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Thread: Data Recovery Questions...

  1. #1
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    Data Recovery Questions...

    Got Grub Error 17... 80 Gig Seagate HDD for a Laptop. /, /swap, /home ... System will not boot. Will not boot with Live CD either...

    1. Ran BIOS Diagnostic to test HDD... got error reading drive...

    2. Put HDD in Enclosure and plugged in to another Ubuntu system... Does not show up...

    I believe the HDD has failed, but need to recover info...

    QUESTIONS:
    1. Is it possible to have the drive imaged, so that when I get the new drive, I can just plug it into my laptop as if nothing ever happened?

    2. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/DataRecovery states that it is advisable to image the device and then work on the image to recover data. Is it safe to do this on a damaged device? Am I making things worse by attempting to image?

    I'm not sure that even an attempt at imaging would work, due to the fact that I can not get the HDD to "show up" on any system...

    Thanks all...

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2007
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    Kubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron

    Re: Data Recovery Questions...



    It sounds like your hard disk is permanently damaged. Depending on the nature of the damage, you may do more harm than good by trying to use it for anything.

    Are the platters even spinning up?

    I don't know if there is much you can do for yourself here. (Maybe someone else will have some ideas?) A professional data recovery service could certainly recover your data. They can extract the platters and read them from their own specialized equipment. It will cost $$$.

    The best way to recover your data in this situation is from backups. I don't mean to be insensitive, but this kind of situation is exactly why people harp on the need for a reliable backup strategy.

    RAID 1 could have saved saved you here. Assuming only the hard disk itself failed (not the motherboard), the data would still be living happily on the twin drive.

    Sorry to be so pessimistic about your odds of getting things back. That's the best advice I can come up with given the circumstances you describe.

    I wish you much luck.

  3. #3
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    Nov 2006
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    Angry Re: Data Recovery Questions...

    Thanks Telengard C64... You know, I just kept putting it off and just kept delaying my backup strategy ... and now this... I need my data, so it looks like I'll have to hire a professional... Not sure the drive is even spinning up...

    EVERYTHING CHANGED FOR ME THIS PAST FRIDAY!!! Here's what I'm doing going forward.

    1. Purchasing a new Laptop from PowerNotebooks.com (THIS IS LONG OVERDUE ... getting the best they have to offer)

    2. Hiring a Professional Data Recovery service to retrieve my data.

    3. IMMEDIATELY INSTITUTING THE BEST BACKUP SYSTEM THAT MY MONEY CAN BUY OR THAT I CAN FIND!!! I NOW HAVE ZERO TOLERANCE FOR DATA LOSS / HDD CRASHES, ETC...!!!

    This will no doubt make me much "lighter in the pocket" but I AM VOWING TO NEVER BE IN THIS SITUATION AGAIN... EVER!!! Money may not be able to buy love, but it can sure buy just about everything else...

    Thanks for letting me vent a little... I'm totally pissed at myself...

    It is indeed a new day for me... I guess it took something like this for me to wake the heck up!!! I'll be back though... THIS TIME WITH A BACKUP SYSTEM 2ND TO NONE!!!

  4. #4
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    Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat

    Re: Data Recovery Questions...

    i've heared there are method to recovery data from damaged harddisk by put it on refrigerator like at this articel. But there is still no warranty that your data will back 100%, but it still worth a try i think.

  5. #5
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    Re: Data Recovery Questions...

    Thanks apernix, but this puppy is going into the hands of a professional... I AM TOTALLY OVER IT!!! Money right now IS NO OBJECT!!! ... I totally screwed up this time, but now I'm going to fix it with CASH!!! This pretty much sucks, but I knew better... And I have no one to blame but myself...

  6. #6
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    Kubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron

    Exclamation Re: Data Recovery Questions...

    Quote Originally Posted by Xswitch View Post
    3. IMMEDIATELY INSTITUTING THE BEST BACKUP SYSTEM THAT MY MONEY CAN BUY OR THAT I CAN FIND!!! I NOW HAVE ZERO TOLERANCE FOR DATA LOSS / HDD CRASHES, ETC...!!! I'll be back though... THIS TIME WITH A BACKUP SYSTEM 2ND TO NONE!!!
    That's the spirit!

    Seriously though, external HDDs and small NAS boxes are quite affordable now. Just to give you something to compare with, study the feature set on these. I'm not saying to buy them, just look at the features:
    http://buffalotech.com/comparison-ch...-small-office/

    You get some crappy backup software for Windows, A few features which only apply to Apple products. But you also get, FTP, web, RAID, etc.

