ksh937

My issue is with two drives: My Maxtor One Touch II 300GB External Hard Drive and my Dell m1530 internal hard drive. My laptop runs Windows Vista and is 1 year old.

My Maxtor One Touch II 300GB External Hard Drive started acting up about a week ago. I was able to access some folders and files on the drive, but others gave me the following error message: “Folder XYZ is inaccessible, incorrect function”.

Using a utility CD from Geek Squad (the Geek Squad MRI CD), I booted my computer directly from the CD. From there, I used the Geek Squad file browser program and was able to see most of my files on the Maxtor HD. After Googling a few websites, I thought my problem had to do with a corrupted partition on the external HD. Since the Geek Squad CD has Norton Partition Magic, I used it to repair the partition.

When I opened up Norton, it immediately found two bad sectors and asked me if I wanted to repair. I clicked yes, without thinking which hard drive it was referring to. It must’ve been referring to my laptop’s internal HD because after I “fixed” the bad sectors, I tried to restart my laptop, but wasn’t able to load up my computer.

Now, when you turn on my laptop, you’ll see a page with the Dell Logo and a progress bar. The progress bar will load up and take you to the Windows Vista screen. The progress bar on the Windows Vista screen will freeze and you’ll see a Blue Screen. Then the computer restarts and gives the message “Windows was not able to load” with 4 options: Start in Safe Mode, Start in Safe Mode with Networking, Use Last Known Good Configuration and Start Windows Normally. All 4 give the same exact result: You’re taken to the Windows Vista screen, it freezes and gives you a Blue Screen, and then it restarts and takes you back to the “Windows was not able to load” screen with the previously mentioned 4 options.

When I use the file browser application on the Geek Squad CD (which is still in the laptop), I no longer see any files on my C: drive (my laptop’s internal hard drive).

Do you guys have any idea what happened to my drives and what I should do about it? I was considering taking it into Geek Squad, but I have heard they aren't that good and that I should consider a full-fledged recovery services company. Thoughts/experiences?

Thanks!

raptor_pa

Yeah, I would avoid GS for any recovery operation, I've done two this week that they had in. Recovery is a very specific discipline. Doesn't sound tho like you have an issue that requires recovery.. yet. Probably the bad sectors you fixed on the C drive were on the partition table. Let's work on that drive first. You will need to get the drive out of the laptop and installed as an internal drive on a desktop system. If it is SATA then it will just plug into the SATA connectors, if IDE you will need an appropriate adapter. Once you have it out post the make and model number of the drive.

ksh937

Hey Raptor, thanks for the response. I am uncomfortable with computer hardware and have no idea how to even begin removing the HD from my laptop. Since this is the case and you think GS will be ineffective, should I seek out a local data recovery company?

On a related note, do you think I'll be able to restore my laptop's HD and recover the data on both it and my external HD based on what I wrote in my original post?

Thanks!

raptor_pa

Yeah if you are not comfortable with disassembly yourself ( and some of them can be pains in laptops, tho most are pretty easy ) then best bet is to look for a DR company. You want someone tho who can do physical recovery if needed in house, not so much in case it needs it, but they will be able to do more low level logical recoveries. A lot of PC shops advertise data recovery and all they do is run the same recovery tools you could buy in an attemt to do a logical recovery. We see quite a few drives like this come through the lab that were looked at by others. some of them are probably in worse shape after the attempts. A good DR shop will have the equipment to talk to the drive using ATA and manufacturer specific comands, and to access the firmware areas of the drive that software normally can't access. Finding a local shop owever might be a problem depending where you are. DR requires a pretty big investment in equipment training and materials.

ksh937

I was able to figure out what kind of HD I have from the Parts List I got when I ordered the Dell M1530 last August.

320GB 7200RPM Hard Drive with Free Fall Sensor, Seagate Casey,M1530

I looked it up on the Dell website and it's a SATA. So if I remove it (and I verified that it doesn't void my warranty), I can just get an external enclosure for it and hook it up another computer as an "external drive" right?

raptor_pa

If you are going to trouble shoot it, don't use USB, connect it directly to a SATA port on the other PC. USB does not pass all the ATA commands that some tools use in teh recovery process.

ksh937

So I gave up trying to fix this problem myself since I already screwed up my laptop's hard drive while trying to fix my external hard drive. I called a few data recovery places and got really wide quotes ($200-$3000). I found a place that has a local office near my house and I used them. I was able to get my recovery done for $700 for both drives and, according to the list they sent me, I think I got about everything back. They shipped me the drives today so I should get them by the end of the week. I'll let you know how it goes, but so far, things with this company have been excellent.

Moral of the story: Backup often, don't just unplug your external HD (which I tend to do) and don't fiddle around with partitions, etc. if you don't really know what you're doing.

raptor_pa

Good price for two drives...