Slave A Laptop Hard Drive To USB

This article and video will show you how to use a USB enclosure to slave a laptop hard drive. Many times laptop - notebook hard disk drives come in here that we are able to recover with data recovery software. This video will help you use a USB enclosure to get data off of a failing laptop hard drive.

Hard Drive Recovery Video Series - How To Slave a Laptop Hard Drive

If you have a clicking hard disk drive chances are you need hard drive recovery and slaving your laptop will not help you get your files back. This method is for hard drives that are still recognized by the BIOS, they just don’t show you your data, or let you access it.

The software that you need to recover your data is dependent upon the Operating System that was on your laptop.

• For Windows XP or Microsoft Vista with NTFS File System use DART XP - this program will scan your laptop drive and show you the files that can be recovered before you actually buy the software. You can download the demo version for FREE without having to sign up for anything. DART XP Data Recovery Software. If the scan shows you the data you want, you can purchase it right through the software interface.
• For All other types of Windows or for external hard drives that are running NTFS, FAT, FAT 32 or FAT 16 you will need Recover It All. The Demo version also is FREE and will show you the data before you buy it. You can save the scan and purchase the sofrtware off of our website. Like all our products you don’t have to register it to get the demo and will receive the full version within seconds of purchasing it. Click here for the demo of Recover It All Data Recovery Software.

All of our data recovery software is guaranteed to work or you get your money back. Just like our data recovery services which are No Fix No Fee, we will show you your data before you buy!

DTI also has extended software support. Our software support people work right here in Florida. We don’t outsource anything ever! Our support phones are answered from 9 AM EST to 10 PM EST at 727-345-9665, if you are calling after normal business hours choose the software tech support option with your phone.

Remember if you need hard drive recovery DTI has the best support in the business, a class 100 clean room and a strict no data no charge policy on hard drive recovery. When it comes to laptop data recovery, DTI Data is second to none!

Recovering Data From A Laptop

Last month I purchased a Dell Inspiron 1720 with all the RAM and processing power that I could get. I also picked a 320GB hard drive to store my data files. Being involved with data recovery in one way or another for the last nine years has certainly prepared me for what happened last week.

My hard drive crashed in a laptop that was not even 20 days old. It not only crashed, but had significant sector damage. How could this happen in a brand new laptop? Well the fact is every hard drive that goes out to the general public is released with bad sectors. There is S.M.A.R.T Technology and Sector Maps that are there to protect clients from data loss. If you want to know more about those 2 things read my wife Victoria’s post: Hard Drives A Destiny Of Failure to learn more.

Anyway, here I am with a damaged hard drive and a laptop so new that I hadn’t started backing up my data fully yet. I then remembered an article that Jacqui Best, our support team leader wrote about BART PE which is a Bootable CD For Data Recovery, and I used the info in that post to get off my files.

The moral of this story is to start your data backup routines at once! After you have all you settings customized to your needs, clone your hard drive! This way the restore process is much easier. I spent 2 days getting my laptop back to were it needed to be. Fortunately I did not need hard drive recovery!

Starting Exchange Server with a blank Information Store

Starting Exchange Server with a blank Information Store

There are some situations where starting Microsoft Exchange with a blank database may be necessary. In my line of work, I run across a large amount of businesses that have had their Exchange Private Information Store corrupted and the whole organizations Email capabilities halted as well. Quite often, getting the users back up and running takes precedence over getting the data back. Don’t get me wrong; the data is still extremely important, however not having email capability can stop some businesses day to day operations dead in their tracks.

In a perfect world, there would and should be a backup Exchange server just waiting to take over in case of a catastrophic event. But in reality, that is rarely the case. Rather than wait a complete day or two, or even longer, for the systems administrator to get the Exchange database recovered, a viable alternative is to restart the information store with a blank database and import the data back in when it is recovered.

There may be other reasons for wanting to create a blank database as well. You may have an Exchange server that is years old, with tons of residual data from users no longer at the company. You may need to free up disk space on your server. You may have a database with minor corruption and decide to ExMerge your data out and import it back in to a clean corruption-free database. Whatever the reason, make sure you have a complete plan of action and be sure to backup your data in case you run into difficulties. The following article explains how to create a new database with Exchange Server.

