Restore factory Hard Drive Capacity When HDD Shows up as 32MB

The loss of factory hard drive capacity seems to be an increasingly common occurrence with very large capacity (ie. 1TB) hard drives, but it's not specific to any one hard drive manufacturer. It can happen to brand new drives or existing hard drives full of data. In either case the data portion of the drive isn't generally affected. If a new or existing hard drive in your computer suddenly pops up with a capacity of 32MB, or another value equally small compared to the true drive size, don't freak out, the data should still be there.

Here's what typically happens; a large capacity hard drive of between 500GB, 750GB, 1TB and 1.5TB suddenly appears to lose most of its capacity for no apparent reason. In many situations the capacity of the hard drive shrinks to 0.0GB or 32MB (and occasionally 32GB) and becomes inaccessible to the Windows Vista.


Disk 1 is actually 1TB in size, but here it shows up as 32MB.

What's happening, to put it simply, is that the portion of the hard drive responsible for telling the computer how big it is, is mis-reporting that value. We don't have a good technical explanation for what causes this issue to randomly strike PC users, but suffice to say a portion of the drive firmware known as the LBA48, HPA and DCO records becomes corrupted.


Select the correct hard drive which is mis-reporting its capacity from the list.

Our experience with the loss of factory hard drive capacity bug came whilst setting up a new PC with two fresh 1TB Western Digital Caviar Black SATA hard drives. Both SATA drives had been formatted and were working fine. After hard power-off reboot one of the 1TB disks suddenly became a lot smaller than it actually was.

Instead of reporting it's true capacity of 1000GB, or 1TeraByte, the Western Digital Caviar Black Edition SATA hard drive appeared to both the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system and the motherboard BIOS with a false capacity of 32MB. Somehow 999.968GB of storage space had disappeared into thin air! The new drive capacity of 32MB just seemed a little too specific to be random, so we did a little investigating.

What we found is that quite a few PC users have experienced the exact same situation - a new or existing large capacity hard drive suddenly looks to the computer like it's only 32MB, or 32GB in size. If the hard drive was previously filled with 1000GB worth of data you can imagine the shock of seeing it reduced to 32MB! Incidently, the 32MB figure seems to be drawn from the hard drives' onboard cache memory.

How to restore the 32MB drive size back to full capacity

CAUTION: As with all Hard Drive recovery situations, if your data is critical don't attempt data recovery yourself, send the HDD to a professional data recovery service. We've tried the proceedures outlined below ourselves with success, but PCSTATS cannot forsee every possible issue. Following the steps on this page could result in data loss. Proceed at your own risk. Always back up your data on a regular basis.

The fix (for a blank hard drive which doesn't have any data on it) is pretty simple, first connect the hard drive which has lost its factory capacity and reports itself as being only 32MB large to a computer that works. If it's an IDE hard drive, just make sure it's the only hard drive on the IDE cable. Serial ATA hard drives don't require any special steps, just plug in the SATA data cable and make sure the computer isn't trying to boot of this drive.

Next, go to blog.Atola.com and download a program called Atola Technology HDD Restore Capacity Tool.



Launch the program and select the hard drive from the menu which is mis-reporting its capacity, then confirm the correct hard drive has been selected and hit "Restore Capacity". The program will essentially correct the portion of the hard drive's firmware that contains the drive capacity information.



Next, shut down and physically turn off the computer and wait about 10 seconds. Then power the PC back up.

If everything worked as it should, the hard drive which previously showed up as 32MB will have been restored to the correct factory capacity. In our situation that means the 1TB Western Digital Caviar Black hard drive was back to its true 1000GB capacity.


Disk 1 is back to its true capacity of 1TB (or literally 931GB).

According to the maker of this program, the HDD Restore Capacity Tool only "changes hard drive firmware settings, it does not read to or write write from the user data portion of the disk." We haven't tried Atola's HDD Restore Capacity Tool on a drive full of data for the simple reason that it's difficult to replicate the problem which causes a drive to mis-report its capacity as 32MB in the first place.

However, from what we've read the program should work in the same fashion and your data should not be affected. 

