BTW found another one, this time from my favorite freeware-maker (I already use two of their other freeware, and even recommended one of them to Nikos)-
http://www.piriform.com/recuva
dskchk fails on my 1 TB hard disk - How to recover data?
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I bypassed the dskchk on bootup (by pressing ESC once for each partition).
But after aborting the dskchk, the Windows XP (SP-3) does not start: It simply shows the normal Windows startup screen, and simply says "Windows is starting up...". But even after several minutes there is no change in the status.
If I disconnect the SATA cable from the faulty disk and restart the PC, Windows starts normally.
I checked the boot menu (by pressing F2 during BIOS screen). It shows the faulty disk in 3nd position in the SATA ports list. The healthy disk (on which the Windows partition resides) is the first in the list.
In Boot configuration > Advanced menu, the drives are listed but grayed out, and I cannot edit their properties. I also cannot change the Master/Slave flag. (When I use the arrow keys, the cursor simply jumps over all these options.)
I think the problem may lie here; and I need to change the BIOS settings somehow.
Any idea what I should do to avoid Windows hanging at startup?
Or should I start the PC normally and connect the faulty disk through USB box? Would that bypass this issue?
Thirdly, my new disk is not formatted yet because I wasn't sure how the partitions are supposed to be (to match partitions in the faulty disk). Should I format it, and if yes, how? It shows up as a single volume on disk manager, but does not sho any drive letters (naturally).
Thanks in advance!
But after aborting the dskchk, the Windows XP (SP-3) does not start: It simply shows the normal Windows startup screen, and simply says "Windows is starting up...". But even after several minutes there is no change in the status.
If I disconnect the SATA cable from the faulty disk and restart the PC, Windows starts normally.
I checked the boot menu (by pressing F2 during BIOS screen). It shows the faulty disk in 3nd position in the SATA ports list. The healthy disk (on which the Windows partition resides) is the first in the list.
In Boot configuration > Advanced menu, the drives are listed but grayed out, and I cannot edit their properties. I also cannot change the Master/Slave flag. (When I use the arrow keys, the cursor simply jumps over all these options.)
I think the problem may lie here; and I need to change the BIOS settings somehow.
Any idea what I should do to avoid Windows hanging at startup?
Or should I start the PC normally and connect the faulty disk through USB box? Would that bypass this issue?
Thirdly, my new disk is not formatted yet because I wasn't sure how the partitions are supposed to be (to match partitions in the faulty disk). Should I format it, and if yes, how? It shows up as a single volume on disk manager, but does not sho any drive letters (naturally).
Thanks in advance!
I would try the USB approach; most probably it is the quickest solution for making the drive accessible.
Regarding formatting:
As we know now, that all but the first partition are not readable at now, you will need one of the alternative Imaging programs, ODIN as already mentioned. As I do not know this program I cannot say, if and how the goal drive has to be partitioned / formatted; probably this is not necessary (I would guess so), but this should be said in the documentation.
Regarding formatting:
As we know now, that all but the first partition are not readable at now, you will need one of the alternative Imaging programs, ODIN as already mentioned. As I do not know this program I cannot say, if and how the goal drive has to be partitioned / formatted; probably this is not necessary (I would guess so), but this should be said in the documentation.
Just reiterating Cosmo's idea: I agree the USB approach is best - far less likely to flummox the machine. Slower, but more practical.
Technically, when cloning the application will do formatting for you (or even re-do it in case you did it anyway)... at the very least, don't do anything fancy, just settle for a single large partition (preferably larger than or equal to the old drive [in total]).
On the plus side, all you're doing is copying the old drive which is non-invasive, so you can't really hurt anything anyway - if it doesn't work the first time just experiment with other settings. The worst that can happen is the new drive will give you funny looks while you make it do the same thing over and over again.
Contrary to your current experience, hard drives are pretty robust things, as long as you don't drop them or leave them in the rain. Those things tend to make them grumpy.
Technically, when cloning the application will do formatting for you (or even re-do it in case you did it anyway)... at the very least, don't do anything fancy, just settle for a single large partition (preferably larger than or equal to the old drive [in total]).