    Just in case you don't know what RAID is and how it protects your backups with redundancy:
    http://raid.com/04_00.html

    IMPORTANT NOTE
    RAID is not a backup strategy by itself. A proper backup strategy uses external media and offers the possibility of multiple generations of data recovery. RAID does not do either of those things. The one thing RAID can do is protect against hard disk failure. Read the tutorial linked above to learn how!

    A backup strategy can be a simple or complex as you make it. Here are somethings to think about.

    • What data to backup? Full hard disk, or just /homes, or a combination of both?
    • How often to backup? Daily? Weekly? Monthly?
    • Should multiple backups be kept? Is it important to have access to your data as it was last week, last month, and last year? How many generations of backups?


    A lot of people would recommend doing full disk backups periodically. That's a fine idea, but it is slow and the software has some peculiarities you need to study. For example, what if your backup can only be restored to exactly the same size disk?

    A better idea would be to backup only /home plus any other important data you have in different folders. There's no need to include all 20 Linux kernels and various libraries, and text documentation in your backups.

    If you just want cheap and quick, you can purchase a USB HDD. Then once per day/week copy your /home to it. After you've got that habit learned you can take some more time to ponder how to make your system faster, easier, more reliable.
    Last edited by Telengard C64; March 7th, 2011 at 05:31 PM. Reason: be absolutely clear that RAID != backup

  7. #7
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    Re: Data Recovery Questions...

    I tend to disagree on RAID as a backup. If you say delete all files then all data is deleted and it is no backup. Backups have to be to another device and should also be to a off site location. I use DVDs and only copy my data, not system. I figure I can reinstall Ubuntu from scratch in about an hour. My backups include installed programs, custom configs from /etc and my /home hidden settings as well as all my data. But my personal data is not as vital as a business or professionals needs, which may need to be daily or every more often.

    Does BIOS see hard drive. If not then you have major drive problems. I have heard some recovery horror stories where users did not ask about cost and they spent thousands and all the service did was run testdisk.
    UEFI boot install & repair info - Regularly Updated :
    https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2147295
    Please use Thread Tools above first post to change to [Solved] when/if answered completely.

  8. #8
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    Re: Data Recovery Questions...

    Quote Originally Posted by oldfred View Post
    I tend to disagree on RAID as a backup. If you say delete all files then all data is deleted and it is no backup.
    Please read what I wrote.
    I never recommended RAID as a backup.
    I recommended RAID to protect backups.
    RAID can protect backups with redundancy.
    Some people like redundancy for very important data.
    I will append a note to my post so no one else is confused like you were.

    Backups have to be to another device and should also be to a off site location
    I agree with that, and everything else you said.

  9. #9
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    Re: Data Recovery Questions...

    Quote Originally Posted by oldfred View Post
    I tend to disagree on RAID as a backup. If you say delete all files then all data is deleted and it is no backup. Backups have to be to another device and should also be to a off site location. I use DVDs and only copy my data, not system. I figure I can reinstall Ubuntu from scratch in about an hour. My backups include installed programs, custom configs from /etc and my /home hidden settings as well as all my data. But my personal data is not as vital as a business or professionals needs, which may need to be daily or every more often.

    Does BIOS see hard drive. If not then you have major drive problems. I have heard some recovery horror stories where users did not ask about cost and they spent thousands and all the service did was run testdisk.
    When I open BIOS and do a HDD Self Test, I get this error:

    Error: Read Failure

    When I boot normal, I get this:

    GRUB Loading stage1.5.

    GRUB loading, please wait...
    Error 17


    Here are a few concerns that I have...

    1. I have Virtual Box installed with Win XP in the Virtual Environment... I have data stored in the VM.

    2. I tried booting to a Live CD... Knoppix and Ubuntu... and the drive is not detected... I tried with a HDD enclosure and plugging the HDD direct into the laptop. Doesn't the drive have to "show up" in order to run testdisk?

    3. Will testdisk further damage the drive?

    Just ran a "Startup Check" via the BIOS... This is what I got:

    Startup Check Failed

    Status = Failed - Replace Hard Disk 1
    Warranty ID = (A Whole Bunch of Numbers)
    Last edited by Xswitch; March 7th, 2011 at 06:07 PM.

  10. #10
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    Re: Data Recovery Questions...

    If you are getting grub legacy's error 17 that is partition not found. It could just be a damaged partition table. If grub is booting that far then it at least starts to see the drive.

    I would try testdisk from a liveCD. Test disk scans drive for any data that may be recoverable. It does not rely on partition table or the file info. It just looks across drive for something that looks like a file. But BIOS has to see drive. If grub starts to boot BIOS must see drive.

    Instructions
    http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Step_By_Step
    http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/Menu_Analyse
    UEFI boot install & repair info - Regularly Updated :
    https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2147295
    Please use Thread Tools above first post to change to [Solved] when/if answered completely.

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