Did you try what I suggested in #4?

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Thanks O, I just checked setup upon restart, and it has the correct drive Manufacturer, Model Number (6L200P0), and Capacity (203 gb). It is listed as First Channel Device 1, with my bootable HD listed as Device 0. Additional information is also supplied: -Cylinder: 65535 -Head: 16 -Precomp: 0 -Landing zone: 65534 -Sector: 255 -Transfer mode: UDMA 5 Do I need to change the disk geometry settings in Testdisk before scanning? Currently it won't find any Intel/PC partitions on the drive although it is listed as healthy in disk management, shows up in my computer, other utilities like System Restore and I used to be able to browse the folders and files using other programs' "Open" function, but now I get the "E:/ is not accessible, I/O device error" or "Do you want to format" message when trying to browse the files that way. TopFarmer, I am using testdisk_win, that would've been an easy one though, and something I would be likely to do. Could you please add whether it would be safe, or advisable, to turn off system restore or clear the cache?

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Also when scanning with Find and Mount I can find the partition, partition 1, which is listed as the correct size. I haven't imaged or mounted the drive, as I'm not familiar with the process and will have to read up.

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Due to the IO errors would remove all power first and then reset both the IDE and power cables to the hdd. Try a different IDE cable and use a different power plug. Unless there is some type of hardware problem can not see why testdisk will not read the hdd. Will testdisk read the good hdd ? {Could you please add whether it would be safe, or advisable, to turn off system restore or clear the cache?} I would say no , XP would then have to write to the hdd.

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OK cool, thanks for the advice TopFarmer, Testdisk can see the bad HDD, both my primary and the bad HDD show up, but when searching for partitions none can be found on the drive. I get "Read Error" counting sequentially through the cylinders, then when the scan is finished I get "Structure:OK" but "Partition: Read error". Testdisk finds the partition on my main bootable HDD no problem. Interestingly, once I scan the bad HDD with testdisk, the drive shows up but no partitions do, then when I close testdisk the drive disappears from my computer, device manager, disk management, and any subsequent running of testdisk until I restart the computer, then it shows up again. I can open her up and check the IDE and power supply. I thought this unlikely because I haven't touched the internals in the first place and the problem came up immediately following a defragmentation of that disk, but true, I/O error sounds like something physical might be loose. I could also hook it up to the secondary IDE alone by taking out the CD-ROM, but my situation seems better than most in that I still have the disk in device manager, disk management, and my computer, and don't want to mess that up, but it is time to try something new. Thanks again for the advice TopFarmer, I'll try it out. Anyone else have any thoughts?

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Try viewing the disk using a Live version of Linux. Knoppix is a good free version. Knoppix installs to and runs from ONE CDR or DVDR disk. It may be able to view and copy files from the disk. Google for a download site. You will need a fast connection because the download is 700MB.

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Thanks O, I'm not familiar with operating in Linux or with the Knoppix program, although I have seen entire forums dedicated to its use. Is this an advanced maneuver, something I should study up on first? I've tried to complete the download, but at each mirror site there are about 50 programs listed with cryptic filenames and no discussion of what is what, and about 20 of them have the ~700MB size. Also it suggests download via bit torrent, a process I've also resisted learning to this point. It may take a few days for me to learn Linux, Torrents, and Knoppix, especially since it is finals time in the phd program. I'll post back when I get it all together, but it looks like this might take awhile as I don't even understand the language in the first part of the Knoppix guide. In the meantime, would you recommend using testdisk under altered disk geometry to try to find the partition? Do you think I permanently lost the ability to find it when I searched under the pretense of "No partition" rather than "Intel/PC partition"?

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First off Knoppix is not very complicated to use. Has a graphical interface and will configure all your hardware automatically. I know it is hard to find a good download site. If you have the time you can also find sites that will sell you a bootable Knoppix disk for just a few dollars. If you are interested in that then Google for Knoppix CD. I will look and see if I can find a site I have linked in the past. There is no guarantee this will solve your problem but I might. Linux uses a different type of file system so it may be able to find files that Windows can no longer see. If that doesn't work and you do need to recover files from that disk you might wish to start a new thread here in the hardware forum inquiring about recovery software. A member named aegis often suggests one that is shareware. The trial version only allows recovery of 4 files at a time. aegis states you can run the program multiple times, or of course you can buy it. If it comes to that you could Private Message aegis here at CN and I am sure he would respond.

