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General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: FiLtH on July 08, 2009, 10:05:18 AM

Title: It sucks to lose a harddrive
Post by: FiLtH on July 08, 2009, 10:05:18 AM
  I had alot of stuff on mine and though I always meant to, I didnt have a back up. Below is something I was working on, that was almost completed, but alas, is now lost in the universe.


(http://FilthsHangar.homestead.com/midway_preview.jpg)


   I had hand drawn each ship, pixel by pixel, the map,had airunit cards made up for each sqd. Had damage fire/flooding cards made up for each ship for each fleet. Argh...maybe someday I'll try again.
 
 
 
 
Title: Re: It sucks to lose a harddrive
Post by: Denholm on July 08, 2009, 10:21:55 AM
Man, that stinks! Have you looked into any data-recovery methods? Some computer shops will sometimes offer a similar service where they can retrieve data from your dead hard-drive.
Title: Re: It sucks to lose a harddrive
Post by: Die Hard on July 08, 2009, 10:26:13 AM
How "lost" is the HD?

As Denholm says, there are companies that specializes in recovering data from non-functioning HD's.


Looks like an interesting board game. Is it similar to Pacific War?
Title: Re: It sucks to lose a harddrive
Post by: CraneMan on July 08, 2009, 10:35:32 AM
Too bad.. Looks like you put a lot of work into that. I liked what you had going on with the Enterprise (CV-6).
A big <SALUTE> to the sailors and pilots who fought and gave their lives while serving on the "Big E".

Enterprise entered World War II on the morning of December 7, 1941, when her scout planes encountered the Japanese squadrons attacking Pearl Harbor. Not until May 14, 1945, when a Kamikaze attack off Kyushu, Japan, left a gaping hole in her flight deck, was she forced to leave the war.

Of the more than twenty major actions of the Pacific War, Enterprise engaged in all but two. Her planes and guns downed 911 enemy planes; her bombers sank 71 ships, and damaged or destroyed 192 more. Her presence inspired both pride and fear: pride in her still unmatched combat record, and fear in the knowledge that Enterprise and hard fighting were never far apart.

The most decorated ship of the Second World War, Enterprise changed the very course of a war she seemed to have been expressly created for.
Title: Re: It sucks to lose a harddrive
Post by: Shuffler on July 08, 2009, 10:44:58 AM
Filth.... will the HD spin up at all?
Title: Re: It sucks to lose a harddrive
Post by: Stixx on July 08, 2009, 10:46:04 AM
I feel your pain, recently lost a lifetime of my writing when my HD failed. Data recovery was not an option.
The muse only speaks to you once after much bloodletting upon the blank page. I'm slowly trying to replace
what I can, and yes this time I'm backing up my work.
Title: Re: It sucks to lose a harddrive
Post by: DYNAMITE on July 08, 2009, 10:52:07 AM
Awe Filth!  That sucks dude!!!!!  :mad:
Title: Re: It sucks to lose a harddrive
Post by: Irwink! on July 08, 2009, 11:32:39 AM
Almost everyone has to learn the hard way at least once. The key is only having to learn once.
Title: Re: It sucks to lose a harddrive
Post by: Masherbrum on July 08, 2009, 11:34:09 AM
Last May, before I built this PC, noticed that my WD Caviar drive was on the fritz.   I bought a My Passport and transferred all of my Music and Rare Concert footage to it before "it died".   
Title: Re: It sucks to lose a harddrive
Post by: Reschke on July 08, 2009, 12:11:17 PM
Haven't had that experience yet with something that I can't replicate...however enough of those horror stories are around that all my photos and videos (raw format stuff) end up on USB sticks or DVD's for the most part now.
Title: Re: It sucks to lose a harddrive
Post by: Die Hard on July 08, 2009, 12:19:21 PM
Be careful with those USB sticks. They tend to corrupt data now and then. The only way to safeguard data is to have multiple copies at different locations/computers/external HD's. If your internet connection is fast and your data storage needs are reasonably small you should look into web storage for backups. It will cost you a buck or two a month, but your data is safe even if the house burns down.
Title: Re: It sucks to lose a harddrive
Post by: RATTFINK on July 08, 2009, 12:22:19 PM
FiLtH, I know how you feel.  Been there and it sux.


Excellent job on the VF-6 Big E!!
Title: Re: It sucks to lose a harddrive
Post by: Wolfala on July 08, 2009, 01:06:08 PM
 feel yr pain. My freshman year of college back in 1999, I roached a 500 mb drive. On that drive was 3 years worth of porn accumiated through a 14.4 and 28.8 baud modem. It was so tragic that my roomates and I got drunk, made a funeral pyre, and said our good byes to the beloved WD drive.

Now, my backup is simple. 2 cheap SATA drives inside a USB enclosure. Mirror them once a month.
Title: Re: It sucks to lose a harddrive
Post by: Fishu on July 08, 2009, 02:29:56 PM
Always... ALWAYS at the very least duplicate your most important data that cannot be recovered from elsewhere. Every computer should have a warning sticker on it.

