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Question

retrieving data off an old HDD

Feb 27, 2015 10:17PM PST

Hello all, thanks for reading Happy

I recently bought a USB to SATA adapter, and I am trying to access the data on a very old HDD.

When I plug the USB in, Windows beeps and installs driver software. There's a green checkmark, and I'm able to eject the USB to ATA bridge, and when I go to 'computer management' I can see the drive in both the 'device manager' and 'disk management' sections. In 'device manager' if I double click on the drive, the 'device properties' window opens and says 'this device is working properly'.

In the 'disk management' section it appears as "Disk 1", "Unknown", "Not Initialized", and "Unallocated". It also says 19.15GB. Now, the drive is actually 30GB (according to the sticker on the drive and 'device manager')... so.. I'm hoping that means I have 19.15GB of data to get at!

If I right-click on the block where it says '19.15GB Unallocated', I can access the properties and the help section, but 'new simple volume', 'new spanned/striped etc.' are grayed out.

If I right-click on the block where it says 'Disk 1' etc., I can access properties, help, 'offline' and 'initialize disk'. When I click on either 'offline' or 'initialize disk', I receive an error message that reads: "The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error".

That's about all I got. Thank you very much for your help! Happy

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Re: very old HD
Feb 27, 2015 10:39PM PST

I'd try to connect it directly to a SATA slot on the motherboard of your PC and see what happens. Don't forget tp connect the power also!

Kees

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hmm
Feb 28, 2015 12:24AM PST

I opened up the desktop, and I can't for the life of me figure out where a second hard drive would go. I'm not seeing any 3.5" slots. The one drive in there now is in a plastic casing and there is NO room for another. The specs I found online say there is another internal drive slot, but I'm not seeing it. the computer is a Lenovo thinkcentre m series. m81 type 718 model D7U. The Lenovo site is only showing me specs for m81 though, of which there are other versions.

yada yada.. this is a 'thin' or 'mini' tower. I'm not sure it's set up for a second drive. I could be wrong though, I'm new to all of this really.

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For temporary work, I just put it where ever.
Feb 28, 2015 12:32AM PST

I do take care to not short anything but for data retrieval it doesn't have to be mounted in a bay.
Bob

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thanks bob!
Feb 28, 2015 12:34AM PST

thanks for the input bob, but I'm not even seeing a slot, let alone a bay. I mean.. there's lots of empty slots.. but none that appear to me as 3.5" drive slots

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That's why I put it where ever.
Feb 28, 2015 12:43AM PST

A 5.25 bay uses an adapter but even then, for temporary work I place a cardboard square for the drive to sit on and place the drive on that.

As to replacing the drive, then you won't have a bootable OS (most likely.) So that's more fun to boot another OS from USB/DVD to get files out.
Bob

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mm
Feb 28, 2015 12:52AM PST

ok, if I get an adapter I'll keep in mind the cardboard square. good idea!

I am 55% sure this WAS the boot drive.

I don't understand the "more fun to boot another OS from USB/DVD" comment. I can run an OS off a DVD or USB flash drive and have my old drive connected?

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Link:
Feb 28, 2015 1:01AM PST
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tt
Feb 28, 2015 1:34AM PST

sorry bob, I think I've got turned around a bit.

the cardboard is meant to insulate from an electrical short happening yes?

My confusion is that this old HDD is 3.5", and I'm not seeing any free 3.5" slots.

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Yes.
Feb 28, 2015 1:37AM PST

In the picture they sit it on a metal surface. To be safe you'll see me with a paper or cardboard under that drive.

As to 3.5 slots, I don't need slots. Just any place safe for the drive, even on top of the desktop to see if this will work. If it's to be permanent then I check for 5.25 bays or even placing it at the bottom of the case (no bay method.)
Bob

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gg
Feb 28, 2015 1:41AM PST

hi bob, continued thanks for you patience with my bumbling!

I'm now clear on the cardboard. good advice.

In regards to 'slots': I don't see ANYWHERE where this drive would connect to this computer. (Except of course where the current [only] drive is connected)

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Let's tackle cable connections now.
Feb 28, 2015 1:46AM PST

Since the forum bottoms out, I'll reply up top.

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Re: slot
Feb 28, 2015 3:00AM PST
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hm!
Feb 28, 2015 12:32AM PST

If I was to put this old HDD in place of the one current drive (If there is in fact only one slot), what would happen?

Basically, I have two old drives from an old desktop, I can't remember which had the OS on it or anything else really. (The second drive makes a weird sound and isn't recognized at all when I plug it in through the USB to sata adapter btw.. which is why I haven't mentioned it yet... future problems).

Is it worth trying plugging it in and seeing what happens? Keep in mind that because I use a laptop these days this Lenovo desktop is my mom's and she'll not be happy if I lose all her high scores Wink

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Answer
-> Let's talk about DATA RECOVERY NOW <-
Feb 28, 2015 1:52AM PST

We sidetracked on how to temp mount the drive and may want to talk about SATA connections later. BUT my read of your TOP OPENING POST tells me the drive did connect just fine with the USB adapter but the file system has issues.

Before you begin ANY data recovery on a drive you want to clone that drive onto your other spare before you operate on the last good copy.

Cloning is done with your choice of software. TODO is mentioned so here's search for how to:
https://www.google.com/search?q=todo+cloning&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Now that we have a clone we can operate on the clone and try these tools:
http://forums.cnet.com/7723-7588_102-354911/lost-and-found-or-the-storage-forum-sticky/?tag=contentBody;threadListing

Bob

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Answer
Was this YOUR old hard drive?
Mar 1, 2015 11:51AM PST

Are you sure it was from a windows computer and not used in a Mac, or with Linux?

You could boot a LIVE DVD of some linux distro and see if it can find files on the drive. If windows sees a linux drive formatted as ext, it can't read it. Linux can read that, FAT, and NTFS, and other file formats. It's your best first chance at finding what's really on the drive.

http://www.distrowatch.com for lists of linux distros by popularity