Maxtor HD Failure?

On Tue, 8 Nov 2005 07:43:53 +0000 (UTC), "Nik"
<nik.walmsleySPAMKILL DeleteThis @btinternet.com> wrote:

>Ok, some good points. My major concern now is that I checked my Backup DVD,
>and it is probably the only DVD I ever made, with errors!

First and foremost, read-verify any important backups. The
reliability of DVD media is incredibly poor if you don't
happen upon a lucky combo of burner, firmware, media, and
ability of same burner to reread.


>I can't access my
>files. I can see them, but I can't get to them or copy them, and it takes
>ages to read them.

If it can't read 'em, of course it will take forever, then
give up. Try reading them in another drive. Then another
drive.

I don't mean to be sarcastic, but of utmost importance in
making backups is not just the making, but the confirmation
that they're restorable. Not a lecture about what went
wrong, only that it will be good to make sure the next
backup strategy is proven working.

>So now I'm panicking a bit, and it's a whole new ball
>game!! (I even tried the DVD in my other PC, same results - I did check the
>DVD when I wrote it, but again, I only opened it to see if I could see the
>files, I didn't try opening the files!)

Not just opening then, checking the whole DVD and copying
them off.

You might try Nero DVDSpeed or some other utility to limit
the speed of (any, and all) of the drives you're tring to
read these in... but if the disc itself is bad there's not
much hope for it.

After a few years of finding any random CDR might've gone
bad after some time, even if it was readable initially, I
now never make single-point backups on optical media. It's
a nice concept, but it seems cheap drives and cheap media
(even expensive cheap media) just don't make for good
high-density storage. Only time will tell if the situation
improves, it could be that current discs are better able to
stand the test of time, but only a year longer from now will
we know for sure.
 >> Stay informed about: Maxtor HD Failure? 

On Tue, 8 Nov 2005 15:32:21 +0000 (UTC), "Nik"
<nik.walmsleySPAMKILL DeleteThis @btinternet.com> wrote:

>I've read the instructions, but they don't help much as I run Nero. I have
>put the files onto a bootbale CD, I can get the pc to boot into a strange
>dos-type mode, but then it won't let me type anything at all and I have to
>reset. HELP!
>
>"Nik" <nik.walmsleySPAMKILL DeleteThis @btinternet.com> wrote in message
>news:dkqeg9$nnd$1@nwrdmz03.dmz.ncs.ea.ibs-infra.bt.com...
>> OK, got the ISO file. What do I do with it, it has 2 files, BOOTCAT, and
>> BOOTIMG. Do I create a bootable disc with Nero with these 2 files on it?
>>
>> Thanks again.

The file that downloads from the link I provided is an
PWRMAXEN.ISO, file.

You don't open the ISO with any application prior to burning
it, which would've had to happen for you to have seen the
BOOTCAT and BOOTIMG files. Don't be concerned about this
though, just have Nero burn an image as you would any other
ISO.

For example, looking at Nero 6, (don't recall if it's
"exactly" the same on other Nero versions but should be
close enough):

File-Open-(files of type: Image)-(Browse to the ISO file you
downloaded)-Burn Complilation Window (opens
automagically)-Click "Burn"

That should do it. There is another round-about way to do
it, if you told Nero to make a bootable disc and then
browsed to those two files you mentioned previously,
specifying then as the source of the bootable floppy image,
that would probably work too, but there is no reason to do
this unless perhaps you were putting together some kind of
special compliation CD but I don't even think Powermax is
set up to allow that, even for this kind of purpose you'd
probably want another boot loader and DOS instead so just
forget that I mentioned it.
 >> Stay informed about: Maxtor HD Failure? 

OK, the file recovery program is mainly for file retrieval from a memory
card and reports that my media is too badly damaged. The "Expensive"
utilities contradict this, and I know I'm able to get them back (at a huge
cost!)

The Powermax utility just boots my PC into some weird dr-dos mode, with a
flashing A:> prompt that won't accept any commands at all.

Any further ideas appreciated.

Nik.