On the plus side, all you're doing is copying the old drive which is non-invasive, so you can't really hurt anything anyway - if it doesn't work the first time just experiment with other settings. The worst that can happen is the new drive will give you funny looks while you make it do the same thing over and over again.
Contrary to your current experience, hard drives are pretty robust things, as long as you don't drop them or leave them in the rain. Those things tend to make them grumpy.
http://shellcity.net/ has some disk salvage tools today
How could you go wrong with something called "Roadkill's Raw Copy"? Looks just the ticket for this, actually.nikos wrote:http://shellcity.net/ has some disk salvage tools today
Great name.
When things went fine, I didn't follow the proactive path! 
Apparently seagate offers free data recovery in US. ut not in other countries; so I am on my own.
Anyway, latest update: As described in last post, Windows was hanging in "Windows is starting upo..." stage whenever I conected the faulty disk. So I used the disk in USB.
I also had to format my new disk (single primary NTFS partition), otherwise none of the backup tools showed it as backup disk.
I get some strange results:
1. The autoplay takes a very long time (15-20 minutes after I connect the USB connector)
2. Not all partitions are shown every time. But if I switch off/on, they eventually show up. The good part is that the most crucial partition always shows.
3, Three out of the four partitions show the full size of the disk. One partition shows 0.00 MB.
When I tried to copy a single partition from the faulty disk, the tool says "there is no sufficient space on target disk".
Any clues?
****
Seagate offers firmware update for the problem. But how to use it on a USB drive?
Apparently seagate offers free data recovery in US. ut not in other countries; so I am on my own.
Anyway, latest update: As described in last post, Windows was hanging in "Windows is starting upo..." stage whenever I conected the faulty disk. So I used the disk in USB.
I also had to format my new disk (single primary NTFS partition), otherwise none of the backup tools showed it as backup disk.
I get some strange results:
1. The autoplay takes a very long time (15-20 minutes after I connect the USB connector)
2. Not all partitions are shown every time. But if I switch off/on, they eventually show up. The good part is that the most crucial partition always shows.
3, Three out of the four partitions show the full size of the disk. One partition shows 0.00 MB.
When I tried to copy a single partition from the faulty disk, the tool says "there is no sufficient space on target disk".
Any clues?
****
Seagate offers firmware update for the problem. But how to use it on a USB drive?
As already mentioned I believe, that the partition table is defective and therefor "the tool" gets confused. Probably it is this 4th partition, which is responsible for the whole trouble.narayan wrote:3, Three out of the four partitions show the full size of the disk. One partition shows 0.00 MB.
When I tried to copy a single partition from the faulty disk, the tool says "there is no sufficient space on target disk".
First question: Which tool?
Second question: Can you copy the whole drive with ODIN (or something similar)?
If not, I would start to take all data from the first 3 partitions to the new drive and after that you might probably have to try a repair (testdisk) of the 4th partition without copying beforehand.
narayan,
I saw this article on using Clonezilla today and thought of your issue.
Is there any progress you want to report?
I saw this article on using Clonezilla today and thought of your issue.
Is there any progress you want to report?
Yes, indeed!
SeaGate's global customer care center (Singapore), tells me that my disk is not affected by the .11 batch problem. So this is a routine "corruption of FAT" failure.
They told me that normal recovery software will work. That's good news.
As I shared earlier, when I connected the defective internal HDD, the Windows hanged at start up stage. I could not understand why. But then I also noticed that my FireFox was also crashing often when visiting msn pages. Reinstalling SP-3 for Windows solved the firefox problem. I am hoping that it has also solved my Windows hanging issue also.
I will connect the HDD internally this Sunday and see if Windows start up normally. Then my FAt recovery will be a far simpler task.
SeaGate's global customer care center (Singapore), tells me that my disk is not affected by the .11 batch problem. So this is a routine "corruption of FAT" failure.
They told me that normal recovery software will work. That's good news.
As I shared earlier, when I connected the defective internal HDD, the Windows hanged at start up stage. I could not understand why. But then I also noticed that my FireFox was also crashing often when visiting msn pages. Reinstalling SP-3 for Windows solved the firefox problem. I am hoping that it has also solved my Windows hanging issue also.
