Crash and Burn (Bonus Material)

Dec 9, 2008 7:21 PM, By Steve Oppenheimer

WHEN DISASTER STRIKES

Let’s assume that your drive has failed or, if you are fortunate, that you have detected the early warning signs and shut your drive down. Unfortunately, this tragedy occurred before you were able to back up the day’s work. You will need to replace the drive, but what about your data?

If the drive has completely failed, then you can’t recover the data yourself. Only a data-recovery professional has the specialized tools, environment, and skills to do the job. There is one possible exception to this, but it’s a long shot (see the section “Chill Out”).

If the drive still operates but is clearly about to fail, you can either try to recover the data yourself or turn to a data-recovery company. It’s time to contemplate the importance of your endangered data.

GO TO A PRO

If you were to lose your work completely, would it cause you great emotional pain, financial loss, or damage to your studio business? If so, you need to take your drive to a professional to recover your data. It’s going to cost you—the tab for data recovery can easily be $1,000 or more—but it’s your best hope. A data-recovery engineer will open your wounded drive in a special dust-free environment called a clean room and try to temporarily revive the drive just long enough to recover the data (see Fig. A).

The drive won’t be stable; you can’t put it back in service. The data-recovery pro could have one shot at recovering the data before the repair fails. But a pro is far more likely to recover your critical data than you are, and if you attempt it and are unsuccessful, you will probably further damage the drive, making it less likely that a data-recovery company can help. Attempting to recover the data yourself is a high-risk game.

DO IT YOURSELF

If you want to salvage the data but don’t want it badly enough to pay for a data-recovery service, then you can try to recover it yourself. Again, that’s assuming the drive is functioning. Your data-recovery software (see the sidebar “Your Utility Belt”) might get only one brief opportunity before the drive fails completely.

Above all, do not—I repeat, do not—attempt to open the drive case. The drive is sealed to keep all dust and other environmental contaminants out, and dirt, dust, scratches, or moisture will put an end to any chance of recovery. Hard-drive mechanisms must be repaired in a clean-room environment.

Having put down your screwdriver, install your data-recovery software on a separate drive. If the damaged drive was your boot drive, boot your computer from another drive or install the problem drive and the recovery software on a different computer. You will also need a drive with sufficient capacity to store the recovered data.

With drives mounted, launch and run the data-recovery software (see Fig. B). Note that data-recovery software often makes the already damaged drive work hard, so you might not have much time before the drive dies. Do not scan the drive for problems; scanning is hard on the drive, and you’ve already decided that you can’t fix it. Launch the data-recovery routine as soon as you get the drive running, and if you recover your data, back up immediately. If it works, be very thankful.

CHILL OUT

If the drive has failed and you want to try to recover the data yourself, there is one trick you can try. It is risky and works in only a few situations. You can freeze your drive. Yes, that’s right—put it in the freezer! I haven’t tried this, and most experts recommend against it, but some admit that it might work. If you are attempting to recover data from an older drive that has had a head crash or a spindle failure and you’re desperate, it could be worth trying.

Here’s how it works, in theory. If the actuator arm has fallen out of position but has not yet touched and ruined the platter(s), cooling can cause the metal to shrink enough to bend the arm back into place temporarily. The chilled platter(s) and spindle also shrink, unsticking the platter(s) and pulling the surfaces away from the heads, thus restoring the gap between heads and platter(s). Another situation in which freezing might help is if the spindle bearings are damaged. In theory, freezing the spindle makes the bearings’ sleeve more viscous, and the extra resistance helps the whole assembly stay centered and reduces vibration.

If freezing gets your drive working, it won’t work for long. Freezing is far more likely to cause further data loss and damage to the drive. But if your drive is dead and you’d like to save your data but aren’t willing to pay a data-recovery company, it’s your last-ditch option.