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Hello,

Since I developing my software I do backups with an external USB HD of 500 GB.
This HD is full ... so ...
And since the bank account is very red colored !!!

And yes, S..t happens, a few days ago I lost by the PC startup one partition of my HD.

Hardware:
- PC Windows XP pro SP2
- 2 HDs
HD1 = C + D
HD2 = E + F

Problem:
I lost partition E of my HD2
And lost the last 3 weeks of my program so, a lot of work is lost ...

Conclution:
- Or it is a HD Data/software problem
- Or it is an HD hardware problem
Hope it is the first one...

Solution:
I went to the computer shop and bought a backup system.
- Server on LAN module
- 2x HD 2GB installed in RAID 1 mode (double backup system)

I installed this all via LAN and setup my PC via TCP/IP (never done before).
a few days work to install all this.

Software:
I used a free demo recovery software delivered with my seagate HD when I bought it.
and all worked well. (Houres to recover this stuff)
Then I opened the recovery files and the demo version only recovered files with max. 64 Kb length.

Solutions:
Back to the computershop and bought 'acronis' Backup & Recovery 11 'advanced workstation'
and again 99,99 Euro's (promo price)

Question:
- Is this a good software ?
- Is there a free good working and easyer to use software solution ?

Free...
Well the bank account went from 'dark red' to almost 'black' now



Thanks in advance,
Marc,

A good free tip is;

Use Robocopy in a script to do an incremental backup. Thats the way i handle my backup for my sources.
There is a lot on google! Robocopy.exe can be downloaded everywhere.

Acronis actually write some of Seagate's software but I don't know if their app actually recovers data from a broken hard drive - could be wrong but I think they mean 'recover data from the back-up stored by Acronis'.

It sounds like your disc has a faulty table and hence, currently, the actual data is recoverable. The more attempted reads, the less likely recovery is possible, so what you really want to do is get your hands on the full version of that Seagate software that did work for you.

Cloning data simply isn't an option for me these days, since I have so much of it..

That's why I use Flexraid. It doesn't depend on hardware RAID, and provides scalable parity protection.
It also sits above the file system, so if it ever gets screwed up, or you uninstall it or whatever, you can still read all the data on your good drives independently like a normal disk.

Hi guys,

thanks for helping me here,

@DoctorLove
I just found the newer version, called 'RichCopy'

@IdeasVacuum

Acronis actually write some of Seagate's software but I don't know if their app actually recovers data from a broken hard drive - could be wrong but I think they mean 'recover data from the back-up stored by Acronis'.

Yes, you can have it write.
I think its there own stored backup what can be recovered. ??

@Zach
Thanks for the tip, I will need a good backup systems.
I learned a lesson now.


- I just found a free to use demo version of 'Recuva' ??
Will test it, to see it works.

marc,

marc_256 wrote:I just found a free to use demo version of 'Recuva'

Recuva is 100% free. If you've got a "demo" of it, then it's probably a hacked version. Don't use it. Download Recuva instead from its official site here -> http://www.piriform.com/recuva

Hi MachineCode,

Thanks for the hint...
but 'recuva' is not the program I need.
It did not find my E: drive
I have to look for an other program.

Marc

For backup use Acronis

Are you sure the "damaged" drive is not physically damaged, as in the platters will not spin?

If Acronis will see the drive, see if you can image the drive with Acronis. If it will image then most likely the data is still there.

Hi SFSxOI,

Well, like I wrote in the first post, the demo version of seagate recover program,
recovered all my directory's, subdirectory's and files.
But doos only the files of max. 64Kb long. (demo version)

I bought 'acronis' Backup & Recovery 11 'advanced workstation'
The salesman in the computershop sold me this package at (99,99 Euro),
but I do not know this is the program I need to do broken HDD recovery?
And not recover allready stored files by acronis.

I do not think (hope) it is a physically damage

Marc,

@marc_256

Your purchased copy of Acronis will not have a file size limit. With Acronis you will be able to image the whole drive. Then reformat and re-partition the bad drive drive and copy all your stuff from the Acronis image back to the newly reformatted and partitioned drive. In this manner you may be able to recover your hard drive. Sometimes trying to recover directly is a waste of time (as your posted efforts seem to say), so it becomes necessary to take the less direct 1-2-3 approach of image-reformat/partition-copy back from image. I'm assuming since you were able to get back some files using the seagate demo software but the file limit size with that demo software was 64 KB that you are able to use imaging software on the drive so the Acronis you purchased should work for you.

If you no longer trust the drive then replace it and place the Acronis image stuff on the new drive.

edit: Something that just occured to me, did you try to run chkdsk fix (if running windows) on the failed drive? It could be some descriptor got screwed up (not uncommon and can make a drives files not accessable, especially on multi partition drives) - so try a "chkdsk drive_letter_followed_by_colon /F" (without quotes) command from an administrator command prompt - example (and in your case - assuming windows can still detect the partition as drive E present) = chkdsk E: /F - if it is a screwed up descriptor or something the command may correct it and allow you to see the drive contents again.

btw, if you're looking for a lost partition or some such, then you want a program like GetDataBack.

I've used those tools before to recover files / partitions. It doesn't always work 100% though.

...You cannot simply make a disc image of a faulty drive as you would for a disk copy or image backup - that image will then potentially contain the same faults!! If the drive can still be read by specialist recovery software, then that is the best type of app to use.

Words of warning - you cannot try-out a ton of different recovery ideas - the more times the disk is accessed, the lesser the data integrity and the greater the chance of complete drive failure.

But you can make an image of the drive and recover the individual files, directories, and sub directories from the image. Thats what he seems to want to be able to do isn't it, to recover the work he lost where he said "And lost the last 3 weeks of my program so, a lot of work is lost "

Thanks guys for helping me out here...

So far:
I started this morning (7:00 AM) to install RichCopy program,
My HDD haves 2 partitions E (bad one) + F (good one).
So, I made a backup from the NOT demaged partition F to my NEW 1GB USB case backup HDD.
It took about 6 hours to backup and check 250GB of programs/data.
I lost some data by an error as 'file name to long'.
1) So I'm looking for them one by one now,
2) change the name
3) and copy them one by one, by hand.

WHAT A WORK...
My eyes are red as an ... tomato

There was also a company who want to recover my data on the HDD for 700...1200 Euro
And in my (belgium) computershop they do it for about 2000...3000 Euro
So, for that price, it is best to forget all my work and start over with the data of 3 weeks ago.

But I do not give up...
I gone try this night to recover the data on the Bad partition now...


Thanks,
Marc

But you can make an image of the drive

It is not a safe operation when the drive is damaged and could actually trigger it's fatality. Specialist recovery software constantly checks the health of the drive and takes much much longer so as not to unnecessarily stress it. There isn't really such a thing as a 'good' partition on a broken drive - there is only good luck and bad luck.

The reason the 'rescue shops' are expensive is two-fold. Firstly, they are unfortunately taking advantage of your situation to profiteer. Secondly, they actually remove the physical disc and mount it into a special drive. That requires a 'clean room' and a certain amount of skill and know-how.