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Post by sirfredrico on Sept 7, 2017 4:46:47 GMT -5
i have 2 im working on for a friend..... both hp.... one older and 1 newer. im trying to pull the files off, but when i connect the drives to a sata cable it recognizes both drives under computer management as each drive having 2 partitions, but on both drives it says space unallocated and shows them to have no files.... does this sound like both drives are bad? thats what im thinking.....she said she has alot of pictures on them and im trying to access them so far no luck.... i can try and reinstall windows, it wont let me upgrade on one because it had windows 8 i believe..... the only way to find out there if the drive in that one is bad is start the new install. if the drive is bad, it would say it doesnt recognize a drive, but if it did, it would continue and wipe out what she has on there if it is accessible. is there another way of finding out for sure those drives are bad other than how i tried to do it?
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Post by jholland1964 on Sept 7, 2017 8:13:03 GMT -5
What are you using the sata cable to connect these drives to and why? If she only wants to save her files and folders can't you just save them to a usb flash drive? Doesn't necessarily say to me the drives are bad, unallocated space means you are likely looking at the wrong partition, you are not looking at the partitions containing the files, folders, operating system, usually called the "C" drive but you are looking at the empty, unused partition that has not been designated on how it should be used. If you want to test hard drives begin with scandisk and also chkdsk. Both are on the computer. Click on "My Computer" to view all partitions on your hard drive. Right click your C: drive partition and choose "Properties." Click the Tools tab and press "Check Now" to set up a scan of your hard drive. S.M.A.R.T. Test: www.howtogeek.com/134735/how-to-see-if-your-hard-drive-is-dying/There are other software programs you can then use, TestDisk: www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDiskSeaTools: www.seagate.com/support/downloads/seatools/You say you are working on two computers at the same time, that right there is an accident waiting to happen. Work on one only at a time. When that one is fixed then move to the other. Why do these computers need fixing in the first place? It is pretty rare today that reformat/reload is even necessary. Why would you believe that a computer running Windows 8 could not be upgraded? Windows 8 upgraded to 8.1. What do you want to upgrade it to? Is this the newer computer? What are you trying to do with the older computer? What operating system does it have installed? You do know that upgrading from one os to another usually is not free. You have to pay for the new operating system. |
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Post by sirfredrico on Sept 8, 2017 10:38:44 GMT -5
What are you using the sata cable to connect these drives to and why? If she only wants to save her files and folders can't you just save them to a usb flash drive? Doesn't necessarily say to me the drives are bad, unallocated space means you are likely looking at the wrong partition, you are not looking at the partitions containing the files, folders, operating system, usually called the "C" drive but you are looking at the empty, unused partition that has not been designated on how it should be used. If you want to test hard drives begin with scandisk and also chkdsk. Both are on the computer. Click on "My Computer" to view all partitions on your hard drive. Right click your C: drive partition and choose "Properties." Click the Tools tab and press "Check Now" to set up a scan of your hard drive. S.M.A.R.T. Test: www.howtogeek.com/134735/how-to-see-if-your-hard-drive-is-dying/There are other software programs you can then use, TestDisk: www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDiskSeaTools: www.seagate.com/support/downloads/seatools/You say you are working on two computers at the same time, that right there is an accident waiting to happen. Work on one only at a time. When that one is fixed then move to the other. Why do these computers need fixing in the first place? It is pretty rare today that reformat/reload is even necessary. Why would you believe that a computer running Windows 8 could not be upgraded? Windows 8 upgraded to 8.1. What do you want to upgrade it to? Is this the newer computer? What are you trying to do with the older computer? What operating system does it have installed? You do know that upgrading from one os to another usually is not free. You have to pay for the new operating system. ok..... i got 2 computers a friend wanted me to check out and reinstall windows... IF.... i could pull the files that were on them off... that doesnt mean i was working on both of them at the same time..... the SATA cable is SATA to SATA..... i can connect another hard drive to it. this is what i tried to use to get at the files when the other way didnt work..... they need fixing, because you could not boot up and use windows. the first one originally had windows 7, and would no longer boot up. for what reason i dont know, other than there was no sound or vibration coming from the hard drive as if it wasnt running.... where did i say a computer running 8 couldnt be upgraded? it can i know that. yes, its a newer computer, has 8 gb of memory.had windows 7, but had 8 gb. im not trying to upgrade. it had windows 7 home premium, and thats what i was going to try and put back on it, but it would only boot up with the cd to the 2 choice menu of setup. the one that saves your files, and the one that doesnt but installs a new copy. i tried the one that saves the files, but it said i couldnt.....i didnt choose the other one. if i did and it happened to install it would over write them. but ive been in that situation before...... setup will take you to that point even if the drive is bad, but once you click on install, it will say no device installed, or if its good, it will go ahead and install windows overwriting whats on there, and if it can somehow be pulled off, shed rather not have windows installed on it. i wasnt looking at the wrong drives.... i know enough to know that C: is my system, and not her drive.... which there were 2.... one being the recovery partition..... i didnt think however to run chkdsk as you mentioned, ill try that soon....but i have never heard a hard drive not spin