RAW hard disk

[Vivek788]

I have made a thread in hardware troubleshooting about one of my hard disk not being opened in Windows.But it works well in Linux.It had happened due to accidental physical impact.
There I got the reply to try smartmontools to check if its hardware issues,and the tests were passed.
So I am posting it now in this section.
I think I found the reason why I am unable to open my drive when double clicking and no options available for properties.
I opened the drive in command prompt and it said it is RAW format.How did this happen??
Does a physical impact change filesystem,is my device permanently damaged or if I format,will it be restored?
There is a hell lot of data on the hard disk(105/120g used),so formatting means I would have to burn a lot of dvds to evacuate the data.help...

[dhanusaud]

yeah, this is hdd problem.. try to recover data from you hdd from other system...i mean attach the hdd to other system and backup the data if possible.

if not, you last option is forget the data & format the partition. I m not sure it will work after formatting, bcoz if it goes physically damaged then it will be hard to recover your data.

good luck.

[Batistabomb]

so now it's the time for you to download Easy Recovery Pro , not the trial but full version from kazaa, if not try some keys of this software in net, so backup your HDD using this software, then format and re-install XP

[Vivek788]

well I wouldn't need any s/w as this hard disk is accessible from Linux.I can backup from there.
My worry is whether I would get it replaced..this is gonna be the fourth replacement of this hard disk...hehe

[dhanusaud]

Originally Posted by Vivek788

well I wouldn't need any s/w as this hard disk is accessible from Linux.I can backup from there.
My worry is whether I would get it replaced..this is gonna be the fourth replacement of this hard disk...hehe

If the partition is accessible from linux then...your HDD is fantiastic...I mean no problem in it.

Okay, now just backup the data & format the partition in FAT32 or NTFS....voila.

as you said before that the problem was create with physical damage, if it is true then..it will be hard too backup data from linux too, ok go forward, backup the data & remember physical damage of HDD means playing with scissors.

[akkies_2000]

I'm facing a similar problem of RAW file system.... hdd is showing up in "my computer", but not getting detected in various data recovery softwares and some wud just give error message and quit.....

i'm not sure how critical the problem is... earlier it was not showing any data on both the partitions and now it is showing up data on root of one of the partitions, though none of it works and all folders are empty...

is a bootable linux cd/dvd going to help? i wud have to arrange it somehow? somebody plzz help me out..... how costly are these data recovery vendors?

my hdd crashed last night and file system is now RAW.... i was watching a muvi and that was getting stuck at a point, i restarted and it there was some problem.... my hdd has 2 partitions, g and h..... i'm using windows vista...

g: the data on its root is visible and all folders are empty. if i try to run any of the file, it shows up as empty.

h: it is all empty and asks for format, everytime i connect the hdd.

Apart from internal hdd, another disc shows up in disk management but it is being shown as "unknown". i tried various data recovery softwares, none has worked till now.

somebody plz advice...

[dhanusaud]

Buddy,

Ur hdd is gone.

[akkies_2000]

@dhanusaud : Thanks for an encouraging reply. Vivek feels the situation is same as his and he did get his data back.

Anyways, i'll get in touch with Seagate service centre since my FreeAgentGo hdd is still under warranty. If they are not able to ensure data recovery, I'll get it done from another vendor who wud charge me Rs.1750. I guess it won't void my warranty, unless he tries to get physical wid it

Last night, one of my partitions (h:\) suddenly started showing the data, however i was not able to access it, just cud back up one file... hopefully, data is secure and I shud get most of it back wid me...

[dhanusaud]

Originally Posted by akkies_2000

@dhanusaud : Thanks for an encouraging reply. Vivek feels the situation is same as his and he did get his data back.

Anyways, i'll get in touch with Seagate service centre since my FreeAgentGo hdd is still under warranty. If they are not able to ensure data recovery, I'll get it done from another vendor who wud charge me Rs.1750. I guess it won't void my warranty, unless he tries to get physical wid it

Last night, one of my partitions (h:\) suddenly started showing the data, however i was not able to access it, just cud back up one file... hopefully, data is secure and I shud get most of it back wid me...

ur hdd will play micky mouse game with you.
get your data backuped right now, & secure your data as well. I mean don't leave your hdd in store, crazy guys will take benefit of your data.

[akkies_2000]

I got my hdd recovered from that vendor for 1750. but there is still some problem in it. When i connected it at first, it worked fine and all my data was accessible. However after some time, situation was again the same.

When i unplugged the hdd 2-3 times and after couple of restarts, it again started working fine. I did a check on bad sectors: not found. Did a virus check from AVG: not found. After i was able to burn couple of dvds, it again stopped working.

I guess the vendor shud have deleted the partitions, recreated them, and then put the data back. Maybe he just fixed the partition tables and it is still not in shape. Need to confirm this from the vendor. Another reason cud be some faulty chip on the hdd.

Anyways, he is still having my data, so if i get my hdd replaced, he wud restore it back to the new one. I know i cudnt let anybody have access to my data but then i had no other option but to trust him.

Anybody faced a similar problem? plz let me know what the problem is?

[Vivek788]

hm...never trust those guys with data recovery...may or may not work and u end up paying as well.
For me data recovery worked,but I lost 120 gb of storage.Have to get it replaced.

And @akkies_2000,u will need to contact them if issues arise...try to get it replaced..that is better...