Source: http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1139&page=12

Professional Data Recovery Software & Hard Disk Recovery Software

Kernel Data Recovery is an ultimate data recovery software tools to recover data for inaccessible hard drive. It can be used in retrieving your data efficiently, it is considered as the best data recovery software solutions for recovering data from logical crashes and file corruptions due to efficiency in recovering data from your hard drive. This software also easy to used as its simple interface. It's a true do it yourself solution as it requires no technical expertise whatsoever to recover the lost data.We have also developed the best hard drive data recovery software family of products to recover your deleted files and lost data.

Kernel Data Recovery able to help you recover your hard drive installed with Windows operating systems which is corrupted due to virus or human mistaken. Other than that this software provide a wide range of hard drive recovery, it's not limited to windows user only, other hard drives user can also use this software. These included Novell, Linux, Macintosh, Sun Solaris and SCO hard drives. This software also provide hard drive recovery sofware tool to repair corrupted files of ms office (Access, Word, Excel, Powerpoint), tools to repair corrupted databases, utilities to recover the data from corrupted ms backup or corrupted tape and mailboxes.

Try the demo of the sofware for FREE to evaluate them, you also can buy this software online if you need to recover your hard drive in case you experiencing losing your data now. Get your FREE demo software now. Save your hard drive, restore your hard drive and obtain back all your data.

Visit the website now: http://www.nucleusdatarecovery.org/

DIY Hard Drive Recovery – Last Resort Techniques

The short answer to this question is probably no, unless you are feeling lucky or have some experience dealing with computer hardware. However, there are a few things you can try to do yourself to recover data from a hard drive that has failed. You never know what you might be able to do.
Keep in mind that none of these techniques are a good first option. They should only be attempted if you want to risk losing or destroying the drive, and your data, further than it might already be destroyed.

Hardrive Data Recovery

Recovery Preparation
To prepare for recovery, you’ll want to connect your broken hard drive to your computer and also have another hard drive ready and connected. Connect the broken drive to your computer only after you make the necessary modifications to it in your recovery attempt. The other drive (a working one) will be your data dumping drive, the one that you will move your recovered files to if you actually manage to pull off a recovery.
Your secondary hard drive could also be your internal drive in your computer, just make sure you have enough space on your extra drive to store the data you might recover from the dead one. Always consider that there are risks involved with hooking up a bad hard drive to any computer.
One Chance
In most cases, you’ll probably only get one chance to recover the data if you use the hard drive recovery techniques discussed in this article… so keep that in mind.
Controller Board Swapping
This technique consists of removing the controller board from a working hard drive of the same make and installing that controller board onto the drive that has failed.
If it is indeed the controller board that has failed this will give you an avenue to work around this particular failure issue. If this swap is unsuccessful, you very well could ruin both hard drives, so consider that circumstance.
Spindle Motor Spinning
Sometimes a drive will fail because the spindle motor refuses to spin, or it sticks. This can commonly be a problem with old hard drives. If the spindle motor sticks, you can actually open up the drive and try to spin the disc manually.
After opening it up, spin the hard drive disk a few times manually and then see if it fires up and works. This will compromise the cleanliness of the hard drive altogether, but hey, this is a last resort technique, right?
Repeated Booting
If a hard drive is suffering from problems that might be sporadic, you might be able to get it running just by trying to boot from it repeatedly. Yes, this might sound kinda ridiculous and simple, but it can work. If you manage to get the drive booted, hurry up and copy as much stuff as you can while it’s running.
Freezing the Hard Drive (ha!)
It’s long been a rumor that freezing dead drives can get a little more life out of them. This has been somewhat proven to be true and many people will swear that it works.
The idea here is that if the hard drive is physically damaged to the point where internal parts are pressing against each other, causing it to not work, freezing will contract the metal and other materials to free everything up and get you a few minutes or more of use.
Please note that this will probably not permanently fix a drive, but it might repair a “clicking” drive momentarily so that you can retrieve critical files. Ask around, you might find that others have actually been able to make this work!
When All Else Fails
Of course, the best option is to seek professional help. If you are not finding yourself wanting to take these risks, that is probably a good thing. For the do-it-yourself type of person, these hard drive recovery techniques could get you started in the right direction. But, remember, they should all be attempted only as a last resort. Good luck!
DIY Hard Drive Recovery – Last Resort Techniques
Luke Petterson is a long-time computer user and risk taker, which has led him to many interesting computer-related situations, good and bad.
Visit [http://www.ultimate-hard-drives.com] for more information on hard drive care and maintenance.