or feel it vibrate if its good..... no matter the age of a computer, drives DO go bad for one reason or another.... dont they? ive been letting them sit since i seemed to be at an end... but now youve gave me something else to check out..... meanwhile.... see if you can help me on this..... a friend gave her a newer dell desktop, a thin one, it also had windows 7 on it to begin with, but her friend upgraded to 10, and he told me it would go to a screen and hed be given the choice of 7 or 10 then it would just hang on the screen.... well, in part he was right.....it would hang, but it gave no choice of which OS to choose from, dont know where he got that. lol.....so i brought it home, connected it to see what it was doing... by the way, she wanted it wiped to and reinstalled with 7......anyway, when i booted it, the 10 logo came up.... the circle kept circling and eventually hung..... i waited about a minute to make sure it wasnt going to go ahead and boot.....it didnt, so i rebooted this time hitting various keys, and it booted perfectly... i used it for hours. hitting those keys had nothing to do with it though of course, just a fluke. because i booted it the next couple times fine, the next time i booted it hang up again.... so, i reinstalled 7 on it, everything working fine except the wireless..... this computer had a 64 bit OS originally, so the wireless driver is for a 64 bit.... what i installed is 32 bit, and that driver wont work. ive tried several..... any idea on how i could get it to work? can you locate one that might work? ive been trying all morning with no luck... its a dell inspiron 546s.... (SERVICE TAG & EXPRESS SERVICE CODE REMOVED)....this mainly is the one she wants working since her friend gave it to her.... of course, shed like to have the others going too. ill try what you said, if that doesnt work, im thinking she may have to spend some dollars if she wants it pulled off if it can be with some kind of special something. lol....by the way..... one thing i used that SATA cable for was to connect the drive to my other system.... it showed to be completely full. blue, with 0 bytes. |
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Post by sirfredrico on Sept 8, 2017 10:49:27 GMT -5
oh judy, about the first computer, i forgot to mention, the drive{s} from the othe computer dont show up at all under my computer, i had to go into admin tools to see them.
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Post by jholland1964 on Sept 8, 2017 12:47:47 GMT -5
Ok, several things here; First of all exactly how many computers are you talking about here? I have no idea, you have mentioned an "older" computer, one with Windows 8 and now one with Windows 7. So are there 2 or 3 or how many? Stick with One please.
You said this right here in red in your very first post:
You left out key information in your first post, the reason why these reinstalls were being done and that is why I asked the questions I asked.
You never said that the drives were not spinning or vibrating until your reply #2. If that is the case the drives very likely are "toasted" and chances of getting something off of them is very slim. Frankly, I don't know which ones or if all of them had drives that didn't spin or vibrate.
The one that showed all blue with no bytes remaining is either dead or full. That is all I can say.
I am also not sure of the reason you felt that the Dell Inspiron 546s Windows 7 Service Tag and Express Service Code needed to be posted in public. Just not a good idea. The model of computer, sure but not those numbers and you don't own them, your friend owns them. There are scammers who steal those codes and use them for "no good". That is why they were removed. There is no reason they would be needed. Unless you are specifically speaking or chatting with Dell service via the Dell Service site then there is no reason to give out that information.
Why didn't you install the 64bit version on what you said is a 64bit computer? There should have been a service disk with that computer and that contains the correct drivers. OR, if that is the Dell computer that came with those service numbers you posted you can also go to Dell and use that service number and then download the very specific correct drivers for that particular computer. Now if you used an OEM it must match the number on the motherboard in order for the system to be legal. If you did a full reformat and then used a legal full system disk then the system is legal but would have to be registered with MS.
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Post by sirfredrico on Sept 8, 2017 19:30:37 GMT -5
i can try and reinstall windows, > it wont let me upgrade on one because it had windows 8 i believe<.....i said this because she had told me she had windows 8 on it..... if i was to install 7 over it, thats not an upgrade... an upgrade would be 8.1 or 10............ 7 would be a downgrade. i later found out it had windows 7.... she just for some reason thought it was 8..... as for it not spinning up..... normally when i say its bad, people take me as knowing what im talking about since ive been around computers for years.... i didnt think it was necessary to spell it out in saying why i thought they were bad. forgive me if im being a little defensive on this, but im not entirely without education on this, though theres alot i dont know i admit......and maybe im being to sensitive about it... but i know what i know and wouldnt say they were bad if i didnt have a good reason for saying that.
what you said about posting the service tag.... you are correct.... i didnt think about it until i was on another board doing a search and someone posted the service code and it was crossed out so you couldnt read it, then i remembered that id posted that here. so i know to not do that again!....
as far as saying in the beginning why i was going to do all this its here in the first post...
i have 2 im working on for a friend..... both hp.... one older and 1 newer. im trying to pull the files off, but when i connect the drives to a sata cable it recognizes both drives under computer management as each drive having 2 partitions, but on both drives it says space unallocated and shows them to have no files...she said she has alot of pictures on them and im trying to access them so far no luck.
so the idea was save the pictures she wanted, and install windows. she TOLD me too.... it has nothing to do with what i "decided" to do.... its her machines.... she calls the shots on them.... not me.
