Laptop won't boot after dropping it!

[servodude]

was it on when it went flying?

if it was then there's a good chance that it's "just" logical corruption and there are things that are possible to get the data back

I used https://www.reclaime.com/ recently when a motherboard died leaving me with a pair of RAID0 mSATA and no suitable RAID driver
it's not the cheapest software I've bought this year but it did the job
they do have a trial scheme where you will know if it's going to work before they take your money; which if nothing else will test the viability of attempting this?

If the machine was off when the damage occurred then I think it's probably done for; the heads should have been parked and if they're not seeing data now it suggests a pretty gross misalignment and that's not something you can calibrate for without specialised equipment, and this wasn't a cheap job even when I could do it 20 years ago

- sd

[Breelander]

If the machine was off when the damage occurred then I think it's probably done for; the heads should have been parked and if they're not seeing data now it suggests a pretty gross misalignment...

Very good point!

[Clariman]

was it on when it went flying?

if it was then there's a good chance that it's "just" logical corruption and there are things that are possible to get the data back

I used https://www.reclaime.com/ recently ...

It was probably on. I had been working on it upstairs and then closed the lid to bring it downstairs. I missed the last step on the stairs and we both went flying. We have a tiled floor in the hallway so no soft landing.

C

[Infrasonic]

If the laptops lid was closed it was probably in some sort of suspend mode (sleep/hibernate),in which case it's quite possible the HDD heads were parked.
The suggestion upthread to replace with an SSD would mitigate any future drops, they are starting to come down in price again after the C19 spike.

[Clariman]

Thanks everyone. My plan of attack is to try a new sata drive housing via USB, just in case a modern one works better. Unlikely. Failing that a local PC repair guy has come highly recommended. He has various software tools and uses Linux to access the drive. While I could use a commercial tool I'd prefer to rely on someone who has done it multiple times and has a better selection of tools available. That increased my chances and maybe my costs.

C

[GeoffF100]

There are lots of free data recovery tools available on Linux, e.g.:

https://www.maketecheasier.com/recover- ... nux-tools/

You do not have to install Linux to use them. You can run Linux in RAM from a live DVD or USB.

[servodude]

There are lots of free data recovery tools available on Linux, e.g.:

https://www.maketecheasier.com/recover- ... nux-tools/

You do not have to install Linux to use them. You can run Linux in RAM from a live DVD or USB.

And there's a whole slew of ways to destroy the data if you're not completely au fait with what you're doing
- there's a reason dd is known as "disk destroyer"; probably partly because it looks like no other 'nix command, even after 30+ years of using it I still get that "was that the right way round" immediately after hitting go!

Better to get someone to recover it for you if you can; and then have a go poking about yourself to see how it could be done.

-sd

[GeoffF100]

There are lots of free data recovery tools available on Linux, e.g.:

https://www.maketecheasier.com/recover- ... nux-tools/

You do not have to install Linux to use them. You can run Linux in RAM from a live DVD or USB.

And there's a whole slew of ways to destroy the data if you're not completely au fait with what you're doing
- there's a reason dd is known as "disk destroyer"; probably partly because it looks like no other 'nix command, even after 30+ years of using it I still get that "was that the right way round" immediately after hitting go!

Better to get someone to recover it for you if you can; and then have a go poking about yourself to see how it could be done.

-sd

I agree. It does not make sense for the OP to try to recover the data himself, unless he is desperate. Here is some more about using dd and ddrescue to recover an NTFS disk:

https://vtopan.wordpress.com/2009/11/15 ... ing-linux/

It is not simple. Nonetheless, if he is going to have the data recovered using Linux tools, it is helpful to to have some understanding of what is involved.

[Clariman]

When I dropped the hard drive off with him at 5.30pm yesterday he said that he would take a look at it last night. I haven't heard anything since so am hoping that's a good sign.

[UncleEbenezer]

There are lots of free data recovery tools available on Linux, e.g.:

https://www.maketecheasier.com/recover- ... nux-tools/

You do not have to install Linux to use them. You can run Linux in RAM from a live DVD or USB.

And there's a whole slew of ways to destroy the data if you're not completely au fait with what you're doing
- there's a reason dd is known as "disk destroyer"; probably partly because it looks like no other 'nix command, even after 30+ years of using it I still get that "was that the right way round" immediately after hitting go!

Better to get someone to recover it for you if you can; and then have a go poking about yourself to see how it could be done.

-sd

Nonsense. dd may be a lower-level tool than point-and-drool interfaces expose you to, but should be home turf to anyone old enough not to be a digital native. And the syntax is intuitive: if you specify just input and output[1] it's as simple as

Code: Select all

dd if=[input] of=[output]

.

dd wouldn't be the first thing I'd try. But it might be one of the last before declaring the job either above my pay grade or hopeless.

[1] which you rarely do, 'cos default settings can tend to be painfully slow.

(edit to add) Erk! I didn't realise using [code] on this board would produce something so elaborate.

[servodude]

There are lots of free data recovery tools available on Linux, e.g.:

https://www.maketecheasier.com/recover- ... nux-tools/

You do not have to install Linux to use them. You can run Linux in RAM from a live DVD or USB.

And there's a whole slew of ways to destroy the data if you're not completely au fait with what you're doing
- there's a reason dd is known as "disk destroyer"; probably partly because it looks like no other 'nix command, even after 30+ years of using it I still get that "was that the right way round" immediately after hitting go!

Better to get someone to recover it for you if you can; and then have a go poking about yourself to see how it could be done.

-sd

Nonsense. dd may be a lower-level tool than point-and-drool interfaces expose you to, but should be home turf to anyone old enough not to be a digital native. And the syntax is intuitive: if you specify just input and output[1] it's as simple as

Code: Select all

dd if=[input] of=[output]

.

dd wouldn't be the first thing I'd try. But it might be one of the last before declaring the job either above my pay grade or hopeless.