Source: http://hardrivedatarecovery.elypc.com/category/hardrive-data-recovery-articles/

Hardrive Data Recovery

Primary Partition Gone?

The hard drive that suffered the data loss was a 17Gb Fujitsu drive with two 5Gb XP NTFS partitions (Home and Professional) and 6Gb of unused space. Both XP partition were unbootable after the incident.
After transferring the drive to a Windows 2000 computer so I could use disk manager, (to load disk

manager on XP or 2000, right click 'my computer' select 'manage' then 'disk manager') this is what I saw.
The Primary partition where my 5000+ word article was saved, is seen as unformatted and cannot be read by the OS. The second XP partition could not be booted, but was seen as formatted and I could transfer files easily from it using explorer. Unfortunately, all the data I needed was on the first partition.
What to do? Well there are a few tricks you can use to get data back from the brink of an abyss like the one I've created for myself here. First though, we should understand exactly what a file system is, and how it controls access to your data on a computer.



An overview of file systems A file system is a method an operating system uses to arrange data and free space on a hard drive or other storage device so it can be written to and read from. File systems create partitions which are areas of free space than can be addressed by the file system and seen as a logical drives (C: D: etc.) to be written to and read from.
The two file systems used by the various Windows operating systems are NTFS (NT File System) and FAT (File Allocation Table). FAT is an earlier file system, used first in DOS as FAT-16, then later in Windows 9x/ME as FAT-32.
The only major difference between FAT-16 and -32 is in the amount of data they can address. FAT-16 can only use up to 2GB of space on each logical drive, FAT-32 on the other hand can create partitions of up to 32GB in size. Later Microsoft operating systems like Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7 are fully compatible with FAT, even if it is not the default method they use to store files.
NTFS is used in Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista/7 and provides a more secure and efficient method of file storage. In addition to allowing security to be implemented on individual files, NTFS also stores backup copies of essential disk information to aid in recovering from disaster.
Both file systems use the Master Boot Record (MBR) and partition table, found in the first sector of each hard drive or storage device. The MBR and partition table determine which partition(s) on the disk are bootable, and locate and pass control to that partition to boot the operating system.
If the MBR or partition table are damaged, the drive will become unbootable, and may appear to be blank if the partition information has been erased.

Source: http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1139&page=2

How to Repair a Broken Hard Disk

It is possible to repair a broken hard disk, but there are a few things which have to be done beforehand.
Turn off and completely unplug the computer. Everything needs to be shut-down and unplugged so there is no possibility of electrocution or further damage to the hard disk.
Clean all dust and debris from the computer's case. Making sure everything is clean will take away any chance of contaminating the hard disk whilst repairing it. Also remove the back of the case and clean inside. Using canned air is the best way of not shorting anything out and causing further damage.
Unscrew the case completely and remove detachable parts to gain access to the hard disk. A screwdriver is all that is needed to do this. Make sure there are no devices still attached and watch for clips and plastic pieces that could break off during the removal.
Remove the hard disk. Now the case is off the hard disk can be removed. When it is, check it over for obvious problems – such as dust or debris. If all appears well, replace it and re-screw on the case.

System restore. Turn the computer back on. If there is a restore program (present with a Windows operating system of XP or newer), you may be able to use this to restore your computer to its last-saved point. Using this could get the hard drive operating again. There may have been a program or file you downloaded that caused the initial problem. Restoring the computer to the last-saved point should bring the computer back to its original state – before the installation of the damaging software.
Check system files and folders. For Windows 95, 98, 2000 and Windows ME there will be sub-directories in the Windows system files. Here you will need to confirm the existence of a config.sys file. If this is present, and there are no other missing files or drivers, begin looking through your system files and folders to make sure that programs that have been recently installed or downloaded are working properly. If you have recently installed a program, removing it could improve the hard drive and correct problems.
If you have done this, try restarting the computer. Restarting and re-booting will help to refresh the system and bring everything back to its original state.

Source: http://www.tech-faq.com/how-to-repair-a-broken-hard-disk.html

How to Recover Deleted Files with Free Software

Part I: The Overview
Ok, so you've lost an important file. Don't panic. Take a breath, and let's see if we can find it. Before you go into full-on file recovery mode, make sure you double-check the folder you had saved it in and the Recycle Bin or Trash. Still nothing?

