Q- Optimizing Hard Drive Freezer Method

[kerriobrown]

I have a corrupt hard drive that I've tried using the freezer trick with but there are a couple of obstacles that seem to be keeping the time window I have from being used optimally. My guess is there's nothing can be done but I thought I'd at least put them out there in case they stirred any thoughts or advice:

1. Speed is of the essence for the recovery software, which is why they all claim to be fast. But fast is relative and I'd really like to know if the one I choose is going to work comprehensively or specifically. For instance, I only want to recover one folder on my desktop with maybe 40 files and a total size of 30MB. I don't want the software to search for data or even system-related information across the whole 160GB drive except where it has to. In fact, I'd rather it make some guess based on easily accessed information and the option to do so being available before I even have to plug my hard drive in (was internal but am using a ATA to USB adaptor). Does the software really need to search everywhere and figure out the whole hard drive hierarchy etc? Is there at least some pattern to where data is written, even if noisy? If not, the drive is never going to make it (especially due to the problem below). I'd rather have to refreeze it 50 times for it to guess right once, each taking 2 minutes, than for it to take an hour to get it all figured out where it will never find the data I need no matter what.

2. Why does my computer slow down to a snail's pace right after I plug the hard drive in, even when I'm not trying to access it? Anyone know what I'm talking about? It gets even worse the moment you open My Computer. This also takes a toll on the recovery software I use, which starts out recovering 300 files and then suddenly it's finding 2 files every 10 minutes. Is there a way to keep the PC overall from getting killed and isolate the problem to just the corrupt hard drive and whatever processes are accessing it?

These 2 problems I believe together make the freeze method unworkable for my scenario. Are they inevitable? Does anyone have recommendations on a recovery software that at least is burdened as much by these issues?

Specs: I have both Windows XP 32-bit and 7 64-bit. The drive was initially the boot/OS drive for Windows XP but I'm trying to restore on other PCs by treating as a external data drive.

Thanks!
Kerrio

 

[tiraides]

We need more details before we can (try to) help you:

- What are the specs of the system that you're using to extract the data from?
- Which specific (brand/model) HDD are you trying to "recover"?
- Which recovery program are you using?
- How long are you keeping the HDD in the freezer prior to recovery?

 

[kerriobrown]

- What are the specs of the system that you're using to extract the data from?
XP 32 bit Home Edition Ver. 2 SP3, Pentium 4 3.4 GHz, 3GB DDR2 RAM

- Which specific (brand/model) HDD are you trying to "recover"?
Western Digital Cavier WD1600 Serial ATA

- Which recovery program are you using?
I'm trying EASSUS Data Recovery Wizard 5.0.1 but am open to faster or more specific programs as mentioned

- How long are you keeping the HDD in the freezer prior to recovery?
I've tried overnight while keeping in the freezer when plugging in and then 4 hours and then transferring to a bucket of ice next to my PC.

 

[jb_hafo]

do you know the paths of the data you are trying to recover?
I did the freezer trick
40 minutes in
5-10 minutes recover data
40 minutes in
5-10 minutes recover data
etc
with freebsd, and the windows c:
mounted on
/recover or somewhere,
So I knew the files were in
/recover/temp/,
or as
/recover/*.bat
etc ... beforehand.
(the windows restore at least. Freebsd was similar,
/bsd_recover/root, /bsd_recover/tmp etc)

 

[kerriobrown]

I know the exact path to the folder which is on desktop (I don't know the names of the files inside).

But I can't just access them by clicking on the corrupted drive on a working computer because the drive either doesn't show up in My Computer even after the freeze, or it shows up but just opening My Computer brings everything nearly to a halt, as if all resources (Quad Core 2.6Hz and 4GB RAM) are being taken up just by plugging the corrupt hard drive into the usb slot).

It does show up in recovery software, but then I know of no way to specify the specific path I need recover from, so the software just looks for everything on that drive.

And since the recovery software starts off OK (enough to get 300 files or so), I think there'd be time to recover the specific data I need if that search jump directly to it, assuming it isn't corrupted already.

BTW, I'm interested in the method you chose as it could shorten my wait times. I waited a few days b/t freezes b/c despite my best efforts (ziplock bag and paper towels), I'm afraid of condensation occurring after taking out of the freezer. Since drives work in the typical house setting I guess a little moisture isn't the end of the world, though. I just like to make sure the drive is as dry as it used be, when it worked, before freezing it. Is this a waste of time?

Thanks,
Kerrio

 

[kerriobrown]

By the way, thanks for trying to help! I'd assumed I'd get "it's dead, give up.". That would be fine if true but the fact that I get 1 minute of activity and file recovery makes me think there has to be a way to get that 30MB of files I need.

Kerrio

 

[jb_hafo]

Using windows only? Ive not done the freezer trick with sata,
but the old drive would show up as, say, d: within

"command prompt". One could
probably use xxcopy with a string
of parameters after it to efficiently copy a subdir off
if that worked the same for sata. (If, indeed, the freezer trick
fixes it temporarily).

 

[kerriobrown]

Using windows only? Ive not done the freezer trick with sata,
but the old drive would show up as, say, d: within

"command prompt". One could
probably use xxcopy with a string
of parameters after it to efficiently copy a subdir off
if that worked the same for sata. (If, indeed, the freezer trick
fixes it temporarily).

xxcopy had the same problem as opening My Computer, the computer just grinds to a halt. There's gotta be some way to keep it from constantly trying to access the corrupted drive on all cylinders, or at least wait until I ask it to do so. My assumption at this point is that it's done for, which is a shame since the folder I need is so small and in all likelihood sitting around in there just fine.

Thanks,
Kerrio

 

[jb_hafo]

If xxcopy from a floppy or "boot windows command line only"
option does not work, the unix command "dd" might... the
latter has parameters that enable it to continue on error.
Some others have kept the drive cold (in dry ice at the
end of a cable?). Again, if the fix is that method for this
drive failure.

 

[kerriobrown]

If xxcopy from a floppy or "boot windows command line only"
option does not work, the unix command "dd" might... the
latter has parameters that enable it to continue on error.
Some others have kept the drive cold (in dry ice at the
end of a cable?). Again, if the fix is that method for this
drive failure.

I'm guessing I can find this command using Cygwin XTerm but do you think I should setup linux as an OS instead? Would there be a difference? On that note, I have Windows 7 on a dual-boot setup. I'm wondering if it's worth a shot trying to access from there. I'm guessing it makes no difference, but maybe there are differences in how they handle drives

I haven't tried running XP from command-line only. You said xxcopy OR command-line, but are you thinking I should try xxcopy in command-line mode?

Thanks,
Kerrio

 

[jb_hafo]

Probably google:
...
noerror dd failed OR freezer OR recovery
...
Similar for xxcopy. I would be wary of anything from-windows
being as capable to get data off within the 5 minute time-frame(s).