Recomendations for Hard Drive recovery tool

Does any one have a recommendation for a Hard Drive recovery tool?
My brothers external Lacie 200MB Firewire drive has crapped out. He has all his family movies (iMovie projects) stored on it so he really needs to recover the files if possible.
I have the drive now and have hooked it up to my machines and it is definitely in bad shape. At this point I can see the drive in the finder, but it doesn't appear to contain any files or folders. It also shows up in Disk Utilities, but a Verify Disk doesn't reveal any problems (and running "Repair Disk" returned "No repairs were necessary, the volume seems to be OK").
At this point the disk just appears to be empty. I am running a deep scan with Stellar Phoenix right now. Any suggestions on the best OS X recovery tools.
Thanks
EDIT:
oh, and the disk appears to be formatted HFS+
I was thinking about yanking the drive and installing it internally to the ide bus - don't know if this would make a difference.

Well, that’s a lot of interesting advice.
The first thing to do is NOTHING! Don’t try heroic efforts until you’ve explored all the demonstrably non-destructive ones.
First of all, if the drive mounts, gives no errors from the Finder or from Disk Utility but appears to contain no files, then the likelihood that this is a symptom of a hardware error is very small. Moving the drive to different enclosures or trying to connect it internally is probably not advisable.
Are you cerrtain the drive was not simply re-initialized? That would be the simplest explanation for there being no files apparent. If that’s the case, then surely a majority of the contents are recoverable, BUT NOT IF YOU DO ANYTHING FURTHER WITH THE DRIVE.
If you have recovery software that’s specifically designed to recover files from a re-initialized volume, use that. If not and you cannot acquire such software, and if the data is valuable enough, then I strongly recommend that you use a commercial data recovery service.
Unfortunately, I cannot give you any specific recommendations for diagnostic and repair software—I’ve been away from Mac OS too long.
I know this is not very specific, and I’m sorry for that. I’ll keep an eye out in case you have other questions that I might be able to answer.
Good luck.
RRS
iMac 20" Core Duo; MacBook Pro Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Similar Messages

Recomendations for Hard Drive Configurations

I bought a rather basic computer a couple months ago to learn Premier on because I did not have the cash for the NLE machine I really wanted with the expectation I would upgrade it as needed. I knew when I started the 250gb hard drive free space would diminish but I did not think it would happen so quickly. Stock footage and completed projects have depleted my 250gb hard drive free space to 17gb and the hard drive is overdue for an upgrade already.
Any suggestions for hard drive specs and set up configurations that will compliment production with CS3 would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Mike
Computer specs: XFX 680i LT SLI MB; Q6600; 2gb ram; Vista 32 bit.

Personally, I'd keep the 250GB with System & Programs. It is over-sized for that purpose, but I'm not one who enjoys uninstalling and re-installing either their OS, or their programs. If you've got it set up that way already, you do not have to do a mirror/image/Ghost and hope that you get everything over to the new drive. Chalk this up to my laziness. You can also use some of this space for seldom used Assets, like SFX, or music, that you want to keep handy, but will not be accessing that often. I do this on one storage HDD, and then copy over these Assets to the Project, as they are used, on the big, fast Media HDD, when needed.
Add 2 new HDDs, if you have the controller connections. You will be limited, with this choice, to what controller you have in your system. Right now, the 750GB units are selling at some low prices, as the 1TBs are really coming on line. Two 500GBs would be cheaper, still.
If you have an open PCI/PCIe slot, you could get a speed boost by adding a good SATA II controller card and going that route with the HDDs. The SATA's are running a bit more expensive, than ATA-100/ATA-300s, but you will get a little I/O boost.
There are several good threads already, on how best to use your new HDDs with PP. The ideas may vary a bit, but the folk responding are stating how they find it best to configure Scratch Disks, etc., for their particular workflow. I'd search these forums (do not exclude the PP2 forum in your search, even though you have CS3).
Last considerations will be the cooling of your case and the capability of your power supply. Within *practical* terms, you cannot run your system too cool, and can never have too beefy a PS. If you have minimal cooling, look for more efficient fans, or more fans. If your case is close to you, and you edit with the speakers, quiet cooling will be a benefit. Do check the output from your PS, to make sure it can handle additional HDDs, or you may have to upgrade that, as well. When I'm commissioning a new system, I go with the most powerful and coolest (I'm talking thermal here, not flashing LEDs) PS, that I can get. If I can get it up to about 2.5x my immediate needs, I know that I can add "stuff," and not have to worry. Overheating systems and inadequate PS's are a big reason for system crashes, especially while rendering.
Hunt