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[would you recommend using testdisk under altered disk geometry to try to find the partition?] I have never tried that function, but would not suggest it. {Do you think I permanently lost the ability to find it when I searched under the pretense of "No partition" rather than "Intel/PC partition"?} unless you told testdisk to write to the hdd , then no. Linux might do the job as posted by OtheHill. My personal taste, I do not care for knoppix, Tried several times to copy XP form NTFS to FAT32 and it was not a good copy. Most users have no problem with knoppix. I prefer SimplyMEPIS--http://www.mepis.org/ (I should study up on first? ) can not say, on most comps it is not hard to use but on some it seems to be impossible.

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I looked around and found a download site that doesn't require Torrent. Below is the link. The file you want is down the list a ways. I listed the exact file name below. You might also want the docs to go with it. http://archive.cs.stedwards.edu/kno... KNOPPIX V5.1.1CD-2007-01-04-EN.iso 03-Jan-2007 18:58 696M Five below this file is docs/. Get that file for help.

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Thanks so much guys, O you are great, and TopFarmer thanks for addressing my concerns. I've initiated the Knoppix download and am going to read the guides as soon as I can find them in English or translate them from German. It looks like I'll also need to go get an external HD to write to, but this will make a good backup rather than compiling a whole library of CDRs. Thanks again, I'll keep you posted on Knoppix progress.

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Here is an article in English that may help you. http://www.shockfamily.net/cedric/k...

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Just remember if you use Cut & Paste and something goes wrong before the Paste command is performed you might lose the file/s that were cut. Copy & Paste can be a pain because you would need to keep track of which files have been processed. A solution is to Copy & Paste and then after verifying the files are good then delete the original. Personally I think Copying and keeping the original disk as is until you KNOW the copy is good is the safest method. Hope Knoppix works for you.

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Knoppix did the trick! Awesome, and I feel like a true geek now that I've used a linux environment. It was slow going, the files moved drives sooo slow and 1 every 100 or so would fail and I'd have to sit there and click next (I wanted to see what I lost so I didn't do 'accept all'). Even so I'm very happy to have the data back. After I got the data to my main hard drive, I figured I might as well try some of the fixes I'd heard on the drive before wiping and reformatting it. I tried running chkdsk /f, but it wouldn't complete. I tried to degragment it, but got error messages and it wouldn't work either. I deleted the partition using Windows disk management but Windows couldn't close the deal and format the drive, instead I got an error message that Windows couldn't format the drive. I thought I would have to return the drive and get a new one, but I tried the Maxtor software that came with it and it worked, reformatted the drive, fully accessible, and I got the data back over to the secondary HDD, of course not before I bought a Lacie 500 gb external HDD for backup ($99 on amazon with USB, firewire, and eSATA ports; the USB only version is only $89). I've backed up both drives' files to the external which will sit in its box in my closet. (Even so, I'm still worried about the backup failing simultaneously, would it be OCD of me to have dual backups?) To those out there for whom testdisk isn't working to repair the partition or MFT, I suggest burning the Knoppix .iso file to disk, booting into Knoppix, and using the Konqueror browser to locate and copy your files over to a different drive. Knoppix was able to access a drive that windows said needed to be formatted. Thanks so much OtheHill, and to you also TopFarmer and Stuart.

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glad you had success and the info on how.

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thanks to you ;)

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If you really want to protect your personal data, burn it to optical disk and put that away. If you have uber important data, burn multiple disks and store remotely. Safety deposit box works. Need the second size up though. 3x5 box is too small. An external drive is convenient and suffices for a full image if you wish. The data that is really important though is your personal stuff. I use drag to disk to instantly backup files I create. Burn music files to disk as you get them. Drag to disk is a packet writer by Roxio and is part of their standard software. You need an extra burner dedicated to that purpose though or you won't use drag to disk. Ejecting disks is time consuming. I leave the disk in until somewhat full. Of course that is only the backup, not the primary copy.

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