larryv: So I posted not too long ago that my lap

Larry (

larryv) wrote,
@ 2008-03-18 16:48:00

So I posted not too long ago that my laptop fell. Its still under warranty. I need to back up the files to my work computer. i managed to get the drive out of my machine and I hooked it up using a cable my IT department lent me. The USB 2.0 Drive Mate. Its pretty awesome. The cable can hook up to a 2.5, 3.5 or SATA drive. Trouble is my hard drive does not want to play nice. I can read all my file. i can even open them. But apparently when i try to copy them en masse my drive freaks and throws I/O errors. Any of the nerd friends on my LJ have any suggestions?

(Post a new comment)

zigamorph
2008-03-18 09:26 pm UTC (link)

I suggest booting with Linux, possibly using SysRescueCD (a convenient bootable live Linux system for problem recovery) and using the included ddrescue utility, which makes multiple passes over the source drive while maintaining a log file (on other media) of which sectors could be successfully copied and which sectors need to be retried. Eventually, you should end up with a disk image file of the source media, which you can easily manipulate to copy onto another hard drive, mount using the loop pseudo-device, and so on.

(Reply to this)

	chap 2008-03-18 09:52 pm UTC (link)
	Just curious, can you copy them 1 at a time? The above answer is a pretty good one though. Another good booting option is knoppix. (Reply to this)(Thread)

larryv
2008-03-18 09:57 pm UTC (link)

Apparently dropping the laprop gave me some bad sectors. Well thats the way the game goes I suppose.

I found a command line that helps: xcopy "I:\" "C:\laptopharddrive\" /c /s /h /i

I'm grabbing the whole thing one file at a time and when it encounters a bad sector it moves on. I'll let it run overnight. When all is done I will try a program called "HDD Regenerator" that says it can recover bad sectors. We shall see.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

asavitzk
2008-03-18 11:36 pm UTC (link)

I've had hit-or-miss results with HDDRegen though given the nature of what it tries to do I guess you could expect that.

It may also be worth mentioning to somehow try and cool down the drive. If you're just using an adapter cable then there's probably no cooling element to speak of other than the air around it. You may want to put it in an aluminum casing or some other case with a fan to cool it if you're copying large amounts of data at once.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

zigamorph
2008-03-19 02:35 pm UTC (link)

HDD Regenerator is a really bad idea when you know that the source of the I/O errors is mechanical or physical damage, such as a fall. It can work tolerably well when the I/O errors are a result of slow dimensional change as a result of age or temperature variation.

I've done some pretty vicious things to cool drives during data recovery, such as putting a plastic cup full of cold water sitting directly on top of the drive. However, since we know this drive fell, that's not likely to help.

What can make a significant difference is putting the drive in different orientations, starting with flat and level, then on each side, and so on. I would generally avoid upside down, especially with a drive that fell, but it might work.

With the "ddrescue" utility I suggest above, it will keep a log of which sectors were recoverable and which were not, so only the so-far unrecoverable sectors will be retried on each pass with the drive in a different orientation.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

	__cosmo__ 2008-03-19 02:01 am UTC (link)
	My department is in charge of 800 PC's world wide plus about 60 laptops. When stuff like this happens. We turn to Linux. We have about an 80% success rate. The other 20% we get from drivesavers.com Never lost a drive between the two of them. Knock on wood. - Jim (Reply to this)

sui_generis
2008-03-19 03:40 am UTC (link)

I hear if you take a sharpie marker and draw along the edge of the disk it totally fixes it every time.

hee hee.

No but good luck, seriously.

(Reply to this)

howlingcoyote
2008-03-19 05:21 am UTC (link)

A .Net program that uses System.IO to enumerate all drives and folders and then does a filecopy one file at a time? It would also log the ones that are bad.

ms-help://MS.VSCC.v80/MS.MSDN.v80/MS.NETDEVFX.v20.en/cpref8/html/M_System_IO_File_Copy_1_d460c748.htm

You could even put in Thread.Sleep() commands if you thought they would help your drive from "freaking out" because of the speed of the copy.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	howlingcoyote 2008-03-19 05:22 am UTC (link)
	Or even http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/c6cfw35a.aspx as you likely won't be in help when you copy that url from above. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	larryv 2008-03-19 09:49 am UTC (link)
	I like the way you think :-). I might whip this up when I get to work and then let it run overnight. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	gamsby 2008-03-19 12:34 pm UTC (link)
	I hear a pair of plyers, a screw-driver, and a hammer will fix just about anything if you have enough Techs working on it at the same time. (Reply to this)

Mini Sitemap:

Username:		Create an Account Forgot your login? Login w/ OpenID
Password:
	Remember Me
	English • Español • Deutsch • Русский…