Dv 5000, how available sata for hard drive recovery

before I open her I wantred to know if there is a extra sata input on the motherboard for data recovery purposes?
regards

Hi,
Please try this (free):
http://www.easeus.com/resource/drive/external-hard-drive.htm
I don't know make and model of your external drive but on some models you can not find SATA/IDE connector, you have to use a different connector. Hope the link above helps.
Regards.
BH
**Click the KUDOS thumb up on the left to say 'Thanks'**
Make it easier for other people to find solutions by marking a Reply 'Accept as Solution' if it solves your problem.

Whats the best recommended hard drive testing tool

what hard drive testing tool would you guys recommend??
not just for lenovo's, for all PCs.& Notebooks
thanks
this should be easy...?

I use HD Tune.
If you're assessing damage, the free HDD Regenerator might be useful.
W520: i7-2720QM, Q2000M at 1080/688/1376, 21GB RAM, 500GB + 750GB HDD, FHD screen
X61T: L7500, 3GB RAM, 500GB HDD, XGA screen, Ultrabase
Y3P: 5Y70, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, QHD+ screen

Hard Drive Recovery Process has been selected

One day, while playing a game online, the computer screen went black and a blue box appeared that said "Hard Drive Recovery Process has been selected Press Yes if you wish to continue " Also, there was NO which only shut the computer down. YES took me to a blue screen with recovery and troubleshooting options. At first, none of these worked, or stayed. Because the next time I used my computer I would get the same Hard Drive Recovery Process message and had to try various things to make it work. I did purchase a Windows 8.1 recovery flashdrive from Toshiba and attempted to install it. It took about 6 tries for it to completely install. However, after installing, I was unable to use the RESTART option to power off the computer as it would trigger the Hard Drive Recovery Process again ! Ugh ! Last night, I powered the laptop off using SHUT DOWN and in the morning, I got the Hard Drive Recovery Process screen again, much to my horror. I have Norton Internet Security and Anti Virus as well as I used Toshiba maintenance tasks and no problems were found. I would appreciate any information on troubleshooting and repairing this problem, if there is a solution. Thanks !!!!!

I did purchase a Windows 8.1 recovery flashdrive from Toshiba ... after installing .. it would trigger the Hard Drive Recovery Process again
The fact that the problem remains after restoring the hard disk to its original out-of-the-box contents using Toshiba recovery media means the software doesn't cause it.
The computer needs servicing.

Advice about external hard drive recovery

Does anyone have experience or advice about external hard drive recovery?
I have a USB external drive that crashed during a power brownout, I couldn't mount the image at first but used Diskwarrior to rebuild it. Now I can see and navigate the drive but I am unable to pull many files off without the finder crashing. It would transfer about 130mb of 10gb then stay at that number and not progress past that amount.
Should I try a different recovery program or would removing the drive and placing it in another external drive enclosure solve something like this?
any help appreciated

When in DW there is a Preview to see the old and new volume.
http://www.macintouch.com/readerreports/harddrives/topic4557.html#d10aug2010
Data Rescue 3 demo will show you what it's scan finds, costs $99
http://www.prosofteng.com/products/data_rescue.php
you need to have another drive to recover your files to.
Yes I would try another case, maybe the power brick was all that is now half-dead also
And you really need a UPS - never be w/o
http://pondini.org/OSX/UPS.html
MacBook Pro:
https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks/macbook_pro

HP SMART test for hard drive

I just need to know how to accesst the HP hard drive diagnostic tool which performs a SMART test.
Thanks
This question was solved.
View Solution.

See here to perform the SMART test
http://support.hp.com/us-en/product/HP-Pavilion-p6000-Desktop-PC-series/3942799/model/3998968/docume...
Please mark my post as SOLVED if it has resolved your problem. It helps others with similar situations.

