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General discussion

Copy data from HD in enclosure?

Jun 18, 2010 12:00AM PDT

I have two hard drives. One I bought and did nothing with until now, so I can use it as an external drive now.

The other is the hard drive from my computer which recently died. (It didn't die, the power supply broke, the fan needed to be fixed and it was three years old)


With the first, unused drive I simply went into disk management, initialized it and then formatted it.

With the drive that is from the old laptop, I need the data that is on there, so formatting it is absolutely out of the question. I just don't know how to go about getting this drive recognized by my computer (Win7) and then being able to copy its data to my new computer.

These are SATA drives. Not sure if that matters, I just have a feeling someone's gonna ask.

Please let me know if you can help. Thanks.

Discussion is locked

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You didn't tell what you tried.
Jun 18, 2010 1:12AM PDT

For drives with partitions and more you usually put them into some USB case and connect it up. A drive letter appears and you copy out your files.

Your post does not tell if you tried.
Bob

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well,
Jun 18, 2010 2:00AM PDT

I didn't try anything. I plugged my old notebook's hd into the enclosure after having initialized and formatted the new/other hd, and hesitated because, well, I don't want to lose a few hundred gigabytes of data.

This drive from my old computer has no partition at all.

I don't know what else you would need to know.

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"This drive from my old computer has no partition at all. "
Jun 18, 2010 2:30AM PDT

Your exact steps are still unclear. I know it's asking a lot but let's say you took this old drive and put it into the enclosure and it didn't show up with partitions and no drive letter.

In that case we want to CLONE that drive first since what we do next is data recovery and if there is one lesson about that we never operate on the original. For owners that won't do this they often are new to data recovery and must lose it all since that's how the lesson is (excuse me here) drummed in.

Ok, with the drive cloned (I use CLONEZILLA) I take my clone and try the usual recovery tools noted at the top of the Cnet Storage Forum. A Linux boot CD to see if that sees the files, the usual GETDATABACK, ZERO ASSUMPTION RECOVERY and RECUVA are noted there.

Let's see what you discover with these tools on the clone copy.
Bob

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..and if I'm not using Linux
Jun 18, 2010 2:39AM PDT

..but instead Windows 7, will I still be ok using this software?

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When working in the field of data recovery.
Jun 18, 2010 3:19AM PDT

You learn to use all the available tools. Linux is just too easy to boot off the CD and look around. Trust me.

READ ->>> http://tips.oncomputers.info/archives2004/0401/2004-Jan-11.htm

That was over six years ago.

Ok, let's get back to it. Titles noted, data recovery titles and the Cnet Storage Forum noted.

What other notes can I add?
Bob

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wait a minute
Jun 18, 2010 5:34AM PDT

I don't know what you're talking about now. I'm not interested in becoming a linux convert.

there is no damage to the drive or anything like that, so GetDataBack etc might be the wrong kind of program. cloning the drive - is that possible? the computer I took the drive from was vista, this new one is windows 7

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..
Jun 18, 2010 8:20PM PDT

This is in a SATA disk enclosure, by the way. I thought that was clear

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No convert job here.
Jun 18, 2010 8:44PM PDT

It's a tool and if you read the link I gave you see why we used it to get our files back. If you want to ignore all possible other tools then what are we doing here?

Now I don't know what you are talking about. I thought the discussion was about how to get to your files.

My answer is simple. BY ANY MEANS POSSIBLE.
Bob

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so
Jun 19, 2010 1:58AM PDT

once I install this Knoppix, I will be able to copy everything directly?

I'm running into walls with these other softwares, ..the disc is uninitiated, there are cyclical redundancy checks,bad sectors etc. and the scans take 600 years to get 39% done.

so Knoppix is it? that's all I'll need?

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I re-read my posts and the links and no install.
Jun 19, 2010 2:45AM PDT

In the examples given all are boot and run from CD so to not disturb an otherwise working machine.

I'm sorry if that was lost somewhere as why these tools are so nice. Zero install, low to no risk.

