I have an old 20gb western Digital HD that recently crashed, the only problem is i had 6gigs of priceless stuff on it, i used Spinrite on the highest repair level (5) and no success. i was woundering if there is a another way of trying to fix it, or a way i can hook up my external HD threw usb and somehow copy the whole HD to it with DOS, or just get the files i need threw DOS, the computer doesn't even boot up, all i see is a blue screen when i think it's going to boot and then it restarts, any ideas on getting the data or fixing the HD?

I just ordered mediaRECOVER Pro and it works great. You will have to take out your HD and slave it to another PC to retrieve your files. They have a demo program that you can use to see what's on your HD and then you have to pay for the key to activate it so you can get your files....GL Business as usual

Maybe try booting up in safe mode and choosing last good known configuration, that may get you up and running. Business as usual

To do this you would need to get a new hard drive and load the operating system and all other programs you need as if you were doing it from scratch. (Make sure you have a good virus scan on it in case your old drive had some viruses that caused it to crash) Once that is complete and your computer is up and running again, on a spare IDE connect the crashed 20GB hard drive as a slave. (Do this by changing the jumber. It should have directions on how to do this) If you don't have a spare IDE or if you just don't want to mess with it you can disconnect your CD ROM and plug it in there. Plug in the power to the HD and start up your computer. When your computer starts up it should start up with the new hard drive and the new system you just installed. Go to my computer and you should now have a new drive installed (Usually a drive d:) (May take a few seconds to install after startup) Now the easy part, copy all the files you need from the old location to a location on your new drive. Easy as that. When completed disconnect the old 20GB drive and if applicable re-plug in your CD ROM. FYI, To copy a complete hard drive I use Symatec's Ghost software. It works great, but in this situation you would just end up with two drive that don't work. Hope this helps, -Mario-

Here is a "hit or miss" plan that works about 1/2 the time...don't laugh!!! Stick the old hard drive in freezer in a zip lock bag for about 3 hours...when you take it out, jumper as slave drive on another pc (do not try to boot), and boot up another pc with this on as slave...if the drive shows, run like "Hell" and drag and drop off whatever you can because you have about 1/2 hour before darkness returns. Rich M www.kickenhardware.net

I have one question...when you say crash I'm going to assume not a software crash but a physical problem with the disk right? I assume this because you said you ran spinrite...normally if spinerite can't do it...there are only expensive options left.... Rich: I dont laugh at crazy ideas for recovering HDD crashes anymore. I've heard some very strange things that have worked. Actually I guess I have another question...when you power on the drive do you hear any horrible noises? if so...the more you power it up, the more you hurt your chances of recovering the data because the platters are getting more and more scratched.. I've used spinrite and easy recovery pro from ontrack before with good results. I guess if you are totally out of options and you dont have the money to send it to a data recovery place there is 1 more thing you can do but I do not recommand this and there is a high chance it will not work....BUT...i've known people who have sacrificed another exact drive and actually taken the platters out of the defective drive and put them in the new drive long enough to get the data off...but again....I DO NOT RECOMMAND that because well..for one...i doubt you have a clean room. Other then that....SORRY :(

s--- i slaved the hd but it wont boot, when i remove it though the comp. is fine :( "I have one question...when you say crash I'm going to assume not a software crash but a physical problem with the disk right?" , im not sure about that, and i don't hear any weird noises.