Any way to save data from a corrupt hard drive?

Question

Long story short.
I have a Dell studio xps laptop. My hard drive became over heated and eventually became corrupted.
I got a replacement hard drive and now my computer works fine but I would still like, no, LOVE it if I can somehow transfer documents and photos to the new drive :(
I basically have college documents and very nostalgic photos that were saved of my superb, now dead, hard drive.
I bought myself a 2.5" SATA enclosure and even that wouldn't work.
I called drive savers and they want $1,200!!!!!! Geez. . .who has that kind of money :(
So, if anybody has any idea for this seemingly lost cause, please please reply!
Or guide me through the procedure! I'd so greatly appreciate it >_<
Me e-mail is [e-mail]
thank you!

Answer 1

Chances are that your data is still on the hard drive. I recently had the same problem on my laptop and I was able to get my ALL of my files back. I made a couple of step by step guides to recovering data from crashed drives. They are made so that people with only basic computer knowledge can recover lost files - even from badly damaged hard drives. Both options are also completely free (except for the CD you will have to burn). All you need is a blank cd and a pen drive or external hard drive.



1st option - This option is the easiest, however if there is a lot of damage it may not work.

http://www.myfixlog.com/fix.php?fid=17



2nd option - This option is a little harder, however if there are files to be recovered it will recover them. However if there is a lot of damage it may not work.

http://www.myfixlog.com/fix.php?fid=19

Answer 2

If all alternate attempts fail, & you've got a lot of valuable files that must be recovered, have a look @ 'SpinRite' from GRC.

Recovers data & fixes HDD errors; disk maintenance; checks cable interfaces; many deep disk checks; etc.

Self contained DOS, so functioning OS not required.

THE industry standard.

About $90 US;

Money back if not satisfied (how many software items have you seen with that?).



Google for reviews.

Well worth the money.

http://www.grc.com/sr/spinrite.htm

or

http://www.grc.com/sr/testimonials.htm



If you decide to give this a try, read the help files on what modes do what, cause it can be a tad confusing. Whatever 'mode' you select, don't be impatient: this works slowly (maybe days), but methodically, and just may pull your drive back from the brink of doom.

Answer 3

Would like to try and recover your files., but first need to know the extent of the fault of the hard drive. First what was the error or fault symptoms when in your laptop. You say you connected it via an external enclosure so give details of that failure. Need to know if your drive is broken electronically/mechanically or corrupted You can reply via email through this yahoo

Answer 4

ddrescue http://www.gnu.org/software/ddrescue/ddrescue.html will get anything that's recoverable. It's not an easy-to-use program. Take your time and learn what dd does (the rescue version is a specialized version, but it works about the same way - even though it can take weeks to rescue a large, damaged disk.) Start with http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-newbie-8/learn-the-dd-command-362506/ (and you'll soon see why $1,200 isn't that exorbitant a price. High, maybe, not outrageous, considering what you have to know.)



If ddrescue can't recover the data, it's not there to recover.

Answer 5

Yes, it is possible to save data from a corrupted hard drive. You need to take out hard drive from your Dell Studio xps laptop, and then connect the hard drive to another computer as external hard drive, and then recover your photos videos document files.

http://www.asoftech.com/articles/External-Drive-Data-Recovery.html