"kony" <spam RemoveThis @spam.com> wrote in message
news:c3s0n1lumrdqqb8jd3k81tstau52hjnmh6@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 8 Nov 2005 07:43:53 +0000 (UTC), "Nik"
> <nik.walmsleySPAMKILL RemoveThis @btinternet.com> wrote:
>
>>Ok, some good points. My major concern now is that I checked my Backup
>>DVD,
>>and it is probably the only DVD I ever made, with errors!
>
> First and foremost, read-verify any important backups. The
> reliability of DVD media is incredibly poor if you don't
> happen upon a lucky combo of burner, firmware, media, and
> ability of same burner to reread.
>
>
>>I can't access my
>>files. I can see them, but I can't get to them or copy them, and it takes
>>ages to read them.
>
> If it can't read 'em, of course it will take forever, then
> give up. Try reading them in another drive. Then another
> drive.
>
> I don't mean to be sarcastic, but of utmost importance in
> making backups is not just the making, but the confirmation
> that they're restorable. Not a lecture about what went
> wrong, only that it will be good to make sure the next
> backup strategy is proven working.
>
>>So now I'm panicking a bit, and it's a whole new ball
>>game!! (I even tried the DVD in my other PC, same results - I did check
>>the
>>DVD when I wrote it, but again, I only opened it to see if I could see the
>>files, I didn't try opening the files!)
>
> Not just opening then, checking the whole DVD and copying
> them off.
>
> You might try Nero DVDSpeed or some other utility to limit
> the speed of (any, and all) of the drives you're tring to
> read these in... but if the disc itself is bad there's not
> much hope for it.
>
> After a few years of finding any random CDR might've gone
> bad after some time, even if it was readable initially, I
> now never make single-point backups on optical media. It's
> a nice concept, but it seems cheap drives and cheap media
> (even expensive cheap media) just don't make for good
> high-density storage. Only time will tell if the situation
> improves, it could be that current discs are better able to
> stand the test of time, but only a year longer from now will
> we know for sure.
 >> Stay informed about: Maxtor HD Failure? 

On Mon, 7 Nov 2005 18:28:07 +0000 (UTC), "Nik"
<nik.walmsleySPAMKILL RemoveThis @btinternet.com> wrote:

>Hi
>
>I have a Maxtor 6Y200MO (200GB) Hard Drive that has just suddenly decided to
>fail on me. It is still recognised in the BIOS, and when I check its'
>properties within My Computer, it reports that there is nothing on the drive
>and it is in RAW format.
>
>The drive is used mainly for archiving DVD's and photos, all of which have
>been backed up onto DVD.
>
>Is there a way of retireving the data without having to trawl my DVD's and
>restore all the data?
>
>Strange thing is, when I go to system restore, it reports that (even 3
>months ago) the F: drive (as it's called) was excluded or uninstalled at
>this point - which I never did!
>
>Anyway, it's on a P4 3.2ghz, 1.5GB PC3200 400MHZ RAM system, SATA on an Asus
>P5GDC Deluxe Mo/Bo running WIN XP SP2.
>
>Any help appreciated.
>
>Nik.
>
Is the disk making any clicking or repetitive noises? Does it take a
long time for the system to detect the disk when the system boots up?
Spinrite has saved me many times from disks I gave up on and will let
you know the severity of the damage if this is the case. There are
also tools that will allow recover some of the data if the disk is not
to badly damaged...

Are you using an external SATA controller or do you need to load any
special drivers for your OS to recognize the disk? Was this disk part
of a software are hardware RAID stripe? The first thing I would do is
determine if there's a mechanical problem with the disk. If not then
determine if there's a usable file system and how access it. Since
you didn't describe any of the typical symptoms of a mechanical hard
disk failure and the disk is SATA, I'm a bit inclined to think this an
OS or software problem rather than dead disk.
 >> Stay informed about: Maxtor HD Failure? 

On Tue, 8 Nov 2005 23:21:14 +0000 (UTC), "Nik"
<nik.walmsleySPAMKILL.DeleteThis@btinternet.com> wrote:

>OK, the file recovery program is mainly for file retrieval from a memory
>card and reports that my media is too badly damaged. The "Expensive"
>utilities contradict this, and I know I'm able to get them back (at a huge
>cost!)
>
>The Powermax utility just boots my PC into some weird dr-dos mode, with a
>flashing A:> prompt that won't accept any commands at all.
>
>Any further ideas appreciated.
>
>Nik.
>


Maybe I linked it wrong but the link I supplied previously
was to a 'site that has several utilities- if the one you
downloaded was for memory cards, try the other one meant for
hard drives.

