Scooter Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 The last 24hrs i've been faffing around trying to find out if my hard drive on my home pc is dead. I've got a "return code 7" failure on it according to some test scan thing I managed to find (it won't start in safe mode etc). I'm a bit of a numpty with this stuff and am slowly (old laptop linked up now) trawling the net for clarification of my situation and possible solutions re data recovery (pics and little videos mainly, nothing life and death but ideally i'd like them back). It occurred to me that some on here might have some pointers, the current plan is to look at attaching the HD to another working computer and getting the drive identified and then simply trying to access and save files (IT guy at work is willing to try) good or bad idea? any help appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 I take it the HDD is the primary drive? Is the code being reported from the BIOS or after the OS tries to start? Seems quite likely it's a hardware fault with that message, best to but it in a different PC and copy the files over onto another drive. Is it a Dell PC? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted December 3, 2009 Author Share Posted December 3, 2009 yeah its an old dell tbh i'm not sure on your first sentance! it gets to a black and white screen with starting normally or in safe mode (amongst other) options and then whatever you try it goes to a blue screen(lots of text). When starting it up again I hit F2 or F12 to get to some testing page? Like I say I'm a bit of a numpty been browsing data recovery places and its costly but appealing what do you think of these companies? will having a go on another computer do any further damage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HadeS Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 If there is a lot of writing on the blue page I understand it's Windows XP? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 Data recovery companies rates will vary vastly depending how fecked it is. The best option (if available) is to add it to another PC system then see if the drive is still readable. If it's not then data recovery is the only option, but as you have found it is very expensive (and for good reason). As your IT work guy has made the offer it'd be best to take that if you don't have a 2nd PC to try it on. If you get desperate, drop by here, I'm not a million miles away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted December 3, 2009 Author Share Posted December 3, 2009 cheers for that, at least that's given me some reassurance the options i'd found were the usual/correct ones........i'll let the IT guy at work loose on it (what else is he gonna do on a friday afternoon!) and see if anything is accessible Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted December 3, 2009 Author Share Posted December 3, 2009 If there is a lot of writing on the blue page I understand it's Windows XP? yes pretty sure it is... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abz Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 ....whatever you try it goes to a blue screen(lots of text). been browsing data recovery places and its costly but appealing what do you think of these companies? will having a go on another computer do any further damage? The highlighted part sounds like a BSOD error (Blue Screen Of Death). Data recovery can be expensive, though this expense is determined by how much you value what is on the hard drive. If you want to do data recovery then get in contact with DamanC. He is a member on here who can help & runs his own business, I am sure he can sort you out a good deal being a member. Though lets see how it goes tomorrow with your IT Department (Depending how good they are). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamanC Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 The highlighted part sounds like a BSOD error (Blue Screen Of Death). Data recovery can be expensive, though this expense is determined by how much you value what is on the hard drive. If you want to do data recovery then get in contact with DamanC. He is a member on here who can help & runs his own business, I am sure he can sort you out a good deal being a member. Though lets see how it goes tomorrow with your IT Department (Depending how good they are). Commission on its way again sir Give it to your IT guy, let him have a crack. If he doesn't get anywhere with it, or you don't trust him send it to me and if the data is recoverable ill recover it for you. Free of charge of course Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abz Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 Commission on its way again sir Give it to your IT guy, let him have a crack. If he doesn't get anywhere with it, or you don't trust him send it to me and if the data is recoverable ill recover it for you. Free of charge of course Think I might want one of them high end game PC's! Don't ask for much do I? Keep us updated Scooter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted December 3, 2009 Author Share Posted December 3, 2009 geez you've got to love this place! I've been reading loads about a chkdsk/r routine that may make the thing run again, at least for long enough to backup the few bits i need too, is that worth doing before anything else? DamanC you have pm! