[byanoseau]

Hi Everyone,

I have the following problem. When I start my computer I get a message, "Checking File System on D:" Chkdsk stage 1 of 3 starts and this lasts about 5 seconds and then Windows loads. After Windows loads and it's loading other programs, the computer shuts down and reboots and goes through the whole process again. If I remove HDD D: there's no problem and everything loads and operates as it should.
Therefore, my question is this. What is causing the problem with D: drive that prevents the computer from operating normally? And, how do I get access to the D: drive to repair the problem?

Thanks.

Byn

[Triple6]

Your D drive may have bad sectors, mechanical or electrical failures, you should run the manufacturers diagnostics on the drive. Most have version that you can download from their website and run from a floppy or CD to avoid any Windows problems. What is the make and model of the hard drive in question?

[byanoseau]

Hi Triple6,

Thanks for the reply. The drive in question is a brand new Maxtor Sata STM33206220AS 320Gb

Thanks.

Byn

[Triple6]

The www.Seagate.com site appears to be down at the moment, but they call their diagnostics Seatools and it can be used off a CD if you can't run Windows for a long time.

Is there anything on the drive yet? Is your other hard drive a SATA drive too?

[byanoseau]

Hi Triple6,
Thanks for the info. Yes, there's a lot of important files on it, that's why I'm so concerned. It's the only SATA drive in the computer. It's been running ok for several weeks now but out of the blue comes this problem.

Thanks.

Byn

[Triple6]

I'd test the drive using Seatools for DOS: http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.js...00dd04090aRCRD

And we try to imprint on people here that a single copy of data is not the way to store important data and is not a backup no matter where its stored.

[byanoseau]

Hi Triple6,

I'll give Seatools for DOS a go and let you know how I get on.

And yes, your exactly right. Not sure if I fall into the "Hadn't quite got around to it yet" category or the "It won't happen to me" category.

Thanks again.

Byn

[byanoseau]

Hi Triple6,

Well, bad news. I ran the program you suggested and it couldn't see the drive.
I rebooted the computer with the D: (faulty) drive attached and opened Windows Explorer straight away to see if I could access the drive before it rebooted and it said it said the drive was corrupted, or something similar, and couldn't read it.

Is there ANY way I can recover the data from this drive?

Thanks,

Byn

[aaric]

Hi byanoseau,

There are various Data Recovery Software which gives you a flexibilty to do it on your own capability.

Firstly I would suggest you to clone or take image of the faulty drive and then use the cloned drive to recover your data. This also helps to speed up the data recovery.

You can download the demo version of FAT or NTFS data recovery software depending on the file system of your logical drives on your Windows machine. Never install Data Recovery Software on the drive from which you want to recover data, also never save any data on the same drive from which you are recovering data.

Hope this helps you...

[Triple6]

http://www.pcinspector.de/Sites/file...htm?language=1

Try the Windows version of Seatools then.

[byanoseau]

Hi aaric & Triple6

Thank you both for the info. Triple6, I'll try the Windows version of Seatools and I'll let you know how I get on. Just a query, will using any of these programs do any further damage that will prevent me from sending the HDD to a data recovery company?
Thanks.

Byn

[Triple6]

They could wear out the drive even more. Attempt the data recovery first.

[byanoseau]

Hi Triple6,
Glad to report that I've recovered the data. One thing I neglected to tell you was that this drive is connected through a PCI card because my computer doesn't have any SATA connectors. I thought maybe the card/cables were breaking down so I took the card and cables to a computer tech to test and he said he would have a crack at recovering the data. He plugged the drive into a USB port and he could read the drive, so I was able to copy all the data to DVD's. With nothing to lose now, I came back and plugged the drive back in and it worked. I can read it again. So it's got me completely confused now as to what caused the problem in the first place. At least I've got the data backed up now. Thanks to you and aaric for your effort and advice, it's greatly appreciated.

Byn.

[mattyc]

Don't you like getting lucky!
It was probably a loose connection, or the pci sata card needed to be reseated.

Don't forget to double check those connections