The example given from 6 years ago used Knoppix. Today you can do better with newer bootable CDs like Ubuntu.

-> Hope this clears that up.
Bob

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dlk
Jun 19, 2010 5:53AM PDT

so burn this program to a disc, boot from it (I don't even know how to do that, I'll look it up) and I can copy data from a hard drive that I have in an enclosure.. even though no other progrm so far has been able to go through with it, and even though it is not yet initialized?

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The area of data recovery
Jun 19, 2010 8:22AM PDT

Is a big one. If you feel you are in over your head there are companies such as http://www.drivesavers.com that will do all the work for you.

We've covered all the usual do it yourself titles and covered the boot CD twice. Yet I'm not hearing about the results from GETDATABACK or ZERO ASSUMPTION RECOVERY.

ONCE IN A WHILE a member is looking for the one fix when you click a mouse three times and the files come back. I wish it was that easy.
Bob

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My WD 'My Book Essential 500GB USB2.0' is in I.C.U.
Jun 23, 2010 12:50PM PDT

Having read all the 13 posts id like to bring my own predicament. Out of warranty Western Digital Corp. technician declared the disk dead during a telephone support session. They wont help any further cause manager wont let me initialize it. To them that is the "sign of death". I have about half the disk full with 1/2 of that half worth of Data which i would like to recover and willing to do some personal work on it, if i could get smart coaching (point blank steps 1... 2.. 3 etc); my level of PC savvy is about 4 out of 10. WD disk is listed in the "devices and printers" window. Im running Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit version now. Disk was initialized orginally with a XP Home edition 32 bit. I think that the issue is immaterial to the recovery but just in case it completes the panorama of how dramatic my predicament appears to be (at least to me it does!)
I am interested in at some point become free from Microsoft stuff so have started to read about Linux Ubuntu, and got from them the CD for one of their latest versions, which I havent done anything with it yet. Is that what Rob calls a "boot disk"?
So which steps could i try on my own to see if i could get the PC to access the External Hard Drive?

Whatever help i could get would be invaluable.
Thank you kindly

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For mswhip
Jun 23, 2010 10:00PM PDT

You should start your own post. Remember that all the above might be repeated. Hope you are ready with your boot CD and more.
Bob

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Sata enclosure -- SATA to ESATA or SATA to USB
Jun 27, 2010 6:50AM PDT

Please clarify the enclosure type.

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Re: Sata enclosure -- SATA to ESATA or SATA to USB
Jun 27, 2010 4:41PM PDT

it's SATA to USB. thanks

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did some research for you
Jul 3, 2010 1:15AM PDT

Go to Disk management(DM) and assign a letter for the drive so that windows can mount.
To mount a drive
1. Click to open Computer Management. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
2. In the Navigation pane, under Storage, click Disk Management.
3. Right-click the drive that you want to mount, and then click Change Drive Letter and Path.
4. Click Add, click Mount in this NTFS folder, and then either type the path to an empty folder on an NTFS drive or click Browse to locate it, and then click OK.
5. Click OK again.

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CRC
Jul 4, 2010 3:43AM PDT

Thanks. I've tried that, and I get a data error: cyclic redundancy check.

I don't know what this means, exactly. Nothing happened to the drive physically - it was removed carefully from another computer. I have used a number of programs that all get this same error message. Maybe I need to attach it back to the motherboard of the old computer? I am stuck right now.

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Re: CRC error
Jul 4, 2010 3:51AM PDT

That means something is wrong with the data on the disk.

I don't think that connecting it to the MB it came from will magically recover it, but - of course - it's worth a try. If it works, get all your data off, delete the partitions on it and make new ones.
If it doesn't work, try the same. If partitioning or formatting programs you try then give the same CRC error, you can try to zero the disk and start all over.

Kees

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I just see this.
Jul 4, 2010 4:48AM PDT
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found a crc repair tool for you
Jul 10, 2010 3:41AM PDT
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java?
Jul 13, 2010 7:56AM PDT

thanks for that.. now I just have to figure out how to use it! it doesn't run as a standalone? it's a java thing. hmm