To start Exchange Server with a blank Information Store:

1. Locate the Exchange database directory and transaction log directory
   1. Open Exchange System Manager
   2. Navigate to Administrative Groups->First Administrative Group->Servers->servername
   3. Underneath servername click First Storage Group and then Action->Properties
   4. Transaction Log location will be listed on the General tab. Note this location (Image 1d)
   5. Navigate under First Storage Group to your Mailbox Store and click Action->Properties
   6. Click the Database tab to note the Exchange Database and Exchange Streaming Database locations (Image 1f)
   7. Do the same for the Public Store

Image 1d	Image 1f

2. Stop the Exchange Information Store (IS) if it is currently running
   1. Click on Start->Programs->Administrative Tools and then on Services or you can go to Computer Management by Right-Clicking on My Computer and choosing “Manage”

      i. If using Computer Management, drill down to Services and Applications, and then Services underneath that

   2. In the right window of the Services or Computer Management console, locate Microsoft Exchange Information Store
   3. If it’s status is listed as “Started”, Right-Click it and choose “Stop” (Image 2c)
   4. It may give you a message stating that dependency services such as Microsoft Exchange Event will need to stop as well. Choose “Yes” to continue stopping the IS

Image 2c

3. Rename database and transaction log directories and create new ones
   1. Rename the database location MDBDATA directory to MDBDATA-old (Image 3a)
   2. Create a new MDBDATA directory
   3. Rename the transaction log MDBDATA directory to MDBDATA-old (if location is different from the database location)
   4. Create a new MDBDATA directory for the transaction logs (Image 3d)

Image 3a	Image 3d

4. Start the Exchange Information Store service
5. Create new data files
   1. From Exchange System Manager navigate to Administrative Groups->First Administrative Group->Servers->servername->First Storage Group
   2. Click on the Mailbox Store and then on Action->Mount Store (Image 5b)
   3. You will receive a message stating that mounting this store will force the creation of an empty database, choose “Yes” to continue (Image 5c)
   4. The Store should mount, give you a message stating it successfully mounted and the data files should be created in the MDBDATA directory. (Images 5d1 & 5d2)
   5. Follow the same steps for the Public database

 

 

Image 5b
Image 5c
Image 5d1	Image 5d2

6. Test and Verify
   1. Verify the data files were created in the MDBDATA directory
   2. Check the Event Log for any errors
   3. Test connection to the Exchange server from Outlook

Data Recovery Services From DTI

DTI Data Recovery has been in business for decades. Our technicians and engineers have unique experience in all types of data recovery. DTI is one of the few companies in the world that not only performs hard drive repair, but also creates and sells data recovery software.

The fact that we have in-house software developers gives DTI data recovery an edge when it comes to recovering damaged hard drives. There are many situations that call for custom data recovery solutions. DTI has the technology and experience to create software on the fly for any given situation.

Data Recovery Engineers

The main thing that separates DTI from the pack is our engineers. We have specialists that are expert at Linux file systems, others that are focused on NTFS and FAT, this gives us the most experience with data recovery. The fact is, hard drive repair isn’t rocket science. With a clean room, experience, proper parts and technology DTI is able to repair just about any type of physical damage to a hard drive and get the data off and on to stable media. It is what happens next that makes DTI special.

Data Recovery is a lot more than hard drive repair. It also means that the files on the hard drive need to work again. That is why our engineers have the upper hand. We can take databases down to the hex level and repair them, we can fix file systems, we can rebuild partitions. If you need data recovery, then DTI is the logical choice!

iPod Digital Music MP3 Player Data Recovery

By now everyone has some sort of MP3 digital music player such as an iPod. We have actually gotten quite a few in here for data recovery. An iPod or any other portable MP3 player for that matter uses solid state storage to store songs and video. Solid state data recovery is something that DTI data recovery has been doing since the beginning of digital storage.

Even though on Apple’s website they call the iPod’s storage a “hard drive”, not all of them are. The storage is for the most part flash media or solid state, not a drive with platters and heads. Some of the exceptions are the 60GB, 80GB and 120GB which use Toshiba hard drives. Look at the Apple site to see what is in your iPod. As far as data recovery goes, we have a lot more options when a hard drive is involved since they have working parts that can be fixed. Solid State Storage has no moving parts, but there are still plenty of things that we can do from an electronic level to perform iPod data recovery.

DTI Data has the capabilities to recover all files that reside on an iPod, music, pictures, video, etc.

