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    Recover data from damaged T42 hard drive

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by notebooklaptop, Dec 7, 2006.

  1. notebooklaptop

    notebooklaptop Newbie

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    Hi,

    The hard drive on my T42 stopped booting because of bad sectors, and as it was under warranty, they shipped me a new hard drive, I installed everything and it's working fine.

    However, I still need to (at least try) recover some data from the old hard drive. I suspect there is a good chance I will recover at least some. What would be the best way to approach this before I call professionals?

    1- Attach the old one as the second HD
    2- Attach the old HD back as and try to boot from external device (CD-Rom, USB HD or Flash)
    3- Network boot?
    4- ?

    Please give me some guidance. My last backup is quite old and I need some newer files.

    Thank you
     
    notebooklaptop, Dec 7, 2006
    #1
  2. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    As long as the HDD still spins and runs (even with bad sectors), check out RecoverMyFiles (~$70).

    1) Download trial version
    2) Run complete recovery on HDD (this may take some time as it searches byte by byte)
    3) Get list of files it can recover
    4) If you think the files it lists are worth it, buy license
    5) Give license code to computer
    6) Recover those files and save to another hard drive (this again takes time)

    Good luck!
     
    Greg, Dec 7, 2006
    #2
  3. ZaZ

    ZaZ Super Model Super Moderator

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    Could throw it in a usb case.
     
    ZaZ, Dec 7, 2006
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  4. notebooklaptop

    notebooklaptop Newbie

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    Do you mean using a USB adapter to connect to as an external drive? Could you recommend me any such product?

    Thank you
     
    notebooklaptop, Dec 9, 2006
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  5. notebooklaptop

    notebooklaptop Newbie

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    I'll give it a try. Thank you.

     
    notebooklaptop, Dec 9, 2006
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  6. ZaZ

    ZaZ Super Model Super Moderator

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    ZaZ, Dec 9, 2006
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  7. Momo26

    Momo26 Notebook Deity NBR Reviewer

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    What exactly are bad sectors and why can the hard drive be accessed via usb but not physically in the laptop?
     
    Momo26, Dec 10, 2006
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  8. dietcokefiend

    dietcokefiend DietGreenTeaFiend

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    HD's are made up of platters basically divided up into "sectors". A bad sector is one that can no longer be changed from 1 to 0 or 0 to 1. This can be caused from dirt or other crap not cleaned out of the assembly before it was put together, among other things. Most of the time you can still access it for certain files, but if you got a bunch of bad sectors where an important system file is, you can't boot off that drive anymore.
     
    dietcokefiend, Dec 10, 2006
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  9. notebooklaptop

    notebooklaptop Newbie

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    I bought something similar from a local store but couldn't make the HD visible. Tried installing/reinstalling drivers, etc with no success.

    I was wondering whether I can directly connect my notebook (2.5 inch) hd directly to my desktop. That way I wouldn't have to worry about installing USB drivers, etc.

    Is it possible? What would I need to do that?

    Thank you for your patience and guidance.



     
    notebooklaptop, Dec 10, 2006
    #9