1. Stop What You're Doing

When your operating system deletes a file, all it really does is mark the space on your hard drive that your file occupies as free space. It's still there, but your computer is now perfectly happy to write new data on top of it—at which point the file recovery process becomes a lot more difficult. That means you should do as little computing as possible until you find the file you're looking for, since every time you save a new file—every time your computer writes information to your hard drive—your chances of recovering the file go down.

2. Find the Right File Recovery Program

Windows: You've a lot of really great freeware options for file recovery if you're running Windows. Notable apps include Undelete Plus (original post), PC Inspector File Recovery (original post), and Restoration (original post). Undelete Plus is the most user-friendly option of the bunch, with advanced filtering options that make it easy to find your needle of a file among the haystack of deleted garbage, but in my tests I found both Restoration and PC Inspector File Recovery to be more effective at recovering files. (Of course, your mileage may vary.) As an added bonus, the bare bones Restoration is portable, which makes it an excellent addition to your thumb drive.
UPDATE: Per several readers advice, you may also want to check out Recuva (original post), another freeware Windows file recovery tool.
Mac: If you're on a Mac and aren't afraid to lay down a few bucks in the name of data recovery, the $99 Data Rescue II is the go-to application for file recovery with a friendly graphical interface.
All Platforms: If you're not afraid to crack open a terminal window or command prompt, the free, cross-platform command-line tool PhotoRec (original post) is a crack shot at recovering photos (as the name implies) as well as virtually any other file type from your removable media or hard drives.

3. Recover Your Files

Once you've picked a tool, it's time to scan your hard drive for your lost file or files. This process varies depending on the app you're using, but it's basically the same for all of them: Just point the program at the hard drive or folder that was holding your missing file and start your scan. Once the scan is complete, you're going to see a big list of jumbled file names. Often most of these files are nothing more than system files that your operating system has created in the course of basic operation, and you won't need to worry about them. You're just looking for the file type and name that matches what you've lost.
Once you find what you're looking for, saving it is a matter of right-clicking the file and choosing where to save it.
Went through steps one through three and still aren't having any luck? It might be worth trying again with a different application, since there can be a lot of variation between apps. If you're still not having any luck, part two discusses a few other ways you can try addressing more specific problems when your data goes missing.

Part 2: More Specific Problems

Above you got a basic overview for recovering deleted files from your computer. Now we'll take a closer look at some more specific problems, methods of data recovery, and tools that may be of help in your quest for your elusive lost data.

Recover Files from a Wiped or Unbootable Hard Drive

So you didn't just accidentally delete a file or two and empty your Recycle Bin prematurely—instead you've got a whole hard drive worth of missing data. You can still use many of the applications mentioned above to recover files from these drives as long as you have or can get the hard drive into a bootable computer. For more details, check out how to recover files from a wiped hard drive with PhotoRec (original post) or how to recover data from a crashed hard drive with PC Inspector File Recovery (original post).
If you can't or don't know how to get your unbootable drive into another computer, a Linux live CD can be perfect for rescuing files. If the Linux route scares you off, give the popular BartPE (original post) a try.
Finally, if none of these options can even read your hard drive, you still might be able to get it working for just long enough with a few tricks of the data recovery trade, like putting the busted hard drive in the freezer.

Recover Lost Photos

If you need to resurrect photos from a damaged flash memory card from your digital camera, you'll be happy to know that most of the applications listed in part one above will do the trick—you just need plug in your camera or insert the card into your computer's card reader before running your data recovery application of choice. That said, you can find other applications, like Zero Assumption Digital Image Recovery (original post), that are focused specifically on image recovery that you may want to add to your data recovery toolbox.

Recover Lost Word Documents

If your lost dissertation was saved as a Word document, you've got a few more interesting options for getting to your lost or deleted documents—read more about them here and here.

Recover Data from Scratched or Corrupted CDs and DVDs

If your munged data is sitting on optical media like a CD or DVD, the recovery process can be slightly different. Freeware application CD Recovery Toolbox (original post) is made specifically to read the portions of a CD that are readable in an effort to rescue as much data as possible from a damaged disc. If that doesn't work, you may want to give a look at the 30-day trial of shareware application CDCheck, as recommended by a reader. Then again, if scratches are the issue, you may be able to get away with simply fixing your scratched CD or DVD yourself.