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abz Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 geez you've got to love this place! I've been reading loads about a chkdsk/r routine that may make the thing run again, at least for long enough to backup the few bits i need too, is that worth doing before anything else? DamanC you have pm! The chkdsk/ r route would normally work if your PC can boot into safe mode or had the ability to attempt a load on the OS IIRC. Now by the sounds of how you say your getting a BSOD screen it would indicate either the HD drive itself is corrupt, either software corruption which the check disk and repair could resolve or you could have a hardware issue on the drive/memory. This depends on what the BSOD error message says, talking about this, does it just stay on the screen or just it flash up for a few seconds & then reboot itself (almost like it is in a loop?). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted December 4, 2009 Author Share Posted December 4, 2009 blue screen and text just stays there fixed or at least it does for minutes at a time, not sure how long i've left if before turning it off (no key/mouse response when on this screen). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abz Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 blue screen and text just stays there fixed or at least it does for minutes at a time, not sure how long i've left if before turning it off (no key/mouse response when on this screen). Sounds more like a data corruption or HD issue, as I am pretty sure if it was memory related it would just keep restarting. Does your HD make any funny noises? Mainly listening out for any clunking noises? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted December 4, 2009 Author Share Posted December 4, 2009 Not that i've noticed, certainly not regular/continuous. I did whip the tower apart and locate the HD, detached it from the motherboard (i think!) and reattached it on another port (clutching at straws) there was a noise, one thud/clunk on restarting..........didn't think anything of it at the time? probably should have mentioned earlier but the whole problem came about after a 'at the wall socket' shutdown by me when it was taking ages to shutdown normally? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adnanshah247 Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 put the drive in the freezer and then try, has always worked for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted December 4, 2009 Author Share Posted December 4, 2009 I had read that too in my searching but was sceptical!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Konrad Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 Mind you, freezer method is only to get disc working for a short while to COPY all the stuff to another disc. There is a big chance that once unfrozen it will be properly dead. Install system on new HDD first, you can use any installation disc of XP, just check which version you use (Home, Profesional) and THEN freeze/connect old one just to copy all the stuff Serial number for your operatin system should be on sticker glued somewhere on the tower. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adnanshah247 Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 I had read that too in my searching but was sceptical!? i had a drive that pretty much had my life on it. it messed up and i was about to kill somebody. the system wouldnt even recognise it, it would spin but thats all. thought i had nothing to loose, so wrapped it up in tissues to keep the frost away and then left it in the freezer, next day got it out, plugged it in and it gave me about an hours usage which was enough time for mee to get my things off!!! couldnt believe it worked! tried this on a few more hardrives and worked in the same way. make sure it doesnt get frosty though because a wet drive is completly f@ked Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted January 11, 2010 Author Share Posted January 11, 2010 Just like to round off the thread with a big thank you to Daman for sorting out my drive. He did some copy disks for me AND returned the drive saying it might possibly work, I popped it back in and it booted up first time and I was able to backup everything onto my newly purchased external Hard drive. So big! lesson learned for me, but with massive thanks to Daman as I suffered no loss of irreplaceable pictures/videos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abz Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Just like to round off the thread with a big thank you to Daman for sorting out my drive. He did some copy disks for me AND returned the drive saying it might possibly work, I popped it back in and it booted up first time and I was able to backup everything onto my newly purchased external Hard drive. So big! lesson learned for me, but with massive thanks to Daman as I suffered no loss of irreplaceable pictures/videos. Told you Daman was good Good news to hear! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamanC Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 You are welcome buddy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurgen-Jm-Imports Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 damanc i might need your help- my laptop got the screen of death pic and michel is currently looking at it.. i have some word and web related files and precious pics of my son on there along with car pics i need to recover.. michel asked me to put a post on last week see if anybody can help with data recovery etc.. but just incase it fails - can you help mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamanC Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 Sure can, just drop me a PM when you are good and ready Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Branners Posted October 8, 2010 Share Posted October 8, 2010 just to say, Daman did a top job on my crashed hard drive. Recovered everything I needed. So if you cant get it fixed then Daman is the place to send it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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