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Post by sirfredrico on Sept 8, 2017 19:37:30 GMT -5
Ok, several things here; First of all exactly how many computers are you talking about here? I have no idea, you have mentioned an "older" computer, one with Windows 8 and now one with Windows 7. So are there 2 or 3 or how many? Stick with One please. You said this right here in red in your very first post: You left out key information in your first post, the reason why these reinstalls were being done and that is why I asked the questions I asked. You never said that the drives were not spinning or vibrating until your reply #2. If that is the case the drives very likely are "toasted" and chances of getting something off of them is very slim. Frankly, I don't know which ones or if all of them had drives that didn't spin or vibrate. The one that showed all blue with no bytes remaining is either dead or full. That is all I can say. I am also not sure of the reason you felt that the Dell Inspiron 546s Windows 7 Service Tag and Express Service Code needed to be posted in public. Just not a good idea. The model of computer, sure but not those numbers and you don't own them, your friend owns them. There are scammers who steal those codes and use them for "no good". That is why they were removed. There is no reason they would be needed. Unless you are specifically speaking or chatting with Dell service via the Dell Service site then there is no reason to give out that information. Why didn't you install the 64bit version on what you said is a 64bit computer? There should have been a service disk with that computer and that contains the correct drivers. OR, if that is the Dell computer that came with those service numbers you posted you can also go to Dell and use that service number and then download the very specific correct drivers for that particular computer. Now if you used an OEM it must match the number on the motherboard in order for the system to be legal. If you did a full reformat and then used a legal full system disk then the system is legal but would have to be registered with MS. judy.... aside from everything else let me ask you..... i think we both agree that the drives are toast...... even though they are, is it possible to take the drive to a place where they can pull files off non working hard drives? and how expensive would that be? do you have a good link i can share with her, because she is very adimant about saving them. |
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Post by sirfredrico on Sept 8, 2017 19:38:51 GMT -5
judy.... aside from everything else let me ask you..... i think we both agree that the drives are toast...... even though they are, is it possible to take the drive to a place where they can pull files off non working hard drives? and how expensive would that be? do you have a good link i can share with her, because she is very adimant about saving them.
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Post by budgall on Sept 8, 2017 22:59:03 GMT -5
Data recovery can be very expensive, I once had a client who paid over a thousand to recover his lost business data. Have you tried accessing the drives using a Linux OS. I do not have enough Linux knowledge to give you any help, but have heard of successful data recoveries from Windows computers using Linux.
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Post by sirfredrico on Sept 8, 2017 23:56:21 GMT -5
Data recovery can be very expensive, I once had a client who paid over a thousand to recover his lost business data. Have you tried accessing the drives using a Linux OS. I do not have enough Linux knowledge to give you any help, but have heard of successful data recoveries from Windows computers using Linux. ive heard it was pretty expensive. havent tried that.i honestly cant imaginr someone walking imto a place like that and putting down that kind of money to save pictures, but then again, sentimetality counts for alot.... |
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Post by Everton on Sept 9, 2017 7:07:17 GMT -5
Well, people will pay a lot of money to recover precious photos - it they have it to spare then good luck to them !
It seems you have established beyond doubt that the drives are not viable, and if you do not have the Linux expertise to try that method I would suggest you return her computers to her and do her a favour by reminding her of the importance of backups, so she does not loose any more data in the future.
To have two machines fail at the same time is unlucky - to loose two lots of data is also unlucky but also completely avoidable if proper backup plans are in place.
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Post by jholland1964 on Sept 9, 2017 7:23:32 GMT -5
sirfrederico, the drives are toast. As budgall and everton have said, time has come for her to seek professional help and pay somebody with the training to do the recovery attempts.
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Post by sirfredrico on Sept 9, 2017 13:30:50 GMT -5
Well, people will pay a lot of money to recover precious photos - it they have it to spare then good luck to them ! It seems you have established beyond doubt that the drives are not viable, and if you do not have the Linux expertise to try that method I would suggest you return her computers to her and do her a favour by reminding her of the importance of backups, so she does not loose any more data in the future. To have two machines fail at the same time is unlucky - to loose two lots of data is also unlucky but also completely avoidable if proper backup plans are in place. i was thinking the same thing this morning if shed have backed it up she wouldnt be worrying about it..... but the 2 machines going bad at the same time isnt the case. she had one of them stored in a shop behind her house...... she just wanted the one worked on, but she said i may as well get you to work on the other one. |
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Post by sirfredrico on Sept 9, 2017 13:34:59 GMT -5
sirfrederico, the drives are toast. As budgall and everton have said, time has come for her to seek professional help and pay somebody with the training to do the recovery attempts. i know.... thats what i told her.... but i guarantee you she doesnt think i know enough to know they are bad. shell get a second opinion im sure, and theres nothing wrong with that. but she will find out and say aha...... he did know. lol.....then shell know to believe me next time. |
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