# HDD blew up.



## hat (Jul 30, 2010)

Firstly... FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU







Now that that's out of the way... I already ordered a repleacement drive. 2TB WD Green drive, the 64MB cache one. I got it for $100, apparantly $40 off the normal price. Anyways... my current storage drive is pretty trashed. I can't play music off of it, I can't browse through my images, and I can't copy anything anymore. Whatever process is involved with the drive just locks up and stops responding. The drive is so bad off it fails the basic SMART tests right off the bat.

So here's my problem... when my new hard drive gets here, I want to copy everything over... but the drive is so borked, I can't even play music. So, how do I sucessfully copy over?


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## brandonwh64 (Jul 30, 2010)

freeze it in a ziplock bag for 12 hours then that should buy you about 45min of access time LOL


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## hat (Jul 30, 2010)

45 minutes probably isn't enough to copy an almost full 500GB drive...


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## IINexusII (Jul 30, 2010)

tried RMA'ing the broken hdd?


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## PaulieG (Jul 30, 2010)

IINexusII said:


> tried RMA'ing the broken hdd?



This. Considering WD's RMA process is so easy, you should be able to. Check the date on the top of the drive.


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## IINexusII (Jul 30, 2010)

yup when my external 500gb drive messed up when i tried to remove the software stuff manually with partitition deleting and stuff they took it back and gave me a new one


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## hat (Jul 30, 2010)

The drive should still be in warranty, and I'm absolutely going to RMA it. The problem is my data on it... the data is more valueble to me than the actual drive itself.


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## newtekie1 (Jul 30, 2010)

You might be screwed, usually when they are that bad, there isn't much hope for doing it yourself.  The only thing you can really try is freezing it as said above, that might buy you a little time.  I've found that if you can keep it cool longer, it buys you more time.  I've gone out to walgreens and gotten those big ice-pack things designed for you back.  Then when I take the drive out of the freezer and hook it up, I wrap the drive in one of those to keep it cool longer.  Also, I use richcopy to transfer that data off the drive, that way if the drive warms back up half way through, I can refreeze it and richcopy picks back up right where it left off copying.  I've had about 50/50 sucess with the freezing method working and working long enough to get data off the drive.

You can send it to a data restoration company that might be able to get stuff off of it by taking it apart in a clean room and putting the platters in another identical drive, but they are expensive.


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## hat (Jul 30, 2010)

The data isn't THAT sensitive. It's just a bunch of stuff I downloaded over the years. I should be able to get it all back the hard way, but that will take a long ass time... and I can't possibly remember everything I had on there.


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## Mussels (Jul 30, 2010)

take your time, and do what people above have said. prioritise the important stuff, and cut, not copy - so you dont waste time gettign the same files twice should you forget where you're at.


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## hat (Jul 30, 2010)

In my experiance, cutting takes more time than copying. I wouldn't forget which files I grabbed, my shit is very organized.

I expect to get the drive about two days from now. Would it be safe to put the drive in the freezer and leave it there for that long, so it's already cold when I get my new drive?


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## TechnicalFreak (Jul 30, 2010)

Isn't there like programs that can access information drives? I know that a company over here in Sweden does something like recovering information from damaged drives (they say even burnt, water damaged etc.).

However, perhaps the information stored on the drive isn't that valuable?

Hope you find a solution.


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## Mussels (Jul 30, 2010)

hat said:


> In my experiance, cutting takes more time than copying. I wouldn't forget which files I grabbed, my shit is very organized.
> 
> I expect to get the drive about two days from now. Would it be safe to put the drive in the freezer and leave it there for that long, so it's already cold when I get my new drive?



cutting is the same as copying, except it deletes the source file when done. it should not take any longer.


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## hat (Jul 30, 2010)

TechnicalFreak said:


> Isn't there like programs that can access information drives? I know that a company over here in Sweden does something like recovering information from damaged drives (they say even burnt, water damaged etc.).
> 
> However, perhaps the information stored on the drive isn't that valuable?
> 
> Hope you find a solution.



I already answred that. It's not some kind of irreplacible, mission critical data... but it would suck to have to get it all back, and try to remember everything I had.



Mussels said:


> cutting is the same as copying, except it deletes the source file when done. it should not take any longer.



I know, but for some reason, it always took longer for me.

So, is it safe to put the drive in the freezer now and leave it in there until I get my new drive? Also, should I use a Glad bag for best results?*

*Not serious


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## slyfox2151 (Jul 30, 2010)

yes perfectly safe... 

but you must wrap it up in plastic to keep water out.


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## hat (Jul 30, 2010)

Yeah, I got sealable ziplocks or some shit, I'll use one of those.


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## hat (Aug 4, 2010)

Holy crap it's working... the failed SMART tests come back as passed. It's still possible it was a head crash and it only fucked some of my data, but at least I'm getting some of my stuff back


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## v12dock (Aug 4, 2010)

Learn your lesson and setup a RAID


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## hat (Aug 4, 2010)

Of course. I planned to upgrade to a RAID array with 2 2TB drives in the future anyway. The specific one I have now, in fact...