Icon	Model	Year-Month introduced	Scrolling device	Capacity	Current iPod Software Version
	iPod shuffle (2nd generation Early 2008) (2 GB) data recovery	2008-02	n/a	2 GB	1.0.3
	iPod touch (32 GB) data recovery	2008-02	multi-touch display	32 GB	1.1.3
	iPod touch (8 GB or 16 GB) data recovery	2007-09	multi-touch display	8 GB or 16 GB	1.1.3
	iPod classic (80 GB or 160 GB) data recovery	2007-09	Click Wheel	80 GB or 160 GB	1.1.1
	iPod nano (3rd generation) data recovery	2007-09	Click Wheel	4 GB or 8 GB	1.1
	iPod shuffle (2nd generation) (1 GB) data recovery	2006-09	n/a	1 GB	1.0.3
	iPod (5th generation late 2006) (30 GB or 80 GB) data recovery	2006-09	Click Wheel	30 GB or 80 GB	1.2.3
	iPod nano (Second Generation) (2 GB, 4 GB, or 8 GB) data recovery	2006-09	Click Wheel	2 GB, 4 GB, or 8 GB	1.1.3
	iPod nano (1 GB) data recovery	2006-02	Click Wheel	1 GB	1.3.1
	iPod (5th generation) (60 GB) data recovery	2005-10	Click Wheel	60 GB	1.2.3
	iPod (5th generation ) (30 GB) data recovery	2005-10	Click Wheel	30 GB	1.2.3
	iPod nano (4 GB) data recovery	2005-09	Click Wheel	4 GB	1.3.1
	iPod nano (2 GB) data recovery	2005-09	Click Wheel	2 GB	1.3.1
	iPod with color display (60 GB) data recovery	2005-06	Click Wheel	60 GB	1.2.1
	iPod with color display (20 GB) data recovery	2005-06	Click Wheel	20 GB	1.2.1
	iPod photo (30 GB) (also known as iPod with color display) data recovery	2005-02	Click Wheel	30 GB	1.2.1
	iPod mini (4 GB Second Generation) data recovery	2005-02	Click Wheel	4 GB	1.4.1
	iPod mini (6 GB Second Generation) data recovery	2005-02	Click Wheel	6 GB	1.4.1
	iPod shuffle (512 MB) data recovery	2005-01	n/a	512 MB	1.1.5
	iPod shuffle (1 GB) data recovery	2005-01	n/a	1 GB	1.1.5
	iPod photo (40 GB) (also known as iPod with color display) data recovery	2004-10	Click Wheel	40 GB	1.2.1
	iPod photo (60 GB) (also known as iPod with color display) data recovery	2004-10	Click Wheel	60 GB	1.2.1
	iPod (20 GB Click Wheel) data recovery	2004-07	Click Wheel	20 GB	3.1.1
	iPod (40 GB Click Wheel) data recovery	2004-07	Click Wheel	40 GB	3.1.1
	iPod mini data recovery	2004-01	Click Wheel	4 GB	1.4.1
	iPod (20 GB dock connector) data recovery	2003-09	touch wheel	20 GB	2.3
	iPod (40 GB dock connector) data recovery	2003-09	touch wheel	40 GB	2.3
	iPod (10 GB dock connector) data recovery	2003-04	touch wheel	10 GB	2.3
	iPod (15 GB dock connector) data recovery	2003-04	touch wheel	15 GB	2.3
	iPod (30 GB dock connector) data recovery	2003-04	touch wheel	30 GB	2.3
	iPod (10 GB touch wheel) data recovery	2002-07	touch wheel	10 GB	1.5
	iPod (20 GB touch wheel) data recovery	2002-07	touch wheel	20 GB	1.5
	iPod (10 GB scroll wheel) data recovery	2002-03	scroll wheel	10 GB	1.5
	iPod (5 GB scroll wheel) data recovery	2001-10	scroll wheel	5 GB	1.5

If you are here you need data recovery, more than likely, internal hard disk repair. Call Toll Free: 1-866-438-6932 or fill out an online quote form if you need data recovery.

Hard Drive Recovery Software

There are a lot of websites and blogs that talk about hard drive recovery. Most of the content out there is really just fluff, written to drive hard drive and data recovery type ads in Google AdSense. These ads can make webmasters and site owners a lot of money. The problem is there is quite a bit of hard drive recovery content that is down right dangerous! Sites that say you should put your hard drive in a freezer or even open your hard drive at all, don’t know anything about how hard drives work, let alone how to recover or repair them.

The Hard Drive Recovery Process

Hard drive recovery is the process of recovering data from a physically damaged hard disk. More than half of the drives we receive have head failures which require that the drive is opened inside our clean room which prevents dust particles from damaging the drive further. The clean room is also used to protect the electronic parts of the drive from static discharge. Opening a hard drive in anything but a clean room is dangerous to the hard drive. Below is a diagram that shows the parts in a hard drive.

DTI Data Recovery is one of a handful of data recovery companies that have both a clean room AND engineers that are capable of programming software that is needed to repair a file system. The head of our programming department, Dick Correa, has been writing file system repair and data recovery software for many years. His technicians are constantly doing research and development on how to work with all file systems, not just NTFS. By combining advanced programming and having the tools necessary to perform hard drive recovery, DTI is an industry leader in data recovery services.

The reason that we are getting into all of this now is to help users identify legitimate resources when their hard drives have failed. Don’t trust just anyone with your data. Make sure the company you choose is like DTI Data, that they have a clean room and qualified engineers to perform hard drive recovery.

If you are here you need data recovery, more than likely, internal hard disk repair. Call Toll Free: 1-866-438-6932 or fill out an online quote form if you need hard drive recovery.