Part 3: Don't Let This Happen Again

Whatever the cause of your lost file, the best method of data recovery is a good preemptive data backup plan. If you're on Windows, we've taken you step-by-step through how to automatically back up your hard drive so that this sort of thing never happens again. If you're running a Mac, do yourself a favor: Get an external hard drive and flip the switch on the easy-to-use Time Machine. Linux users should check out backup options like FlyBack, TimeVault, or the time-honored rsync.
Have you ever raised deleted files from the hard drive graveyard? What software did you use to do it? Tell us your tales of file recovery victory and woe in the comments.
Adam Pash is a senior editor for Lifehacker who early in life learned to love the backup. His special feature Hack Attack appears every Tuesday on Lifehacker. Subscribe to the Hack Attack RSS feed to get new installments in your newsreader.

Source: http://lifehacker.com/393084/how-to-recover-deleted-files-with-free-software

PC Inspector File Recovery

PC Inspector File Recovery

File recovery programs come in many different flavors. They run the gamut from simple undelete programs that work only under optimal circumstances within Windows up to heavy-duty sector-by-sector scanners that can piece back together files sans file table or partition info. After reading the advertising, I assumed that freebie PC Inspector File Recovery fell into the latter category.

Alas, PC Inspector File Recovery was clueless when it came to a relatively simple test: recovering data from an NTFS drive that still contained data, but whose partition and file tables had been overwritten. EasyRecovery Professional, Active @ File Recovery, and R-Studio Data Recovery were all able to pull files off of the same test drive. Of course, those programs aren't free, and PC Inspector File Recovery is. If your drive used the FAT 32 file system, you might fare a bit better with PC Inspector File Recovery. I was able to recover files whose FAT info was lost as long as the partition info was available. The program also recovered deleted files (that hadn't been overwritten) just fine.

For free it's hard to complain, but PC Inspector is not a panacea for file recovery that the Web site might lead you to believe. Still, I'd give it a shot; if it works you just saved $40 or so.

--Jon L. Jacobi

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,23069-order,1/description.html

How To: Recover deleted files from Windows or Mac OS

If you have accidentally deleted files from your hard drive, don't panic! You can easily recover deleted files whether you are using a Windows PC or Mac OS. You can undelete files with almost guaranteed success. The most important thing is to act as soon as you realize that the files are lost.

This article will help you to choose the best recovery method for your deleted files. The recovery software recommended here can be downloaded free so you can try it out and see if your files are recoverable.

• For Windows users: Uneraser
• For Mac users: Data Rescue 3

When a file is deleted from your computer it is not really deleted. It is simply removed from the directory of files in the folder. Even though you can no longer see the file in the folder, its contents still exist 100% intact at this point.

If you're using Windows and you deleted the file using Windows Explorer, the file will have been moved to the Recycle Bin. If you're a Mac user, it's moved to the Trash. As long as a file remains there it can easily be restored in its entirety with no difficulty. So the first thing to do when you want to recover a deleted file is look in the Recycle Bin / Trash. If it's there, use the Restore option which will move it back to its original location.

Shift-Deleted files

If you emptied the bin, used Shift-Delete to get rid of the file, deleted it from within an application or used some other method of removing it that bypassed the bin, then it is still almost certainly recoverable. When you empty the Recycle Bin or delete a file using another method, the file is still not really deleted. Although the space occupied by the file becomes available for re-use by other files, it doesn't get re-used straight away so the data it contained will stay on your hard drive for some time to come and may be recovered using software that knows what to look for.

Chances of recovery

Because the operating system doesn't immediately re-use space from deleted files, a file can be recovered or undeleted right after it has gone and for a considerable time afterwards. But the likelihood that you can recover deleted files successfully decreases the longer you leave it because eventually some or all of that space will be re-used.

The chances of recovery also depend on how full your computer's hard drive is. Windows tries to avoid re-using disk space that has recently been freed, to give deleted file recovery software a better chance of working. But the fuller a drive is, the sooner the free space is going to be used by other files.