Did you make the CDR with Nero as I outlined previously?
If you burn the ISO and boot to it, the program should start
up fine. Maybe your system has some odd CD boot problem.
This is another reason why it's good to have a floppy. It's
only $10 in a multi-hundred dollar system.

If all else fails, take the drive to another system and then
make a powermax floppy there or try again with the powermax
ISO (or try remaking it).
 >> Stay informed about: Maxtor HD Failure? 

The CD allows bootable discs no problem. It boots from the ISO image, but
then goes to the A: prompt after doing a whole load of stuff, like loading
up some weird dos system. My choice I suppose, I hate floppy drives, and
this is the only time I have ever "slightly" needed one in the past 5years!

I did a Seagate "online" drive test that checked the drive for about 20
mins, which reported no errors. I'm happy that the HD is stable, and may be
retrievable, but without getting the data off it that I want (i.e. DV
Capture of my kids etc) I really don't want to reformat it back into NTFS.

I will try and obtain some sort of software that will allow me to retrieve
the data and then take it from there, needless to say - lesson learnt about
checking and rechecking backed up data in future!

Thanks for all your good advice.

Nik.

"kony" <spam DeleteThis @spam.com> wrote in message
news:fi33n1h1ts3h9dmqge137nl0ctl8hdv9u0@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 8 Nov 2005 23:21:14 +0000 (UTC), "Nik"
> <nik.walmsleySPAMKILL DeleteThis @btinternet.com> wrote:
>
>>OK, the file recovery program is mainly for file retrieval from a memory
>>card and reports that my media is too badly damaged. The "Expensive"
>>utilities contradict this, and I know I'm able to get them back (at a huge
>>cost!)
>>
>>The Powermax utility just boots my PC into some weird dr-dos mode, with a
>>flashing A:> prompt that won't accept any commands at all.
>>
>>Any further ideas appreciated.
>>
>>Nik.
>>
>
>
> Maybe I linked it wrong but the link I supplied previously
> was to a 'site that has several utilities- if the one you
> downloaded was for memory cards, try the other one meant for
> hard drives.
>
> Did you make the CDR with Nero as I outlined previously?
> If you burn the ISO and boot to it, the program should start
> up fine. Maybe your system has some odd CD boot problem.
> This is another reason why it's good to have a floppy. It's
> only $10 in a multi-hundred dollar system.
>
> If all else fails, take the drive to another system and then
> make a powermax floppy there or try again with the powermax
> ISO (or try remaking it).
 >> Stay informed about: Maxtor HD Failure? 

"Nik" <nik.walmsleySPAMKILL.DeleteThis@btinternet.com> wrote in message
news:dkrbta$a52$1@nwrdmz03.dmz.ncs.ea.ibs-infra.bt.com...
> OK, the file recovery program is mainly for file retrieval from a memory
> card and reports that my media is too badly damaged. The "Expensive"
> utilities contradict this, and I know I'm able to get them back (at a huge
> cost!)
>
> The Powermax utility just boots my PC into some weird dr-dos mode, with a
> flashing A:> prompt that won't accept any commands at all.
>


The MSaxtor PowerMax did not work for me either!

Dave C
 >> Stay informed about: Maxtor HD Failure? 

On Wed, 9 Nov 2005 22:45:40 +0000 (UTC), "Nik"
<nik.walmsleySPAMKILL.RemoveThis@btinternet.com> wrote:

>Thanks Shep for your efforts, but I really do feel like giving up! I get to
>the lovely big blue Maxtor boot screen, and then it invites me to press F8
>to continue, it then gives me another screen of info, followed by F8 to
>continue, then goes straight to an A: prompt!

At the A: prompt, did you try running any executibles?
That would seem the obvious next step.
 >> Stay informed about: Maxtor HD Failure?