Posted: 3/16/2005 6:09:53 PM EDT
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My old hard drive failed and now it makes weird clicking and whirring noises when I try to access it on other computers, not to mention really slow access time. I have read that this means I should stop trying to access it, as continued efforts may be damaging the drive. There's nothing critically life-threatening on that drive, but all my digital photos are there, and I'd really like to have them back. Should I: 1) Pay thousands of $$$ to get it professionally recovered 2) Risk trying to save what I can at home before the thing totally dies 3) other? Any info appreciated, as always. Thanks! |
True, i've heard of this.. but, i've also had luck retrieving data from a drive simply by pulling it out of the case and holding it an angle that "to the touch" works.. |
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This program might work for you, depending on how far gone the data is: www.restorer2000.com Here is another program that might help: www.grc.com/sr/spinrite.htm |
| I don't know how old your computer is, but do you have any spare drive bays, you may want to trudge down to your local computer store such as Fry's, CompUSA, and buy another hard drive, re-install your OS on the new drive, and copy all of your stuff off before the drive totally quites on you. |
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One thing to watch for to prevent this is hard drive heat. Many of the uber gig sized drives today get much hotter than the old drives. Replacing an old drive with a new one can just be setting it up for heat failure. I've even had drives sitting outside the computer get way too hot because they didn't have a dedicated fan blowing on them! It's a good idea to add a fan anytime you add or replace a hard drive with a faster/bigger model. |
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CDBurners are at roughly $50 bucks now. DVDBurners are about $100. Thats a small price to pay to back up your important data. Every hard drive WILL die. Its just a matter of time. Also, don't get those humungus 300 gig drives because all you will do is fill it up, and when you realize you have 275 gigs of your stuff ready to be backed up, you will find an excuse not to. Get a smaller drive and back up regularly. |