If you have defragmented the hard drive since the file was deleted then this will severely harm the chances of a successful recovery. Current files will have been moved into the free space left by deleted files in order to reduce fragmentation, making it much less likely that undelete software will be able to find anything useful.

Recovering deleted files

Tools that can help you undelete files are not provided as standard in any operating system. So to recover deleted files you will need undelete software from a third party.

Undelete software understands the internals of the system used to store files on a disk (the file system) and uses this knowledge to locate the disk space that was occupied by a deleted file. Because another file may have used some or all of this disk space there is no guarantee that a deleted file can be recovered or if it is, that it won't have suffered some corruption. But because the space isn't re-used straight away there is a very good chance that you will recover the deleted file 100% intact. People who use deleted file recovery software are often amazed to find that it finds files that were deleted months or even years ago. The best undelete programs give you an indication of the chances of recovering a file intact and even provide file viewers so you can check the contents before recovery.

Undelete software for Windows

If you're running Microsoft Windows then we believe Uneraser is the best deleted files recovery software to use. Uneraser uses deep search methods and sophisticated recovery algorithms to give you the best possible chance of recovering your files. It also has powerful tools including thumbnail preview for all files which allows you to quickly identify the files you need to recover. Most other deleted files recovery software has only limited preview capabilities, forcing you to waste time recovering files before you can examine them and see if they are what you want.

Uneraser has the widest range of built-in "what-you-see-is-what-you-get" viewers to let you fully examine the files it finds before recovery. You can try it with no risk. A free trial version lets you see for yourself whether it can recover the files you lost. If a file looks perfect in the viewer then recovery is 100% guaranteed.

• Find out more about Uneraser
• Download a free trial
• See how to recover deleted files using Uneraser

Undelete software for Mac OS

To recover deleted files from an Apple Mac we recommend Data Rescue 3. Data Rescue 3 is a powerful Mac data recovery software that can be relied upon to restore your files if at all possible. In fact, it's used by many professional data recovery services.

Data Rescue 3 software now has a slick new user interface and upgraded search algorithms that can recognize more than 100 popular file types for improved recovery results. You can download a free trial version so you can see for yourself whether your deleted files are recoverable at no cost. You can also request a bootable DVD image that can be used to recover files from a computer that won't start.

• Find out more about Data Rescue 3
• Download a free trial

If you are able to connect your Mac disk drive to a Windows PC then another way to recover your files is to use the Windows based Uneraser to perform data recovery on it. Uneraser can recover deleted files from Mac HPFS+ and Linux ext2/ext3 file systems as well as FAT and NTFS.

Saving the recovered data

One of the cardinal rules of data recovery is that you must never write to the disk that contains the files you want to recover. This is because anything that gets written to the drive could potentially be written to the space that was holding the data you hope to recover. You should save the files that have been recovered to a different drive to the one they were recovered from. This could be an external drive or a network share, even a USB memory stick.

All of the undelete software products that Tech-Pro.net recommend will prompt you to save recovered data to a different location. Among Windows file recovery tools Uneraser stands out as the product with the greatest number of options for saving the recovered data, for maximum convenience. You can burn files direct to writeable CD or DVD without creating any temporary files on the hard drive, or even save the files to an FTP server.

Source: http://www.tech-pro.net/how-to-recover-deleted-files.html

5 Ways to Retrieve Data Off a Crashed Hard Drive

The hard drive has the shortest life expectancy of all components, but when it inevitably fails it's always when you least expect it.

It's an inevitability, and it always happens when you're least prepared - the hard drive crash. Sure, you might notice it's taking a bit longer to boot, or there's an occasional click that just doesn't sound right, but it's still a surprise the day your computer fails to boot.

How do you get your data off that hard drive once it's no longer able to boot? Is it still possible? This depends on what exactly went wrong with your drive. It is safe to assume, however, that will the proper method, you will be able to retrieve at least part of your lost data.

Below are five different methods for getting documents, pictures, and other important files off a crashed hard drive.

1. Use an External Case
This method is the most simple available, and for many people it is also the solution they need. Simply purchase an external hard drive case that allows you to plug your hard drive into a computer with a standard USB cable. Remove the crashed hard drive from your computer and carefully insert it into the external case (make sure you ground yourself before touching it), then plug it into a different system and try to open the drive. There's a good chance you'll be able to navigate into your documents and other folders and copy them onto a different hard drive.

