Defective hard drive - fastest way of copying contents

jimbobs · 15 Dec 2019

A 500GB WD Blue drive just failed (unrecognized by BIOS, unrecognized in USB case, clicking, etc) on a friend's laptop, Lenovo Ideapad 110. Fortunately, the owner says that he has any important contents backed up elsewhere. With nothing to loose, I have left the drive in the freezer for a few hours and am going to see if I can get access to it shortly. My plan is to put in into a USB 3 case, plug it into a USB 3 port, and then use Teracopy to copy C:\ to the host computer. Is there a better strategy?

As I said, the owner tells me the contents are unimportant but I suspect he's forgetting stuff like bookmarks, software keys, etc which is why I'd like to get a copy if possible (just to avoid the endless followup queries, if nothing else). Plus I'm curious to see if the freezer trick works on this drive.

NavyLCDR · 15 Dec 2019

Image with Mactium Reflect Free

jimbobs · 15 Dec 2019

None of the usual tricks used - freezing, heating, shocking - but it seems like an electronics issue. Drive spins up and intermittently chirps like it's been powered up/down. So the issue of speedily copying is academic.

sygnus21 · 15 Dec 2019

jimbobs said:

… but it seems like an electronics issue. Drive spins up and intermittently chirps like it's been powered up/down. So the issue of speedily copying is academic.

If it's doing all that, I'd get the data off it as fast and best I could and have it replaced. For me, any drive I suspect of being or going dad is never used again as this now becomes a trust issue.

That's me

jimbobs · 15 Dec 2019

sygnus21 said:

If it's doing all that, I'd get the data off it as fast and best I could and have it replaced. For me, any drive I suspect of being or going dad is never used again as this now becomes a trust issue.

That's me

Agreed. A few weeks ago, my friend brought this laptop to me for some other minor Windows issue and I asked him at the time if it was always this slow. He said it didn't seem slow to him but that I could look at it some other time. Seems like the WD Blue drive was dying a slow death. I've put an SSD into it and it's running very respectably.

JAM83 · 15 Dec 2019

jimbobs said:

A 500GB WD Blue drive just failed (unrecognized by BIOS, unrecognized in USB case, clicking, etc) on a friend's laptop, Lenovo Ideapad 110. Fortunately, the owner says that he has any important contents backed up elsewhere. With nothing to loose, I have left the drive in the freezer for a few hours and am going to see if I can get access to it shortly. My plan is to put in into a USB 3 case, plug it into a USB 3 port, and then use Teracopy to copy C:\ to the host computer. Is there a better strategy?

As I said, the owner tells me the contents are unimportant but I suspect he's forgetting stuff like bookmarks, software keys, etc which is why I'd like to get a copy if possible (just to avoid the endless followup queries, if nothing else). Plus I'm curious to see if the freezer trick works on this drive.

This sounds pretty bad. Honestly, I think a lot of people would agree, I would suggest him in investing in a Solid State Drive

JAM83 · 16 Dec 2019

jimbobs said:

Agreed. A few weeks ago, my friend brought this laptop to me for some other minor Windows issue and I asked him at the time if it was always this slow. He said it didn't seem slow to him but that I could look at it some other time. Seems like the WD Blue drive was dying a slow death. I've put an SSD into it and it's running very respectably.

I only use Solid State Drives now. WD Blue, SanDisk, Intel, & Samsung are the ONLY SSD's I use anymore. I've had my Intel for 8 years now, and it still shows 100%.

jimbo45 · 16 Dec 2019

Hi there
Drives are really cheap -- if this is giving these sort of errors it's only good for a "One way trip to the local recycling tip".

Would you get into a plane that was showing signs of imminent breakdown before take off !!!!!
As a private pilot I check very carefully before going into the air !!!!!!

Cheers
jimbo

Compumind · 16 Dec 2019

@jimbobs -

Are you able to read the drive a this stage?

If not, hold the drive horizontally and from the bottom, give it three hard whacks with your palm.
Then try again.

One other trick, for fun -

Remove all the Torx screws and with a non-metallic instrument check the electronic connections in the back of the drive and inside near the actuator.
Do *not* go near the platters. Do *not* breathe on the drive. Work quickly! Then try.

FWIW.

BTW - Don't recycle the drive - there's data on those platters - use a hammer and think of something that angers you, lol.

Compumind · 16 Dec 2019

jimbo45 said:

Would you get into a plane that was showing signs of imminent breakdown before take off !!!!!
As a private pilot I check very carefully before going into the air !!!!!!

BTW - I'm a private pilot, too!