External HD died, with lots of work lost. Argh! Help?

[mlansdell]

My Western Digital external HD just failed, completely out of the blue without any hint it was going to happen. It's less than a year old and unfortunately has a lot of work on it, most backed up but lots is not (which I know is bad and I should do, but regardless...). What I want to know is, does anyone know of any likely recovery ideas for the info on there?

Here are the results from Disk Utility verify and repair:

http://www.macmend.com/forums/?bb_attachments=534&bbat=2&inline

Please help!

 

[jbrenn]

you can try to place it in the freezer you might be able to recover some data.

 

[mlansdell]

What, really? How does that work? I should have said, it won't mount even though Disk Utility can see it.

(Edited to correct my poor grammar, sorry!)

 

[SilentPanda]

It actually can help (my dad did it and was amazed too, he's a techie).

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r19049360-hard-drive-Official-freezer-trick-instructions

I know it sounds weird...

 

[flopticalcube]

Did you try to repair it via Disk Utility?

 

[mlansdell]

It actually can help (my dad did it and was amazed too, he's a techie).

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r19049360-hard-drive-Official-freezer-trick-instructions

I know it sounds weird...

Huh, well, I'll try it as a last resort. There's about 250GB of data I'd like to recover, doesn't sound like this works long enough for that amount. Thanks, though!

 

[callvinit]

Try this mate

I had a similar problem and my mac wouldnt read the disk but i plugged it into a windows computer and it read the disk and it worked and i immediately backed everything up let me know how it goes

The next option is to repair the disk using disk warrior
Vinit

 

[mlansdell]

Did you try to repair it via Disk Utility?

Yup, that link after the pic takes leads to a screen grab of the (failed) repair report from Disk Utility. And Tech Tool Deluxe doesn't notice HDs that aren't mounted, so that won't help either (

I had a similar problem and my mac wouldnt read the disk but i plugged it into a windows computer and it read the disk and it worked and i immediately backed everything up let me know how it goes

The next option is to repair the disk using disk warrior
Vinit

Hmmm, will try Disk Warrior at work tomorrow and also see if I can use the one PC in the building to see if it has any more luck. Cheers!

Please keep the ideas coming!

 

[flopticalcube]

I see now that its a FAT drive. PC might be the best place to repair.

 

[mlansdell]

I see now that its a FAT drive. PC might be the best place to repair.

What does FAT mean? And do you have any hints for how might be best to attempt fixing on a PC? What should I look for in the future for mac HDs? I thought Western Digital were meant to be good...

Sorry, so many questions. I'll be eternally grateful!

 

[Transporteur]

What does FAT mean? And do you have any hints for how might be best to attempt fixing on a PC?

FAT is the file system of your drive, which wars developed by Microsoft. It's fully supported by Macs, however there are more data recovery programs for Microsoft and since your drive has a very Microsoft friendly file system, you should indeed try Windows.

What should I look for in the future for mac HDs? I thought Western Digital were meant to be good...

Western Digital drives are very good, but you have to be aware that EVERY hard drive fails. The question is not if, the question is when.
You may be lucky and a drive lasts for 10 years but it could also crash within the first two weeks.
So it doesn't really matter which brand you buy (although I highly recommend Western Digital), as long as you've got a decent backup strategy.

 

[mlansdell]

FAT is the file system of your drive, which wars developed by Microsoft. It's fully supported by Macs, however there are more data recovery programs for Microsoft and since your drive has a very Microsoft friendly file system, you should indeed try Windows.




Western Digital drives are very good, but you have to be aware that EVERY hard drive fails. The question is not if, the question is when.
You may be lucky and a drive lasts for 10 years but it could also crash within the first two weeks.
So it doesn't really matter which brand you buy (although I highly recommend Western Digital), as long as you've got a decent backup strategy.

Okay, I guess that makes sense. Any recommended data recovery programs? Thanks for all the help so far everyone )

 

[mlansdell]

Okay, Googled "free mac FAT data recovery" and found this:

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk

Followed a walk-through on the site, ran disk utility repair again and TADAAAAAH! All fixed! Hope anyone who may have this problem finds this and has as much success as me. Thanks for the help everyone )

 

[flopticalcube]

Interesting little tool. I'll note it for future reference. Good to see you are back in business, OP!

 

[flynz4]

Okay, Googled "free mac FAT data recovery" and found this:

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk

Followed a walk-through on the site, ran disk utility repair again and TADAAAAAH! All fixed! Hope anyone who may have this problem finds this and has as much success as me. Thanks for the help everyone )

Congratulations.

Now... implement a good backup strategy before you even read the next post. You dodged a bullet. Everyone else who is reading this... and has not implemented an automatic, backup strategy should do the exact same thing. The next bullet is pointed at you.

/Jim