HARDDISK broken, lost everything

Dear guys,

PLEASE HELP!!!!
I was typing some stuff in Word while listening to some mp3's.
Suddenly the system hung and stopped responding.
Couldn't reboot via ctrl+alt+del so I did a hardreboot (Reset).
I immediately lost my harddisk. The system couldn't find it anymore.
I got a black screen after the BIOS info with a tiny flashing line up left on the screen. If I wait for one minute I get a message "no boot device found, replace and hit a key" or something like that.
Tried reinstalling WinXP from the original CD, the Windows installer wouldn't even start...
I cannot install Windows on the HD - the installer won't start.

Took out the harddisk, replaced it with another one (same brand, make and model though) and windows installer worked without problems, I installed Windows and everything is working again.

But, the broken HD had all my files.
And yes, I forgot to backup!!!!!!
I lost everything...
Is there any way to retrieve some if not all of those files?

Strange thing is, the BIOS seems to see the broken HDDisk if I connect it with the SATA cable.
It's a Samsung SP2504C S-ATA harddrive btw.

I installed Windows on the new harddrive, and also put the broken HD into the Computer.
The new harddisk now took about 5 minutes to boot into Windows and was awfully slow.
And, no other partitions except for the ones on the new HD could be found.

When I took the broken HD out of the system the new harddrive worked normally again.

The broken HD had 2 partitions.
I went to a computer tech store today and the tech there connected it to his test-PC and told me the harddisk isn't even formatted.
??????????????????????????
It's like everything was erased, even the partitions.
And, you cannot install windws on it - the installer just won't start - already mentioned that.

What can I do???
Teaches me right for always postponing that big backup I wanted to do...
Now eveything's gone...

Is there any way that some data can be retrieved?

Some guy at a German forum suggested installing Linux (but I don't see how that will work seeing that Windows can't be installed).
Another guy suggested to swap the electronics on both HD (unscrew them and put them on the bad drive) and see if it will boot that way, but I have no idea how to do this...

The tech just told me there's nothing he can do...

Any suggestions?
PLEASE HELP

Thank you

 

Maybe this and for the future maybe this.

 

How did you determine this ? What program.


If the hdd is not bad the problem could be a bad Partition Table. There are several programs one can use to rebuild it. Some comp will take a long time to post if hdd's partition table does not verify with the partition's Volume Boot Record.
TESTDISK (only one I have used and it is free) http://www.cgsecurity.org/index.html?testdisk.html

Partition Table Doctor, WinHex, others.

Might want to test the hdd for failure, warning some of the tests will format the hdd and data will be lost. http://www.samsung.com/Products/HardDiskDrive/utilities/hutil.htm

If the hdd is bad then the only way you might fix it is the change the circuit board, if the circuit board is the problem. It looks like there are 4 screws you would need to remove and then lift board off. Do only if Samsung test utility says hdd is bad. If you are not careful with circuit board both hdd's could become door stops. (Last resort)

 

Samsung diagnostic utilities:
http://erms.samsungusa.com/customer...?PG_ID=1&AT_ID=5539&PROD_SUB_ID=26&PROD_ID=-1
Do the Self Diagnostic tests.

Run the Ontrack Data Advisor, if it can see the data then the MBR of the drive is corrupt. They will want you to pay for retrieval of the data.

If the cost of retrieving the data is too high, you could try rebuilding the MBR, although the Samsung utilities don't seem to have many options for this.

Try the Maxtor utilities MaxBlast (they used to be able to work on non-Maxtor drives?), they have an option to backup the MBR and "update" the MBR. (Seems to work on my Seagate drive. I unexpectedly found two previous backups I had made of the MBR ).

Matt

 

If you get to the point of desperation and are prepared to risk losing the data, run the installation for the Disk Manager.
In the instructions here:
http://product.samsung.com/cgi-bin/nabc/tech_info/hdd/b2c_hdd_util_main.jsp?eUser=
it comes to a section "Blank Hard Drive ". Hopefully, it may say there is already data on the drive. If it says "Blank Hard Drive ", do not proceed any further (say No). If it sees the data, installing the Disk Manager may allow you to access it. Once you have recovered the data, remove the Disk Manager (Erase MBR), repartition and format the HDD (get rid of it).

Matt

 

Sorry for responding so late to everyone's suggestions.

Here's an update on the situation:
For days I've been trying to access the harddrive.
First, when I attached the bad drive next to my new harddrive, the new one would boot (though very slow), enter WindowsXP, though WinXP wouldn't find the bad harddrive.

A couple of days ago I got a call from an "expert" friend who works for a company. He told me to put the harddrive in the freezer and it probably would work again (he said he did this when some harddrives died with his company and was successful in recovering most of the lost data).
I was a bit reluctant but searched across the net and found a couple of similar experiences so I thought I'd try it...
(put the harddrive in a ziplock bag and in the freezer for a couple of hours)

Didn't work of course...
A day later the bad harddrive now starts making all kinds of clicking and screeching noises and now, if I have the bad harddrive attached, the good harddrive with WinXP on it won't even boot up. It just freezes up immediately (not even in Windows).

So I got an Serial-ATA to USB interface to try something different.
Booted up WinXP on the good harddrive.
As soon as I power-up the USB-device (with the bad harddrive inside) the computer freezes after a few seconds - so even that doesn't work.

I tried a MS-Dos startup disk on which I put the "Test-Disk" program but even that won't boot if I have the bad harddrive connected.
And if I connect it after I get into DOS "Test-Disk" won't find the bad harddrive...

Last try, I got Linux "Knoppix ".
Booted it up and also put the harddrive in the USB interface.
It clicks, screeches etc but if I'm lucky sometimes it shows up on "Knoppix" but if I click on it I get a "non-block error" or something.
Tried to run "Test-Disk" on "Knoppix" but I'm unable to do it...

So I guess I made things even worse?

Do I now need a professional data recovery company or is there still hope?
Any other suggestions?
Please tell me what to do next...

Thanks very much again

 

The hdd is now a door stop only, can not be recovered.

sorry to say, to late.

One should use the freeze only as very last resort. After several hours of use it normally will become a door stop due to internal moisture. The freeze will work for some problems to permit recovery of data.

 

Yes, only way I know of recovering data from such a state is to have the drive platters taken out and read that way. VERY expensive.

Matt

 

Thanks for your help and infos.
Bummer! Well, life goes on...

Last question, I have an identical model, even the serial numbers match (except for the very last digit) - can I just open up the harddrive, take out the platters and put them on the good working harddrive?
(I know that eventually, the good one could also become a doorstop this way, just asking if it's possible and what to be careful for, if I do it)

Thanks again

 

You do not have the equipment, environment or expertise to even consider doing this - if you ever take a hard drive apart, you'll understand.

 

NO.