I will connect the HDD internally this Sunday and see if Windows start up normally. Then my FAt recovery will be a far simpler task.
Isn't that like using an elephant to step on an ant? That actual bug was traced to poor Flash/Shockwave content coding (in older versions) - it afflicted SP2 users as well. The solution was (apparently) to simply update Shockwave. Though renting an elephant for the day can be fun too.narayan wrote:Reinstalling SP-3 for Windows solved the firefox problem.
The Windows hanging is probably not related to SP3, it's the MB's built-in SATA controller misaligning the corrupted setup when the BIOS hands-over to Windows after the POST. Would be amusing if the elephant could fix that too, but he might demand more peanuts for the service.
Actually I too was thinking this is too much of a fluke! 
I searched the FF forums, but could see multiple posts on FF3 crashing (I saw many old complaints with FF2 also). Thus I concluded that FF3 crashes are not yet resolved. Re-installing FF did not solve the problem, so I re-installed SP3, which finally solved it.
Interestingly, I came across the "SP3 re-installation" solution when I bought a new custom-made PC. I transferred my old HDD to the new one, and Windows seemed to work well "out of the box". But then some programs started to act up. Repairing Windows could not solve those problems. But re-installing SP3 solved all problems.
Three months later, when the FF3 had strange incurable problems, I had the golden formula ready, and it worked too!
That's why I am hoping that the reinstalled SP3 will allow restarting windows with the faulty HDD. If not, it is back to the USB box!
I searched the FF forums, but could see multiple posts on FF3 crashing (I saw many old complaints with FF2 also). Thus I concluded that FF3 crashes are not yet resolved. Re-installing FF did not solve the problem, so I re-installed SP3, which finally solved it.
Interestingly, I came across the "SP3 re-installation" solution when I bought a new custom-made PC. I transferred my old HDD to the new one, and Windows seemed to work well "out of the box". But then some programs started to act up. Repairing Windows could not solve those problems. But re-installing SP3 solved all problems.
Three months later, when the FF3 had strange incurable problems, I had the golden formula ready, and it worked too!
That's why I am hoping that the reinstalled SP3 will allow restarting windows with the faulty HDD. If not, it is back to the USB box!
You transferred the boot disc direct, without reinstalling Windows? Or MB, SATA, etc. drivers? Or anything? Oh dear God, just shoot me now before I go apoplectic. :Dnarayan wrote:...when I bought a new custom-made PC ... I transferred my old HDD to the new one, and Windows seemed to work well "out of the box".
Speaking as a hardware enthusiast, I thought your blithe lack of a backup routine was bad enough, but this? Cast ye to the dogs, walk the plank, drink absinthe, and may children shudder and go silent when you pass by. (Actually that last one could be quite useful.)
Um... No. Just No. New MB, you must reinstall Windows (even MS themselves would suggest it, hence their licensing model of Retail vs. OEM). For this, you are certainly the author of (most) of your own sins. What good is a custom made PC if you just drag in the same mud off your old boots?
Ironically, reinstalling SP3 to fix probably had nothing to do with the SP itself, but rather Windows woke up and said "WTF? Whose bed am I sleeping in?" and decided to repatch (in its usual half-arsed manner of searching its own limited repository) the system drivers for good measure.
And you probably got half-lucky with what it found.
Oh no, no, no, no.
The Spanish Merchant's Daughter (Chantey) wrote:Oh madam I will give you jewels,
I will make you rich and free
I will give you silken dresses,
Madam will you marry me?
Oh no John, No John, No John, No!
Oh madam since you are so cruel,
And that you do scorn me so
If I may not be your lover,
Madam will you let me go?
Oh no John, No John, No John, No!
Actually with almost 80 utilities to install, I was feeling singularly lazy. It would have taken me a whole day (if not two). (But I am now thinking of creating a golden image of OS+Utilities).
The entire PC was new (much more powerful), except the old HDD that contained the OS and utilities.
When I repaired Windows, it was almost like re-installing it: It even asked for the serial number and passed through the whole slide show that we see during a new installation; and then I reinstalled SP3.
BTW the PC worked just fine for three months after that.
So would it require a clean formatting+installation?