[1] which you rarely do, 'cos default settings can tend to be painfully slow.

(edit to add) Erk! I didn't realise using [code] on this board would produce something so elaborate.

Exactly!
why is it not -if or --input= ?
If there was more than a character between the input and output file designators I'd be less likey to get it wrong!

Though truthfully it's the seek and skip params that I mix up most often: in my head I want to skip x blocks in a source and then write a section out after seeking to a spot in a target... and it works the other way!

-sd

[GeoffF100]

There are lots of free data recovery tools available on Linux, e.g.:

https://www.maketecheasier.com/recover- ... nux-tools/

You do not have to install Linux to use them. You can run Linux in RAM from a live DVD or USB.

And there's a whole slew of ways to destroy the data if you're not completely au fait with what you're doing
- there's a reason dd is known as "disk destroyer"; probably partly because it looks like no other 'nix command, even after 30+ years of using it I still get that "was that the right way round" immediately after hitting go!

Better to get someone to recover it for you if you can; and then have a go poking about yourself to see how it could be done.

-sd

Nonsense. dd may be a lower-level tool than point-and-drool interfaces expose you to, but should be home turf to anyone old enough not to be a digital native. And the syntax is intuitive: if you specify just input and output[1] it's as simple as

Code: Select all

dd if=[input] of=[output]

.

dd wouldn't be the first thing I'd try. But it might be one of the last before declaring the job either above my pay grade or hopeless.

[1] which you rarely do, 'cos default settings can tend to be painfully slow.

(edit to add) Erk! I didn't realise using [code] on this board would produce something so elaborate.

As far as I know, the OP has only used Windows and is unfamiliar with Linux. He has already decided to go to a professional.

The recommended procedure is not to use dd. dd is designed to copy bytes from a drive that is working properly. The recommended procedure is to extract data from the faulty drive using ddrescue, which has been built for the task and is more fault tolerant than dd.

Firstly, the OP would have to install Linux, or at least get it running from a live DVD. He would then have to install ddrescue. He will not find it in the app store or the repository. He would have to download and install it from here:

https://www.gnu.org/software/ddrescue/

I have already given a link on how to use ddrescue to extract data from an NTFS drive. It is not simple. If the OP has no experience of Linux, it will make his head spin. The best source for learning about ddrescue, appears to be the ddrescue manual:

https://www.gnu.org/software/ddrescue/m ... anual.html

Having made a copy, he then has to try to retrieve his data from it. I have given some links for that. (How long will it take for a typical Windows user to learn about regular expressions and understand grep, I wonder?)

None of this is particularly hard, but there is a lot to learn from multiple sources. It would be a reasonable exercise for me, but I suspect not for the OP.

[Clariman]

As the OP I'm proficient at a good number of techie things, so am currently happily recovering Windows and factory settings on to a new hard drive. I've also had a go at accessing the old hard drive but am aware that repeated attempts to fire it up might do more damage. I'd rather trust the data recovery to someone who has done it many times before.

[GrahamPlatt]

https://www.ubuntupit.com/top-15-best-d ... for-linux/

Take your pick.

[Clariman]

So 2 hours into the Lenovo system recovery a McAfee error message pops up. I click on OK because I never use that rubbish. Continue on with installation, reboots itself into Windows for further automated setup... until a massive "Preload Fail" message appears on the screen and installation halts. Rebooting does get back to Windows but message says installation needs to be restarted.

A bit of research shows the fix is to change the BIOS date to 1/1/2019 otherwise McAfee stops the whole installation because your 30 day trial of their **** software has ended! I don't even want to use it but I would like to use my PC please! Surely a recovery disk should be fool-proof and automated. And if it is a known problem why don't Lenovo either update the recovery disk image on their website (I downloaded it 2 days ago) or update the documentation that tells you how to use it?

I wonder what other surprises lie ahead of me

[GeoffF100]

https://www.ubuntupit.com/top-15-best-disk-cloning-software-for-linux/

Take your pick.

These utilities are for cloning data from a drive that is working properly. That is not the situation here.

[Clariman]

Just spoken to the PC tech guy. He hasn't been able to get data off the drive. He said there are guys in town who take hard drives apart and replace parts that are damaged, in an effort to get the data but they are much more expensive. And I guess still not guaranteed to get anything.

[GrahamPlatt]

https://www.ubuntupit.com/top-15-best-disk-cloning-software-for-linux/

Take your pick.

These utilities are for cloning data from a drive that is working properly. That is not the situation here.

Not entirely. Read the notes on Mondo Rescue, Redo Backup & Trinity Rescue Kit.

[servodude]

Just spoken to the PC tech guy. He hasn't been able to get data off the drive. He said there are guys in town who take hard drives apart and replace parts that are damaged, in an effort to get the data but they are much more expensive. And I guess still not guaranteed to get anything.

Sadly there's never any guarantees with these things
- and it depends on how the drive has been constructed as to what might be possible

it used to be that there were separate parts/boards for things like power, disk management, and communications interface
modern drives though often lump all this stuff on to one board
in addition to being cheaper this means there are fewer interconnections to come loose but also fewer things to swap out when something fails
tinkering with the platters and heads is fun - but I've not managed to fix a drive at that level for a long time (I use to design the control systems for the things)

having said all that there is a reliance on fine pitch push-fit or sprung connectors between boards these days
- and I did "fix" one external HDD for a colleague by just taking the board off and putting it back on ensuring everything was snug

- sd

[GeoffF100]

I stumbled across this:

http://www.cambridgedatarecovery.co.uk/ ... -recovery/

£30 assessment. About £600 if they go ahead. A quick Google search suggested that it is not just a scam to get £30.