HD failure

  • Thread starter Thread starter TC
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TC

Resident Agitator
Okay guys, an external Maxtor crashed out on me, and I need some help. I've got two shorts on there that I'm trying to finish up.

I get this error:

K:\ is not accessible. The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error.

Can I fix this myself, or do I have to send it out to a recovery company?

Stupid technology. :angry:

EDIT: I shouldn't have put HD in the title of the thread, It's going to get a lot of undeserved looks.
 
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Maxtors famous last words. Everyone one of my maxtors have died like that. I was able to get one back up but I never used it again because I dont trust them, it sits on my desk as a SUPER emergency to hold something until I can get a new drive.
 
try Diskwarrior. It's worked for me in the past... but once you recover the data, get another drive :)
 
If you know someone with a mac, stick the hard drive in the mac and do it that way. Hmm, actually there may be format issues. I'm not too sure.

-Kegan
 
I've had great success over the years with Maxtor, haven't had one die on me yet...but I have had several Western Digitals die.

Anyway, you mentioned this was "external"...is it an external drive, or a drive in an external USB/1394 enclosure? If it is just in an enclosure, then that may be the fail point and not the drive - try removing it from the enclosure and installing it internally to the system and see if it works.

Hope that helps (and the boat anchor is almost together, will be testing this weekend - keep your fingers crossed)

- Larry
 
Maxtor is one of the worst HD's out there, then next comes the JVC.

I would recommend getting Fujistu or Segate. Then again, any drive can fail at any moment. **** happends.
 
Well..Let me say this about that. I have run maxtors for a while and only had one fail and it gave me plenty of warning that it was going south. Maxtor replaced it in under a week. It seems maxtors like lots of airflow because they run hot or so I'm told. my four Maxtors are flying 24/7/365 with only the one failure. I would try the direct install TC, you've got nothing to lose. I used a program called "recover my files when Microsoft defag utility decided to erase my 160 gig. But this isn't a pretty scemario. It does recover the files but I recall getting sone 27,000 files recovered with no names attached only numbers assigned by the recovery system. Even when you narrow it down to AVI's you can end up wading through an awful lot. I thought it would be a no brainer cos I only had a few files on the drive since the last format, but the software recovered everything that drive had contained in its freakin life!

Hey Blue...seeing you post makes me feel young again! Where ya bin?
 
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Hunter007 said:
If you know someone with a mac, stick the hard drive in the mac and do it that way. Hmm, actually there may be format issues. I'm not too sure.

-Kegan
It may not work on a mac if it's formated for PC
 
If worst comes to it, and you can not get your info from any other method, there are companies out there that specialize in recovering lost data from hard drives. Usually, the info is still on the drive and in tact (unless the arm has physically touched the disk, and THEN youhave problems), so by simply remiving the aluminum disk and putting it in another drive they can recover your data. It costs good money though. I Have lost data before (pictures I was too lazy to backup), and they told me it would cost 600 just to have them open it up and take a look. I couldn't afford at the time, so here it still sits.

I know this is a little too late, but in the future, get yourself a copy of Nero, and do the disk backup with it. I recently did that, and will do it again today, now that I am thinking about it, and with some dual layer DVDs, I can back up the entire project I am working on un 10-15 discs. Painfull, and slow, but achrived and safe.

Here's a quick google search of the compainies I mean:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=hard+drive+recovery&btnG=Google+Search


You may have to pay through the nose, but if I had to, I ceratainly would.
 
Most Data Recovery houses charge according to how much data is recovered. I'd use them as a last resort, though. Perhaps try a new inclosure, first. Or data recovery software. If all else fails and you have to resort to a data recovery service, I have had good results with DriveSavers. It's not a inexpensive way to go, but if you have no other option, you'll have to decided how much the service is worth to you.

A couple of questions: How big is your drive and is it a single drive? How much data do you think is on it?
 
Well, I don't have the proper cables to hook it up right now. I do have another external enclosure, and I tried swapping it into that one and I still got the same error. The hard drive from the other enclosure is in the first one and running fine, so I don't think it's that.

Blaine said:
A couple of questions: How big is your drive and is it a single drive? How much data do you think is on it?
It's 160gb, and it's packed to the brim with video files. :(
 
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If you have to send it out and decide to call DriveSavers (800) 440-1904 you'll get a high/low quote, based on drive size and how much data is on it.

Here is the quote they gave me:

Our pricing is based on the drive capacity, the operating system, and the complexity of the recovery. DriveSavers will never exceed the maximum amount quoted.

The estimate to recover data from the 500GB hard drive you described is:

* Standard 1-2 Business Day Service: $900-3900.

* Economy 5-7 Business Day Service: $500-2700.

There is a $200.00 attempt fee if the data is not recoverable.

* Priority Round-the-Clock/Weekend Service: $1800-8900, with a $800.00 attempt fee.

A special 10% discount will be applied to your final recovery cost. This discount does not apply to the attempt fee or to any backup media you may purchase.


There are other services and it is worth shopping around. After shopping around and talking to the different services, I decided to go with DriveSavers based on their track record. They were neither the cheapest, nor the most expensive. They performed great and were able to recover 100% of my data. The above quote was for a single 500GB drive. As it turns out, mine was two 250GB drives in a single housing so they requoted at a slightly higher rate.

My drive was a LaCie. I will never buy another now that I've seen all the problems others have had with LaCie. All my other drives are Maxtor and chugging along fine.

I would recommend giving them a call just for the quote so at least you'll know what you're looking at if you have to go that way. It's always better than wondering...

One other thing to be aware of: If you go to a data recovery service, you'll need to provide a "target drive" to put the recovered data on. Fortunately for me, my LaCie was under warranty so I just gave LaCie the DriveSavers work order number and they provided the target drive. If your drive is not under warranty, you'll need to provide them with a hard drive to put your data on.
 
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