I pulled ~100GB off before it started giving me trouble again. It passed SMART when it was cold, but it failed after it warmed up (and started giving me trouble), so it's back in the freezer getting ready for round 2. I guess it's repetative freezer diving until I get it all back.


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## cdawall (Aug 4, 2010)

be careful with the freezer trick it only works so long....


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## hat (Aug 4, 2010)

I intend to get as much back as I can...


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## Techtu (Aug 4, 2010)

hmmmm if it's only working when it's really cold then IMPROVISE!! 

Why not wrap a towel round the drive with ice cubes around that, or even better a bag of frozen pea's. That is providing you have IDE/Sata cable's long enough


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## cdawall (Aug 4, 2010)

well if you want to go that far just freeze it get a block of DICE and freeze it


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## douglatins (Aug 4, 2010)

Pics of assplosion pls


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## Steevo (Aug 4, 2010)

Dry ice is too cold as it causes the grease in the bearings to freeze. Just in the freezer for a few hours in a bag again and again until you get your data back.


Sounds like either a broken wire that has a poor connection on the heads or a bad solder joint somewhere. This is the only case the freezer works anyway, the rest of the time it is trash.


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## hat (Aug 4, 2010)

cdawall said:


> well if you want to go that far just freeze it get a block of DICE and freeze it



I don't even know where to get dry ice around here, heh. Besides, that might be too cold for mechanical moving parts...


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## TheMailMan78 (Aug 4, 2010)

Lesson: Back up your shit.


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## trickson (Aug 4, 2010)

TheMailMan78 said:


> Lesson: Back up your shit.



OHH MAN that is COLD


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## TheMailMan78 (Aug 4, 2010)

trickson said:


> OHH MAN that is COLD



Naaa. Hat knows where I'm coming from.


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## trickson (Aug 4, 2010)

TheMailMan78 said:


> Naaa. Hat knows where I'm coming from.



LOL .. Glad to hear the freezing thing worked . I would venture to guess that you could use a program to get all your information off now freeze your HDD and suck out the information then toss it out .


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## hat (Aug 4, 2010)

I'm either going to melt it in a very hot fire, or RMA it.


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## TheMailMan78 (Aug 4, 2010)

hat said:


> I'm either going to melt it in a very hot fire, or RMA it.



1. RMA HD
2. Sell returned RMA HD.
3. Blow RMA HD money on hookers and coke.


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## trickson (Aug 4, 2010)

TheMailMan78 said:


> 1. RMA HD
> 2. Sell returned RMA HD.
> 3. Blow RMA HD money on hookers and coke.



UUMMM I'll take #3 ! 

Take it out back with a sledge hammer and concrete ! man that would be cool .


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## twilyth (Aug 4, 2010)

If you can get Peapod deliveries, they use dry ice and don't normally have a problem with giving me leftovers - if I ask.

What about putting dry ice in a box then a piece of styrofoam on top and the disk on top of that.  CO2 is heavier than air so the box will stay cool but not freezing as long as you leave the top off.  You can line it with tin foil if you want to get fancy.  A cheap styrofoam cooler would work the best.


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## hat (Aug 4, 2010)

It's far more fun to melt it in a fire.

I really can't see myself doing anything with another hard drive... I already got a velociraptor for OS and games, and 2TB for storage... ain't nothin else to do here.


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## Radical_Edward (Aug 4, 2010)

Give it to a a cruncher in need.


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## Mussels (Aug 4, 2010)

hat said:


> It's far more fun to melt it in a fire.
> 
> I really can't see myself doing anything with another hard drive... I already got a velociraptor for OS and games, and 2TB for storage... ain't nothin else to do here.



give it to me... i could use another 10TB


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## twilyth (Aug 4, 2010)

Mussels said:


> give it to me... i could use another 10TB


Mussels . . . I'm saying this as a friend, m'kay?

You need to start thinking about paring down the pr0n collection.


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## Mussels (Aug 4, 2010)

twilyth said:


> Mussels . . . I'm saying this as a friend, m'kay?
> 
> You need to start thinking about paring down the pr0n collection.



its not pronz, aight?


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## brandonwh64 (Aug 4, 2010)

Im glad your getting you stuff back in increments of frozen HD madness! i at first thought this was crap until i froze and old 20GB i had from one of my first EVER PCs! i got back all of my (THOUGHT TO BE) long lost data! i was so happy.


THEN I MURDERED THE HARD DRIVE WITH MY AK47


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## slyfox2151 (Aug 4, 2010)

maybe you should RMA the HDD and use it for backups.... like you should have done in the first place?......



then when your new HDD blows up you still got ur backups on the RMA drive ^^


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## p_o_s_pc (Aug 4, 2010)

TheMailMan78 said:


> Lesson: Back up your shit.