2. Use a LiveCD


Don't have access to a second computer for doing as you please? This method will be ideal, then. You'll need to get temporary access to a computer with Internet and a DVD burner. Download a Linux LiveCD - Damn Small Linux is the smallest, but also has issues mounting hard drives. The most simple for an average computer user would be Puppy Linux. It has a larger file size, but should recognize your drive.

Burn the Live CD ISO to a CD and insert it into your computer (the one with the crashed hard drive). Restart the computer and when it the computer logo appears, press F2 (or whatever key for your system) to enter BIOS. Change the boot sequence to CD first, Save and then Exit.

The Live CD will start, simply follow the directions on the screen--don't worry, nothing is being done to your hard drive. The OS will start, and you should see your hard drive mounted on the desktop--something like "60GB", etc. Plug in a second drive and copy and paste the folders over.

3. Data Recovery Software
Do the above solutions have your head spinning? If you want something a little less complicated, you may want to give recovery software a go. There are a number of different free recovery tools available, and you may be one of the lucky users who have success with the programs.

There are a large number of programs available, but the quality of each varies. A good place to start would be Data Disc Recovery--it's free, easy to use, and works on crashed drives (it can also retrieve deleted files and others). If one doesn't work, try a different one.

4. Freeze It


This method surprises many, but it actually does work (depending on what happened to the drive). The idea is that freezing it will constrict loose parts long enough for the drive to work properly. Make sure you have a computer ready to plug the drive into and an external case. Place the hard drive into a baggy, seal it tightly, and put it in the freezer overnight. The next day, remove it from the baggy and put it in the external drive case. Transfer the data from the drive before it warms too much and crashes again.

5. Get a Pro
If all else fails, you either have to accept that the data is gone or, if the data is really important, take the hard drive to a professional. It will be expensive, but there's a good chance a pro will be able to retrieve some of the data for you.

Source: http://laptoplogic.com/resources/5-ways-to-retrieve-data-off-a-crashed-hard-drive

Hard Drive Data Recovery

Killed a hard drive without backing up? Deleted your babies first photo and already emptied the recycling bin? Not to worry, you can probably recover your data with the help of this guide from PCSTATS. - Version 3.2.2
Bookmark this PCSTATS guide for future reference.
If you've been using computers for a decent amount of time there is a good chance someone has told you that data stored on a hard drive is not exactly safe. I'm here to assure you that this is indeed true.

Never mind the fact that unlike tapes or CDs or other methods of storage, hard drives are mechanical, active devices and are thus subject to comparatively rapid breakdown.

No, the real threat to hard drives are the people that use them, by which I mean you and me. Hard drives, being the dynamic storage devices that they are, are extremely easy to erase in any number of amusing and simple to achieve ways... as are USB hard drives and flash memory cards (recovery tips for that media is detailed here). Also recently added; How to fix a 1TB hard drive that suddenly changes to 0.0GB, or 32MB in size.

Working as a computer tech during the glory days of Windows XP, you get rather used to using FDISK and other hard drive utilities to prepare and repair customer's drives, which leads to a certain over confidence. That attitude can lead straight to disaster, sort of like giving a 12 year old boy the keys to an ATV.

Picture this if you will; there I was, two or three sentences and a screen shot away from finishing a 5000+ word article on computer upgrades. All I had to do was fire up FDISK on a dual boot Windows PC system and grab a few screen shots. I figured I'd write a little blurb on how to partition a drive, making sure to tell the readers not to mess with FDISK if they were not sure what they were doing…

Yes, there's going to be some irony here.

So anyway, I wanted to get some more screen shots of the actual partitioning screen, but I did not have a blank hard drive handy. I figured I could use my NTFS formatted XP drive (which FDISK perceived as a blank drive) to start the "process," grab the screen shots and then cancel the partitioning.

No problem. Except for one little thing…

I had forgotten that FDISK, in the process of checking the disk before it prompts you for the size of the partition, writes information to certain areas of the hard drive. This data writes over whatever might have been there before. Meanwhile, there I was, watching the '%complete' counter and wondering why a little red warning flag kept going off in my brain? I restarted WinXP and waited for it to boot, and waited... and waited... Oops.

Source: http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1139