Recovering Data from a HDD

[Smash Bros]

ok i finally managed to format my pc. and to make sure nothing bad happened i got 2 brand new HDD my main one is 200gig and my backup is 160gig. (cost my $40 all up)

now my problem is my old backup hdd had about 50gig worth of music and movies on it. plus backup system files. i took it out the right way and all and plugged it back in once windows was installed so i could transfer my music/movies over.

well the hdd is blank. well not letting me access it saying it needs to be formatted. now i know that there is a way to recover this items BUT due to me looking for programs myself before and installing 10 before they work i thought id ask someone in here that knows wtf they are doing to step me through it so i dont fuck anything else up.

and yes computers hate me :whip:

[Q80Thug]

well the hdd is blank. well not letting me access it saying it needs to be formatted.

do NOT format it, otherwise it gonna be impossible to retrieve your data back or very difficult. i myself had a similar problem where i accidentally formatted my HD and stopped it in the middle of the process (DURrrr). the result was a HD that the wasnt recognizable and the system would always ask to format it, tried several 'Free' recovery programs but they didnt work , so i ended going to a tech shop and paid for this service, the technician said free recovery progs are not efficient and that he used a payed one. hope this useless information helps :bonk:

[Smash Bros]

yeah it does lol.

i was gonna format it. then thought hang on it can be gotten back.

so i left it.

i think i did anyways :S

[spankme]

did u make sure to change the jumpers to 'slave' before you reinstalled it in your new setup?

[hoos]

Get an external encasement. Plugs into the USB and you should be able to get at your data.

[Jacx]

did u make sure to change the jumpers to 'slave' before you reinstalled it in your new setup?


what he said!

Make sure u have it set to Slave and the main one master or set them to cable select.

Also check in bios if the second drive is being correctly detected.

[Smash Bros]

yes and yes.

i learnt about the master/slave jumpers awhile ago now. (damn sata adapators)

buuuut

ill do it again this arvo when i get home. and i didnt think to check in the bios as the hdd was detected on the initall startup screen (where you click del to go into bios)

[Dymond]

not a good sign if its saying the disk needs to be formatted.. I wonder did you wipe your partitions? I can turn you on to a program that can probably get the info back.

[Jacx]

As dymond said...there are ways to deal with lost partitions.

however do the mob bit first, go in to bios and check that Head, Cylinders, Sectors filled in for that drive.

If that is ok, make urself a boot up/start up disk.

Set the old drive as master and as the only drive and start computer with the boot up disk.

Once in check the drive listings, if you see data you recognize then you know this is a settings/setup issue.

if of course u see jack shit...ask dymond for that program.

[spankme]

the mbr may just be messed up on the drive

u can google "how do i fix my mbr"

[Smash Bros]

i done use partitions.

i use different hdd.

[stokes91]

if you DID accidently format the hdd, you might be able to get it back, i've formated stuff before and still gotten the information back.
also, as the other guys check the slave/master setup, it's most likely that. it's also possible that it's a physical problem with the drive, is it sata or old ata? at work we've actually taken the pcb off a drive and put a new one on it, and it worked. though that's pretty sketchy and doesn't work that much

[Smash Bros]

it is ata although it was running through a sata adaptor (so that i can use the sata connection instead of ata cause opf not enough connections) the adaptor fucked up though. (i broke it when it was sitting on the table lol)

i know the ata way works as thats what im using now.

i still havent checked everything properly as i was formatting a pc for 6 hours today and am going back to finish it tomorrow (took so long as i was backing up needed files but forgot about the drivers :()