damaged hard disk data recovery

Odd timing for your question I just yesterday replaced the LCD on a client's laptop which they claimed was "dropped." Funny, no side-impact pattern to the glass (indicative of a "drop"), but it *did* look as if it took a direct punch to the "face" with no external damage to the shell whatsoever.

Another client truly dropped their external HD for a Sony VAIO. I first tried my old favorite, Photorec, but there was just too much physical damage and Photorec choked. I then found the Linux utility ddrescue. After running it for one month, I was able to reclaim 5GB of data, which I'm about transfer to DVD tomorrow.

Best wishes in your recovery efforts and in urging your friend to try some deep-breathing exercises in the future before she goes "postal worker" again

D

-Austin

lol thanks, how come it took so long to rescue? did you have to reconstruct the file from File allocation table manually?
do u think if i ddrescue it and then tried using sleuth kit or encase to recover files would work?
im not sure how deep the damage went? i was more interested in whether it would be recoverable if the read/write heads were not actually physically able to access the platters.

thanks for the help
much appreciated

but it *did* look as if it took a direct punch to the "face" with no external damage to the shell whatsoever.

I have found the leading cause of that type of damage to be users closing pens or similar in the laptop (often when trying to hide what is on the screen).

but it *did* look as if it took a direct punch to the "face" with no external damage to the shell whatsoever.

I have found the leading cause of that type of damage to be users closing pens or similar in the laptop (often when trying to hide what is on the screen).

Normally that would've been my guess, too. In this case, the user was a wee bit over-emphatic that the unit had been dropped. The crazing of the LCD panel showed radial cracks emanating from a central point. But, hey, it matters not too me. The replacement costs to the client is the same, regardless of etiology.

how come it took so long to rescue? did you have to reconstruct the file from File allocation table manually?
do u think if i ddrescue it and then tried using sleuth kit or encase to recover files would work?
im not sure how deep the damage went? i was more interested in whether it would be recoverable if the read/write heads were not actually physically able to access the platters.

Try the software first, be it Sleuthkit, photorec or ddrescue. It won't cost you anything but time. If, in fact the read-write heads *are* damaged then these would need to be replaced. Also, if the heads are damaged, there will be damage to the platters. Add in that this is a laptop drive and data recovery could be a real challenge.

My recent data-recovery project took so long precisely because of the amount of physical damage. ddrescue is good about making repeated efforts to read from damaged sectors. I finally made the call to pull the plug and "pronounce" the drive after a month of trying and not getting any recovered data during the final week.

You and your friend will need to decide how much of a recovery effort her data is worth.

thats the best answer from most of the people i asked

all of them said "its impossible to recover unless i have the equipment that forensics labs have" are there any hard disk salvaging kits out there available to purchase for a decent price? i want to put the effort in as i am currently a student studying computer forensics, it would be good practice.

thank you very much for the helpful responses
with regards
roo

all of them said "its impossible to recover unless i have the equipment that forensics labs have" are there any hard disk salvaging kits out there available to purchase for a decent price? i want to put the effort in as i am currently a student studying computer forensics, it would be good practice.

Impossible? No. Difficult? Probably. Particularly since you are working with a smaller drive. Check out the "Presentations" section at the My Hard Drive Died web-site. It has a lot of info, including videos of the innards of hard drives, tips, techniques and even how to build your own mini "clean room" for cheap!

I know we've all been told the "you gotta have a clean room and wear a bunny suit if you're gonna open up a hard drive" story. Not so! Just don't touch the platters. Remember, drives spin at several thousand RPM. Any little bit of dust or pollen will be flung off as the drive comes up to speed. Open up an old drive sometime and closely examine those little filter "pillows" inside. Many times you'll discover they have a thin film of metal on them. Guess where it came from? Spun off the platters!

If you're planning a head replacement, find a used drive of exact model and vintage on Ebay or wherever. That's your "salvaging kit." You'll want to come as close as you can to finding an "identical twin" to your friend's drive.

Again, *if* the heads are damaged, there's going to be platter damage. The poor heads had to bang into something, after all! 😉

I wish you success in your effort; you *will* learn a lot by trying.

Thank you very much

you have been most helpful. il look into that now. i found this kit http//www.salvationdata.com/productDetail.asp?pn=00013
do you think i need this kind of equipment or do you think the kit is a waste of money?

thanks again
with regards
dickson

i found this kit http//www.salvationdata.com/productDetail.asp?pn=00013
do you think i need this kind of equipment or do you think the kit is a waste of money?

Are you going to develop a hard drive repair/recovery business? If so, then yes, the fancy table would be nice. Right now, you may want to look at a tool to replace the read-write heads, such as the one here.

Removing the platters is a last resort and you MUST use a tool that looks very much like the one mechanics use to compress piston rings for engine re-assembly. It is a cylindrical clamp which holds all of the platters steady and keeps them from moving independently. Why? Because when data is written to a hard drive, it is interleaved across all platters. If there is the slightest misalignment, the data is lost. Far better to leave the platters in-place and swap out the heads.

On the web-site you referenced you can see the bottom end of such a device in the second picture from the top.

thanks very much

you're helpful as always.