Broken part - cover for hard drive

I am trying to buy a broken part, it is a cover for hard drive for Thinkpad T400 type7417. Please give me an idea where?
Picture of it: https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/109298789000338710152/albums/posts
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Hi janman,
You can buy it from eBay or IBM maintenance parts. The FRU no. is 43Y9654.
Hope this helps.
Maliha (I don't work for lenovo)
ThinkPads:- T400[Win 7], T60[Win 7], IBM 240[Win XP]
IdeaPad: U350
Apple:- Macbook Air [Snow Leopard]
Did someone help you today? Compliment them with a Kudos!
Was your question answered today? Mark it as an Accepted Solution!
Lenovo Deutsche Community Lenovo Comunidad en Español
Visit my YouTube Channel

What is the other category on my mac book pro for hard drive space on how do I improve on it

What is the "other" category on my mac book pro for hard drive space? I found out that it is taking a whole lot of my computer's space...how do I find what it is and optimize it?

If you need to remove files for space see The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on freeing space on your hard drive. Also see Freeing space on your Mac OS X startup disk.
Under no circumstances should you try deleting files outside of your Home folder.

Prosoft Data Rescue for Hard Drive "No Valid Packages" in Disk Utility

I have a Macbook and I believe the hard drive has crashed. When I turn it on, I get the circle with line through it and the folder with question mark inside blinking.
I got the Install Disk 1 to boot up but can not verify the hard drive. I get the following message "No Valid Packages" and disk verification fails. I also checked the SMART status of the hard drive and it says "Not Supported".
I also can not re-install the operating system, as there is no hard drive that shows up to install it to when I try to run the installer disk.
I know I need a new hard drive, much bigger one. I'm purchasing this today, a 320gb Samsung M6 Series internal drive and a Western digital external 500gb WDE1U5000N.
I also want to purchase the Prosoft Data Rescue but have several questions:
1)I read the this can work if disk utility sees the hard drive. The hard drive is seen in disk utility, but like i said before the drive has failed and it can not mount. I've read other reviews that said Prosoft can still be used in this case, but I want to make sure..please define what is meant by "disk utility being unable to see the hard drive"...Does this mean "dead hard drive or the hard drive not physically being VISIBLE in disk utility (because mine is, I just can't mount or verify it)
2)If I can use Prosoft, when I put it in my damaged Macbook to recover the files, can I then put these files onto my new external drive? Or do I have to have another internal drive to do this? (I'm just buying 1 right now)...How do you get the recovered data off if I can not move it onto an external drive? Do I put it on a disk and then take the damaged hard drive out, put the new one in and then put it on the external?
Sorry for the questions but I want to buy today by 5pm so it ships by Friday to me to fix this ASAP, thanks!

I read the this can work if disk utility sees the hard drive.
Prosoft Data Rescue can help recover files after a software failure. (Usually related file directory problems.) It sounds, however, that you've experienced a hardware failure of your original hard drive. No amount of software can ever recover a hard drive from a hardware failure. If you really need to recover the data, a data recovery service may be able to help. The cost will depend on the steps needed to recover the data and how much data is recovered.
-Doug

NB200 -00L stopped during the middle of formatting, can no longer use the hard drive recovery option

Hello,
NB200 -00L is the model
Power was down during the beginning of hard drive reformat,I had tried to press 0 (zero) during restart
I had also tried to press F8 during it restart, then choose repair option, but it kept rebooting itself in a loop with no error message.
I really would like to restore to the manufacturing settings.
I had my usb drive, but the system does not recognize the mirror image on my usb flash drive anymore.
Unfortunately, my model does not come with a dvd reader neither.
What are my options?

Netbook NB200-00L (PLL28C-00L011)
Everything for that Canadian model is here.
the system does not recognize the mirror image on my usb flash drive anymore.
I don't understand what's happening. If you cannot boot from a flash drive with recovery media, it may be that the drive does not have the proper contents. You can remedy that by ordering a new flash drive from Toshiba.
See the section Restoring the pre-installed software from your created Recovery Media, which is on p. 3-14 of your User's Manual.
If you cannot boot from a known bootable flash drive, I would seek service.
-Jerry

Hard drive recovery and replacement

I have a T43 1875. The hard drive has gone out - can't access operating system, clicking sound, blue button doesn't work. I have obtained the set of boot, rescue and recovery disks and a new hard drive. I can follow the video to physically replace the hard drive. As I understand it, I just follow the instructions (including moving the CD drive to the first position) that came with the disks and follow the prompts and the new drive will be loaded as when it was a new computer. However, I thought I would first use the Rescue and recovery disk on the old drive to see if I could get some files used since my last backup. I can't find detailed instructions of what to expect from the rescue program and how to get the files if possible. Does someone have a link that would help? Thanks.