I just bought a external hdd so i can back my stuff up and i bought a external ESATA enclosure to put my spare HDD in so i can use that as storage for all of the DL's and random shit and use the new HDD i am getting for the OS and game installs. So that way i have the space without the mess in the case and can move my DL drive to another computer much easier 
i have lost alot of shit when i have had a HDD fail so i learned that lesson


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## Mussels (Aug 4, 2010)

p_o_s_pc said:


> I just bought a external hdd so i can back my stuff up and i bought a external ESATA enclosure to put my spare HDD in so i can use that as storage for all of the DL's and random shit and use the new HDD i am getting for the OS and game installs. So that way i have the space without the mess in the case and can move my DL drive to another computer much easier
> i have lost alot of shit when i have had a HDD fail so i learned that lesson



just remember that RAID itself is not a backup and wont save you... if one drive corrupts files as it fails, the other will just duplicate the corrupted files.


in my case, i keep two copies of the unlosable stuff, and just treat the rest as disposable... yes, i can lose 1-2TB of data if a drive fails... but at least its not a RAID array of 10TB that can cost me the entire amount should the controller fry or something.

pro tip: power off the externals when not in use, they cant fail if they're not powered on.


inb4 someone says "but this one server i know, the drives ran for 10 years and then died when they were finally powered off..." shaddup. end users dont leave their systems and drives on 24/7, so off 90% of the time is better than repeated on/off cycles.


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## p_o_s_pc (Aug 4, 2010)

well i'm not running a raid setup i am going to be doing everything manual and only the important stuff will be backed up. The stuff that can be gotten again or has no real value to me there is no point in backing up.
thanks for the tip

as for the 24/7 thing. Crunchers and folders run there rigs 24/7 or close to it.i know my rig is on about 90% of the time or more


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## Mussels (Aug 4, 2010)

p_o_s_pc said:


> as for the 24/7 thing. Crunchers and folders run there rigs 24/7 or close to it.i know my rig is on about 90% of the time or more



the hard drives are not on 24/7, due to the power saving features of windows. thats part of the point there.


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## p_o_s_pc (Aug 4, 2010)

Mussels said:


> the hard drives are not on 24/7, due to the power saving features of windows. thats part of the point there.



doesn't Boinc and F@H access the drive it's installed on every few mins? i know with mine crunching and folding the HDD light comes on about ever 10secs. so i don't see how it could go on power save. BUT the drive that isn't the main OS drive does shut off


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## Mussels (Aug 4, 2010)

p_o_s_pc said:


> doesn't Boinc and F@H access the drive it's installed on every few mins? i know with mine crunching and folding the HDD light comes on about ever 10secs. so i don't see how it could go on power save. BUT the drive that isn't the main OS drive does shut off



ding, more than one drive indeed.

since i've got all mine as externals, i've noticed some things randomly wake them up - you could load firefox or IE, and all your drives will wake up one by one even if the program shouldnt access them.

having them powered off means they're just as safe as if they were in the box they came in - and your data  is immune to virus attacks too


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## p_o_s_pc (Aug 4, 2010)

I will be sure to power my externals off when i'm not using them.So basically before i go to bed or leave to go someplace. I don't have them right now UPS is supposed to be here sometime today with them and my new hdd for the OS. 
the one drive is going to have my music on it and i always have music playing when i'm at my computer unless i am gaming or watching a movie. so one of the externals are going to be on as long as i'm using the computer so at night it goes off 
the other one can be off most of the time as it will only be used for backing up important stuff


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## Mussels (Aug 4, 2010)

p_o_s_pc said:


> I will be sure to power my externals off when i'm not using them.So basically before i go to bed or leave to go someplace. I don't have them right now UPS is supposed to be here sometime today with them and my new hdd for the OS.
> the one drive is going to have my music on it and i always have music playing when i'm at my computer unless i am gaming or watching a movie. so one of the externals are going to be on as long as i'm using the computer so at night it goes off
> the other one can be off most of the time as it will only be used for backing up important stuff



you should ponder my setup:

Drive A: has two partitions, C: and G:
Drive B: has partition D:


C: is 60GB, for OS and small apps.
D: is games
G: is non-speed critical storage - music, pics, random shit that aint important.

everything else goes external.

i'm dubious about externals being on all the time, simply because they're often passively coold, and if its a 3.5" then the power pack for its likely passively cooled as well. they will degrade over time, and extended use will likely overheat the power pack as well.

my externals are actively cooled, but one uses a laptop style power brick that can get hot after a few hours of use.


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## p_o_s_pc (Aug 4, 2010)

I am going to be putting a WD green in one of them so power draw shouldn't be that high. but i will keep a eye on things. I may end up having to find a place to stick another hdd in my case(with the mods i have no hdd bays so i stuff hdd's where ever i can basically)


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