Hard Drive Failure Data Recovery

When your hard drive fails it is more than likely a physical problem. In most cases noise will accompany hard drive failure, clicking and scraping are common sounds that a hard drive will emit while it is failing. It is important to back up all your files if your hard drive is making any noises.

Hard Drive Recovery From A Failed Disk

When a hard drive fails, it needs to be repaired so the data can be transferred to stable media and the files can be recovered. Hard drive recovery is the process of repairing a failed hard drive. After the data is transferred, the data recovery process begins.

Hard Drive Recovery Techniques

Hard drive recovery is one part of the overall process of data recovery. Data recovery involves many steps that vary depending upon the actual circumstances of the hard drive failure. When the disk is physically damaged it will need to be repaired. This stage is referred to as hard drive recovery

Hard Drive Recovery Techniques: The Clean Room

When performing hard drive recovery, it is absolutely imperative that the repair take place in a clean room. Static discharge and dust can have adverse effects on both the heads and the platters. The picture below shows the parts we are talking about:

Depending upon the cause of the initial hard drive failure, the engineers will repair the electronics or hardware.

Hard Drive Recovery Technique: Head Replacement

One of the most common hard drive recovery scenarios involves a clicking hard drive you can hear an example here. The clicking is most likely a head failure. The repair of the heads usually entails replacing them from a good hard drive of the same exact model. Once the heads have been replaced, the engineers move on to reading the disks and moving the data off to stable media.

These are just a couple of techniques the engineers at DTI Data use when doing hard drive recovery. Feel free to call us Call Toll Free: 1-866-438-6932 or fill out an online quote form for immediate support.

Hard Drive Recovery Case Study: Computer Overheating

Overheating is a serious problem for people, cars and especially computers and hard drives. In my post Speed Kills With Hard Drives Its Heat, I talk about how heat can be very bad for hard drives. Today we are going to look at the world outside of the computer. You would be amazed at how many hard drive recovery cases we get that are heat related. It doesn’t matter if its a laptop hard drive, desktop, external or a mini drive, they are all susceptible to heat.

Heat Related Hard Drive Recovery

With a desktop computer you can add fans inside the box as well as right on the hard drive itself. You have no such luxury with laptop computers. The thing to do with a notebook is to keep the air flowing around it. Don’t use it while it is laying on a bed for example. There are laptop fans that you can buy for your desk if you have a dedicated workstation for your notebook. With the powerful options now available in laptops more and more people are using them as their primary computers, even companies. If a notebook is your main machine, keep it cool and avoid overheating.

For those of us that need the computing power that you can only get from a desktop, we do have options for keeping the system cool. Most new computers have advanced cooling options and these are just as important as duel core processors and gigs of RAM. Spend the extra dough and get as much cooling as you can when you configure your new computer.

The picture below is a typical computer cabinet desk combo. While it looks good and keep everything organized, it is a computer killer.

By squeezing your computer into a tight space you are stopping any air flow. Computers, like people need to breathe and stay cool. If you are looking at computer desks or furniture, make sure your computer has plenty of breathing room and air flow.  Heat is a major cause of hard drive recovery, so do everything you can to keep your drive and computer cool.

Novell NWFS File Recovery

Novell NWFS and system markers

File recovery for Novell can be at best rewarding, at worst tedious, however, the file system and its components lends itself to a more robust data recovery theater.

One of the first things that are necessary is to make sure that the file system is in alignment and the system entries are intact.   For every NWFS partition you will find the following components.

 1. A beginning of partition marker         “Nw_PaRtItIon”.          Offset 0

2. A backup of the partition table.                                             Offset 1

3. First HotFix marker                          “HotFix00″                   Offset 32

4. First Mirror marker                           “Mirror00″                   Offset 33

5. Second HotFix marker                     “HotFix00″                   Offset 64

6. Second Mirror marker                      “Mirror00″                   Offset 65

7. Third HotFix marker                        ”HotFix00″                   Offset 96

8. Third Mirror marker                         “Mirror00″                   Offset 97

9. Fourth HotFix marker                       “HotFix00″                   Offset 128

10. Fourth Mirror marker                     “Mirror00″                   Offset 129

11. Volume Definition Table                  “Netware Volumes”      Offset (32 + size of Hotfix)

 Using WinHex as your sector editor it is a simple task to see if these components are where they are supposed to be.  If they are then the next step is to find the Directory Entry Table (DET).   The DET is like a MFT for NTFS in as much as it holds the placement of every file in the system.  Unlike the MFT, there are multiple copies of the DET and therefore a higher chance of recovery exists.

NWFS is not used very much anymore.  Novell went to NSS in its 6.x series of OS, and NWFS went by the wayside.  It’s too bad since MWFS is fast, and easy to recover from.

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