Restoring the OS will probably be the least of your problems This is not going to make you happy, unless you have one of the magic hard drives:
T43 - new hard drive
Z.
The large print: please read the Community Participation Rules before posting. Include as much information as possible: model, machine type, operating system, and a descriptive subject line. Do not include personal information: serial number, telephone number, email address, etc. The fine print: I do not work for, nor do I speak for Lenovo. Unsolicited private messages will be ignored. ... GeezBlog
English Community Deutsche Community Comunidad en Español Русскоязычное Сообщество

Hard Drive Recovery Not Working

Hi,
I just got a new hard drive for my HP Pavilion DV6 with Windows 7 after the original one crashed. I am using recovery discs I made when I first got the computer to reformat it. The beginning of the installation process goes great. It prompts me to put in all three CDs and all three CDs are installed. It then tells me to remove the third CD, and the next process involves installing drivers and software, I need to restart my computer, and in this next process, my computer will be restarted many times.
So I remove the third CD, press continue to restart the computer, the computer restarts...but brings me back to the same screen that it did when I first put in the new hard drive, "No boot data available, please insert recovery disc and press any key to continue". It did this a second time when I went through the same process again. Not sure where to go from here, and any help would be appreciated.

Hello jahebda2466,
I see that you are having a problem installing the operating system on a newly installed hard drive. I have some suggestions that may help with this issue.
You can try to take one of the memory sticks from the computer and try and reload the software. You can also re-seat the hard drive to make sure it is securely connected.
If you continue to have issues you can contact HP support for a standard set of recovery discs. Here is a link to the contact options for HP support.
↙-----------How do I give Kudos?| How do I mark a post as Solved? ----------------↓

Iphoto package contents is separate from iphoto after hard drive recovery

I have moved some of my previous iphoto libraries to an external hard drive. It fell and was not usable and did nor want to open any of my fikes. It was rceovered and I've received it back. The package contents are now seperate from the iphoto icon's on the hard drive. If I want to open it, it asks me to upgrade to the new maverick's version iphoto library. I click upgrade but then it saus that my iphoto library needs recovery and that it will quit and relaunch by itself. If I press quit the whole process starts anew. What should I do to be able to view my iphoto library? Please please help!

Dear Larry. Unfortunately I have just copied all my old libraries to this external hard drive and was about to back it up when it fell. This was still the previous Iphoto app before I updated my mac to mavericks. I now run OS X 10.9.2. The folder in which I received back this hard drive shows: folder "2012 iphoto". In this folder all the package contents lies together with the older iphoto app. In other words, if I right click on the iphoto icon, there is no option to "show package content:, because I assume it is not in it and is seperated. I hope I explained this correctly?
If I now double click on the iphoto icon, iphoto starts up and it shows me the following message: "Your photo library will not be readable by previous versions of iPhoto after the upgrade. The upgrade process for very large libraries may take an hour or more to complete.". I then click upgrade, and the following message appears: " An inconsistency in your database has been detected. The application will now quit, relaunch, and restore your database to a consistent state. This may take some time." It only shows a tab with "quit". If I pres quit, iphoto closes and reopens with the first message showing again. This continues untill I choose the option to not upgrade...
Please help

Any suggestions for hard drive memory management apps

I am looking for a software tool or app that can show me an overview of my hard drive in terms of memory, which will allow me to clear up space more efficiently and target which files are taking up the most room on my hard drive.

Both just as uninvasive as they can be - OmniDiskSweeper or Grand Perspective.
Personally, I prefer OmniDiskSweeper - just don't use any of those maintenance apps.
Good luck,
Clinton

Recomendations for Hard Drive recovery tool

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for