HDD not reading

Have a HDD that has some data on it needing to be recovered. Normally would be able to place the HDD into a dock and recover but the HDD isn't reading any. Listening to the drive it seems to be cycling, looping from one point to another then chattering then starts all over again.

I would consider software to recover with, I have a few cd's to boot with but unsure of a good program to aid in making it read. Another HDD tool, seagate discwizard totally halted loading stating the drive was unable to read in certain sectors. seagate tools for windows loaded and showed the drive (as did My Computer) but was never able to do any diagnostics (freezing) or was I able to access the drive via My Computer.

I am thinking to try to 'freeze' the drive and try again after a while. More help is appreciated.
UBCD and Hiren's Boot CD are a few things I do have and can download a newer version if needed, or other third party software.

 

Sadly, it sound like something mechanical inside the drive has bit the dust.

SeaTools and DiscWizard are decent programs, so long as the drive isn't beyond the point of no return. At this point, I see no harm in trying the other software you mentioned - although I have a feeling any software-based recovery will be a longshot on this drive.

If you can't bring it back to life using software, your only other option is to decide if it's worth paying a professional data recovery service - the cost is usually based on the amount of data but can easily run into hundreds of dollars. Do not attempt to open the drive yourself in an attempt to fix it - pro data recovery companies use a "clean room"; even one speck of dust will destroy the drive's platters (and any data on them) forever.

 

I had two HDD in RAID0, they started to fail, losing data, irregular boot fails, etc. Depending on the defect, often the Master Boot Record (MBR) is a major cause and I have rebuilt this long enough to transfer DATA.

UBCD has some tools to this effect:

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

http://www.diydatarecovery.nl/mbrtool.htm

 

I hadn't worked very much with MBR and repairs, a few good pointers and more would be great to read on, pointers from first hand use too?

 

Well it is something I have only experienced the one time but was able to recover from. If all other options have been exploited and the ridiculous cost of DATA recovery services is not an option then the second link in particular is of use and you should explore their sites before the urban legends of HDD in freezer, etc are explored.

DIYDATARECOVERY is the keyword for google....;-)

 

HDD errors can take the form of read or write errors, whereby the faulty sector's capabilities will be limited to either of those functions ie read or write.

If Seagate Discwizard was having issues, then the HD is in trouble. Nevertheless, did you try to run the HD diagnostics software (if my memory serves me write Discwizard is only a copy/clone utility).

As Bold Eagle has stated the freezer method can be tried out. I have read post of success with this method but the probability of success is very low and works only with specific types of HD problems. I cannot imagine that the freeze can cure read / write HD sector faults.

I don't think that this is an MBR issue but would could confirm this by running TestDisk. MBRtool (in second link) I believe is similar to MBRWork which I use. It is a skeletal version of Testdisc. MBRwork would have to be used in conjunction with another program. I usually use it with BiNG to undelete partitions after I have zeroed the MBR. TestDisk will do the whole lot in one go but is more difficult to grasp.

Good Luck