.

 

[pnamajck]

you right, that is a sad story, fenway16 … however, you still have the option in bringing the drive to a computer-repair shop … tell 'em if they can resurrect the files on that drive, you will pay 'em with a crisp new $20 bill. bring a usb with you.

 

[northangrywolf]

I don't know whether ur drive can be recognized or found by computers. U can search for data recovery services as the final method. Before that , try one software : EaseUS data recovery software. I remember this software, only if the computer can found the drive, it can scan the drive and recover files. Google it and u can find the official website.
GOOD LUCK.

 

[Fenway16]

Thanks to all. Think it is a lost cause. Appreciate all thoughts tho.

 

[BIGBEARJEDI]

Hi Fenway;
Sorry to hear about your dilemma! An easy way to assess the situation is to take the drive out of the enclosure and hook up to a drive power cable inside of your desktop; turn on the PC. Hold your ear close to the drive; if you don't hear it spinning, you can forget about all the tools mentioned here; it's 99% unrecoverable at this point. You must send out to professional Data Recovery specialists; very very expensive as Digerati correctly relayed to you.

I've done dozens of these over the years, and it's one of my specialties. However, if the drive is not spinning and the motor is gone or the r/w head or armature head; any mechanical or electronic failure; no software tools can recover stuff from it. It has to be disassembled as described by Digerati in a Clean Room (Class 10K or better). The last one of these I sent out was for my son's WD 750GB external which had 10 years of his life on there; music, docs, school, videos, movies, etc. etc. Cost me $550 last May to get it done. Recovery was about 97% which is excellent! But, very expensive, in fact it was his main birthday gift!

There are only 2 companies in the USA which are reliable enough to do this; post back and I'll be happy to provide you with their names and contact information if you are thinking that stuff is valuable enough to spend that kind of money to get it back.

I hate to see you waste months or years trying to use software tools which will be completely useless if that drive is not SPINNING!!

Best and see u soon,
<<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>>

 

[Fenway16]

Wow - good dad!! No, I think this is a lost cause. I appreciate everyone's thoughts, however. Time to move on!!!