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Thread ID: 104142 2009-10-18 03:24:00 Recover data - disk not intialized Tukapa (62) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
821676 2009-10-18 03:24:00 Hi all

A mate who has no backup plan in place is now crapping his pants because hsi computer won't start up.

It appeared to be a hard drive problem so I took the hard drive out (IDE) and hooked it up to my PC via USB to see if I could drag the data off for him.

Through computer management it shows as 'not initialized'.

Is there any way to recover his data from a disk that isn't initialized?

Any help would be appreciated and I could even share the beer he will be putting in my fridge if I can save his files!

Thanks.
Tukapa (62)
821677 2009-10-18 03:41:00 Try a linux live CD. Blam (54)
821678 2009-10-18 05:13:00 I would try Testdisk to find and recover the lost partition(s) fred_fish (15241)
821679 2009-10-18 05:25:00 I would try Testdisk to find and recover the lost partition(s)
Agreed, testdisk is the tool to use here. Just make sure you back up anything you intend to change before you change it in case you need to put it back afterwards.
Erayd (23)
821680 2009-10-18 05:56:00 Thanks guys - had a look at that testdisk but it won't see the drive. It sees all my other hard drives but not the one that shows as not initialized. Tukapa (62)
821681 2009-10-18 06:07:00 Have you tried changing the jumpers since it's IDE? I think the last one I tried on USB needed jumpering to master for some reason gary67 (56)
821682 2009-10-18 06:55:00 Yep - changes jumper from cable select to master before starting.

Just ran it through the long generic test on Seatools and it did nothing except fire up fail after fail after fail.

Me thinks the data may be long gone!
Tukapa (62)
821683 2009-10-18 08:50:00 If he really really must have his data back, he could try these guys, is quite expensive though
www.datarecovery.co.nz
feersumendjinn (64)
821684 2009-10-19 06:12:00 Certainly, it is no use trying software tools if it shows as not initialised. Just had drives showing that symptom a couple of days ago. They were on a cheapo USB hookup and they were not completing their internal startup routine.

What do you hear (or not hear) when it is fired up? Does it sound like it is winding up and clicking as it finds track 0?
linw (53)
821685 2009-10-21 03:28:00 Hi

You can definitely hear it winding up and clicking numerous times but never actually being recognised.

Thanks.
Tukapa (62)
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