Member Avatar for revin8987

Hi everyone , I am employed as a manager in a firm. I have a problem that I had like to talk about. My system was working fine the other day, but while copying a file by nero….the system hanged and I had to restart it. But I got a disk boot failure error. Then , I tried to run a windows xp installation CD, but that is also showing some error message during installation and the installation fails.I did check the bios settings and the disk fails to show…and had it checked on another system also…but bios cannot detect the hard disk.I think the disk is damaged or something like that.The disk has important data from my company’s point of view…..that I need to recover.
Please let me know if there are any ways to get my data back from this disk!!!!

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Quick, practical non‑destructive checklist (do steps in order and stop if the drive makes unusual noises):

  1. Listen and feel: does the drive spin when powered? Any repeated clicking, grinding, or burning smell means stop and do not power it again.
  2. Swap the basics: try a different known-good SATA/IDE cable and use another port or another PC. For 3.5" drives use a powered SATA-to-USB adapter or powered enclosure (many adapters cannot start a 3.5" without external power).
  3. If the BIOS ever detects the disk, avoid Windows repairs or CHKDSK. Instead boot a Linux live USB and check whether the device appears (lsblk) and look at SMART if visible (smartctl).
  4. If the disk is at least partially visible, create a sector-level image to another physical drive immediately (do not work on the original). Imaging is non-destructive and preserves data for later recovery.

If imaging is possible, GNU ddrescue is the usual tool. Example workflow:

sudo ddrescue -n /dev/sdX /mnt/backup/mydisk.img /mnt/backup/ddrescue.log
sudo ddrescue -d -r3 /dev/sdX /mnt/backup/mydisk.img /mnt/backup/ddrescue.log

Use -n to copy good sectors first, then retries to recover slow/bad areas. Always write the image to a different physical disk and keep the ddrescue log.

If the drive does not spin, clicks, or smells burned, stop DIY attempts. Do not open the drive outside a clean room or randomly swap boards: many modern drives store adaptive/firmware data on the PCB or EEPROM, and improper swaps can make recovery harder. Several posters here (for example , , and ) correctly pointed toward professional recovery for serious hardware faults — for business-critical data that is the safest route.

What to prepare for a recovery lab: drive make/model and serial, exact symptoms (spin/click/no-detect), steps already tried (different PC, installer run, etc.), and whether files are confidential. That information speeds diagnosis and helps the lab give an accurate quote.

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Member Avatar for gloria3721

I think that your disk is probably damaged …cannot guess any other reason for failure.There may be some problem in the controllers or can be another thing.The best way is to get a professional team that can recover data from <<snip>> . They can be your best resort as they have tools and ways to get the things done.

All the best to you.

Edited by Nick Evan because: removed plug
Member Avatar for mechbas

What isn't clear, did U try drive recognition in another system? If the drive has been installed for quite some time sometimes the easiest thing to do is to unplug all the drive(s) cables and reconnect. THEN try to boot.
Files can be recovered from damaged drives but the process can be expensive. Expect to pay $500 and up.

Member Avatar for articles

To get back the data from the damaged hard drive, use Windows recovery software
It will help you to extract every bit of data , you have in your hard drive

Hope this will help you...

Edited by crunchie because: n/a
Member Avatar for mechbas

MS recovery has been around since at least DOS3.x. It's ability is limited on a drive that is basically sound. For a drive that has already sustained physical damage to the platter(s) it has two results, neither of which is very pleasant. 1) False hope. 2) Further exacerbation to an already damaged platter(s) making any chance of file recovery that much harder. Recovery techs can get files off any platter(s) as long as the file is still physically there. They bypass motor and onboard circuitry probs. "the disk fails to show"

Member Avatar for sittas87

youre best bet is to go for data recovery pro's for your company's HD. if they want the data then they have to pay.thats the way I do it but only if the HD is completely dead with no other option
Good luck fella

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