Last weekend I returned a 500 Gb Samsung drive since it's SMART was reporting pre-failure at B8 'vendor specific'. It used to be at a normal value, but then began to degrade. I didn't notice anything in use, but returned it since I can't be confident of such drive keeping my data "safe" for any lenght of time.

Now I hope it wouldn't bounce back from the store due to the undefined SMART parameter and there being no apparent failures, because then I would have to cover the inspection costs, but I still wouldn't have any use for a drive that I cannot trust any longer.

I was actually refunded for it's full retail value from nearly 2 years back, when such a drive's cost was twice more than today. I was expecting to receive a new comparable HDD model, most likely a slightly upgraded version of the same series. Profit of 70 bucks, but that's not enough to cover the time and trouble I spent to mirror the hard drive on a new drive. Doing a job for the same time would been more profitable and most likely less stressful. I did also overwrite the hard drive to erase all the data in it.

Before this I've had one HDD failure, that was not just a pre-failure. 15 Gb Maxtor drive experienced a bearing failure, at least that's how it sounded like, a very loud constant noise coming from the hard drive. Regardless, it was still functioning and I was able to copy everything from it. It happened a few days prior to the expiration of warranty. Got back a 30 Gb drive.

This Samsung drive actually was my first other than Maxtor hard drive in 16 years. Last year I bought another Samsung drive, the slightly upgraded model of the series. Last week I bought the first WD, to replace the returned drive. Originally I considered buying a new Samsung drive, but decided to give a try for WD. The samsung drives are less noisy, although this WD isn't really bugging me either. They don't kid you when they claim that the Samsung drives are quiet.
Title: Re: It sucks to lose a harddrive
Post by: CptA on July 08, 2009, 04:30:40 PM
Filth,

I don't know how much help it is, but I have emailed back to you those parts of the game that you previously sent to me.

CYA Friday!

CptA
Title: Re: It sucks to lose a harddrive
Post by: Fulmar on July 08, 2009, 09:11:14 PM
Anyone that reads this thread and that doesn't have current back up copies of your stuff, do so immediately.  Especially photos, work documents etc.  With the amount of work and memories that you put into your computer, a failed hard drive (with no backups) is like having a fire come through your office.

Do not have just one type of media as a back up.  Have several copies, store some on the internet too.  External hard drives are not the answer IMO as well.  They're still prone to the physics and failures of a regular hard drive.  They're much more mobile and can be knocked over and spilled on more easily.

Make your back ups often and make duplicates and triplicates.  Recreate those back ups every so often.

Title: Re: It sucks to lose a harddrive
Post by: Sandman on July 08, 2009, 09:26:11 PM
$50 a year for peace of mind.

http://carbonite.com/
Title: Re: It sucks to lose a harddrive
Post by: eagl on July 08, 2009, 09:56:59 PM
AFTER you've tried everything else...  Put the HD in an external USB chassis, hook up the cables, and put the thing in the fridge with the cables sticking out.  Let it sit for a few hours to get nice and cold, and then plug it in.  See if it'll work when it's cold.

If that doesn't work, try the freezer.

No kidding, if you have nothing to lose sometimes the bearings and motors will work just long enough to copy off some data when they're really cold.
Title: Re: It sucks to lose a harddrive
Post by: Larry on July 09, 2009, 04:17:57 AM
feel yr pain. My freshman year of college back in 1999, I roached a 500 mb drive. On that drive was 3 years worth of porn accumiated through a 14.4 and 28.8 baud modem. It was so tragic that my roomates and I got drunk, made a funeral pyre, and said our good byes to the beloved WD drive.

Now, my backup is simple. 2 cheap SATA drives inside a USB enclosure. Mirror them once a month.

I feel your pain. :cry
Title: Re: It sucks to lose a harddrive
Post by: Shuffler on July 09, 2009, 09:23:56 AM
AFTER you've tried everything else...  Put the HD in an external USB chassis, hook up the cables, and put the thing in the fridge with the cables sticking out.  Let it sit for a few hours to get nice and cold, and then plug it in.  See if it'll work when it's cold.

If that doesn't work, try the freezer.

No kidding, if you have nothing to lose sometimes the bearings and motors will work just long enough to copy off some data when they're really cold.


Yup..... but if it already spins up he can probably slave it.
Title: Re: It sucks to lose a harddrive
Post by: FiLtH on July 09, 2009, 01:44:31 PM
   I may look into seeing if it can be salvaged. Even if it costs me a few bucks.


   Thanks Cpta ill check my email. Cant remember how much of it I sent ya :)
Title: Re: It sucks to lose a harddrive
Post by: zes on July 09, 2009, 10:24:16 PM
You give these guys a try  http://www.gillware.com/

They are a complete data recovery outfit at reasonable prices.  I think you only pay if they DO recover the data.

I had a drive fail a few years ago and lost unthinkable amounts of work.  Turns out the heads scraped the drive platters beyond repair and didn't have to pay (sorry to say).


zes