Hard Drive w/Photos Died

[steven]

The new, only 2 months old, hard drive I was putting my photos on is now making loud clicking noises and not being reconized by my systemhttp://photography-on-the.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_sad.gif
I had some backed up on a DVD and some still on my digital wallet but still I have lost around 1000 raw imageshttp://photography-on-the.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_mad.gif
Good news is that the drive is under warnty and I'll get a new one but still there are all those photos on the bad one I will lose.

Any ideas of things to try before I send the dead drive back that might save my my photoshttp://photography-on-the.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif

steve

[Scottes]

Try removing turning the system off for a few hours, or just remove it and let it cool for a few hours. When you put it back in the system leave the PC cover off and point a fan at the drive. Copy the files *quickly*

This has saved me a couple times from the Clicking Drive Syndrome - but it has failed a few times, too. Best of luck.

[FlyingPete]

Bummer :cry:

I never trust a single drive or disk to store anything important, heard too many of these stories!

I always take the paranoid angle on image storage, I have mirrored pair of disk, so if one fails, I don't loose any pics, I also copy them to a third disk once a month that I keep off site.

I invested a few $$$ in this setup, doesn't do anything for my photography, had to hold off on some 'cool stuff', such as lenses and stuff, but al least I know my images are relatively safe, sort of like a insurance policy I suppose.

[JohnEBongo]

I lost a hard drive with the exact same symptoms about 3 months ago. Alot of pix went with it. Lesson learned. Now I back up to a second drive and to CD as well. I have actually heard that if you freeze the drive, or heat it up in the oven, the contraction/expansion can free up the drive. I am not sure if that is really a good idea or not, but who knows?? I did recover a surprising number of pictures from from my CF cards though. I don't remember which software I used but there a bunch of options out there. Good luck!!

[Sketcher]

How much $$$ is it worth for you to recover your images? Ontrack in Eden Prarie Minnesota are specialists in data recovery. They can recover data from a completely seized hard drive and the FBI uses them to recover data from media that has been erased and written over.

Unfortunately, that kind of expertise commands an experts wage. Recovering 160GB of data from a password protected SDLT Backup tape cost $750.00 just for them to assess the job, then a minimum of $7,000.00 to a maximum of $18,000.00 to recover the data. But that's 160GB of tape, a more involved process than recovering HD data. A crashed PDA typically runs $150-300.

Expensive, but if they're memories that cannot be replaced... In the least, it may be worth not sending the drive in for replacement. Just keep it on the shelf in the event a technology becomes more readily available for recovery or a happening in life makes that data suddenly worth whatever expense to recover.

[thomascanty]

I've also heard that you can temporarily revive a dead or dying hard drive by freezing it then quickly installing it back in the computer and copying your files off real fast. Sounds pretty strange, but some people swear it works... :)

[steven]

Thanks for the ideas.

The system was off just before the drive had problems so I don't think it is an overheating issue.
I'm currently trying the freezer idea.

But in the end after looking in five different locations where I had back ups (due to some other system problems) I have recovered all but 45 photo :)

So not all bad. Just have to get a new hard drive to hold all the rediscovered pictures and then, rebuild the database (I was only half way through but still a lot of time).

I will definatly now start keeping at least two copies on different devices (on purpose this time as apposed to acidental :wink: )

Thanks all

[Scottes]

The system was off just before the drive had problems... And that's one of the reasons why I leave my systems on 24/7. Granted, the main reason is my lack of patience, but almost all hardware issues happen at boot, in my experience.

I'm glad to hear that you got your stuff back.

[AeroSquid]

In my long years of pc building/repairing i have come across many dead or dying hard drives. the freezer approach will work if your problem was your drive overheating. Your much better off sticking that drive in a cheap usb 2.0 external drive enclosure and trying to hook it up that way. The chances of it working from an external source is good because you can control how long it's turned on. so if you get it up and running and start to hear bad noises you can shut it down and try it again later. unless you're a pro and those pictures are going to feed your family (or win you a pulitzer) then it will not be worth it to send that drive out for data recovery as those services are very expensive.

edit: you could also run 2 drives in RAID1 for redundant backup of files.

[mr.photoguy]

Wow, you don't back up your Raw images after a shoot...???? Why not. ??

After every shoot, I back up my images on a DVD-R. Then if it's a really important shoot I will run them off on a CD-r as my double back up..

I always keep a back up of my Raw images.
I lost 40 gigs of music, it's still sitting on my hard drive though. I haven't found out how to recover the data yet, but trust me I will..

Good luck.
Next time be paranoid.

[steven]

Wow, you don't back up your Raw images after a shoot...???? Why not. ??
Next time be paranoid.
Still working on my photo organization skillshttp://photography-on-the.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif
Also the drive was only 60 days old!! stuff that new shouldn't break!
But like you say better paranoidhttp://photography-on-the.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_razz.gif I now making sure I have my raw images 2 - 3 locations for backup.

[tommykjensen]

AeroSquid, although a RAID1 is a good idea it should not be the single backup.

I have a RAID1 on one computer this is my all purpose pc. I store all my photos there.

Then I have my photo editor only pc. I have a complete copy on this one too. I have not yet setup a RAID1 on this pc, not sure I will.

On regular basis I burn CD's / DVD's with all the original photos. I am actually going to do this as I write this because I recently invested in a dual layer DVD burner and just received the media. In fact I got a really good deal. I ordered several DVD media, I ordered a 25 piece cakebox from verbatim but since Verbatim has difficulties delivering I instead received 5 x 5 box with jewel cases! A massive 50% save on a already 50% save!! (In Denmark DVD's are rediculous expensive so I ordered in Germany where they cost almost half). So myself and 2 friends I ordered the same for saved a lot of money :)

[iwatkins]

Clicking hard drives ? IBM DeskStars (or DeathStars as we call them) are well known for this and were fitted to a lot of more recent PCs (past few years). Worth checking if you have one and if you can replace before failure.

Ian

[mr.photoguy]

I have a dead maxtor 120 gig, and a dead WD 40 gig.. lol..

Imagine that .. I have been broken down to a single WD 40 gig.

I will try running seagates from now on.
However, All my photo's are backed up. I back them all up, unless it's a junk shot. You know like the quick pic of 2 Sweedish fish, to show a friend that has never seen one before.