Reminder! Backup those photos

bigtwinky · Jan 4, 2010

Had a hard reminder a few days ago...my hard drive died and i had at least 3 months of photos that needed to be properly backed up.

I'm currently recovering raw files from memory cards then I'm going to work on switching out the circuit board on the hard drive to try and get it working again, but it aint looking good. Plugged it into my netbook and it doesnt even recognize the hard drive...

So yeah...reminder to you all...back up those photos!!!

JAFO28 · Jan 4, 2010

That sucks! I had a hard drive crash a couple of years ago, fortunately was able to save all my data. I feel your pain. Good luck on retrieving your stuff.

Pugs · Jan 4, 2010

bigtwinky said:
Had a hard reminder a few days ago...my hard drive died and i had at least 3 months of photos that needed to be properly backed up.

I'm currently recovering raw files from memory cards then I'm going to work on switching out the circuit board on the hard drive to try and get it working again, but it aint looking good. Plugged it into my netbook and it doesnt even recognize the hard drive...

So yeah...reminder to you all...back up those photos!!!

OUCH! Man... I feel for you...

bigtwinky · Jan 4, 2010

just working with the memory cards, Ive recovered over 1200 images so far, so at least all is not lost hehe.

Shockey · Jan 4, 2010

Nothing worse, glad to hear you are able to recover some of your photos.

themedicine · Jan 4, 2010

man have i been there. lost a whole shoot to not backing up my files just recently, and the deadline was the next day. I made due with some other shots I had laying around and alot of photoshop and coffee.
back it up!

Garbz · Jan 5, 2010

Try deep freezing the harddrive. This can sometimes help electronics which are on the brink as well as seized bearings or weak motors that don't spin properly. It has helped get drives temporarily running for a bit over half the crashes I've been involved with.

mbkPhotography · Jan 6, 2010

Sorry to hear about the HD failure, it definitely sucks to lose so much work. I'm glad you are getting some of them restored from your cards. Definitely try and switch out the circuit board on the drive, I have done this successfully a few times which saved a ton of work.

bigtwinky · Jan 6, 2010

freezing the HD? Thanks Garbz, ill give that a shot.
a friend is currently working on diagnosing the rest of my pc to ensure its only the hd that isnt working and not also an issue with the mobo...i dont have another desktop to switch out parts.

TokZik · Jan 6, 2010

sorry to hear that ....hope you manage to save all the data.

netbuk · Jan 19, 2010

Thanks for advice! I had same issue with hard drive once.
And not just photos, all important data can be lost

dmfw · Jan 22, 2010

Did it die, eg. stop, or is not accessable? If the latter, a good tech has ways to get data off of the drive. I just did this someone who had 2+ years of pics "lost" when he fried his laptop!

kcarter · Jan 23, 2010

I've been a computer technician for 11 years. Let me give you a few tips that hopefully can help you.

For the freezing, do not freeze more than like 1 hour at a time, or condensation will destroy it.

Does it spin up and make a knocking sound? Or does it not spin up at all? Or is it just not accessible?

What is the make and the model # of the hard drive? There are certain Seagate 500GB drives that have special issues.

Changing the PCB on the drive is not going to work unless you have an identical one, with the same version firmware that was manufactured in the same country. We do data recovery at the shop I work at, and we have seen pretty much every type of failure.

Your last option is to ship it to Ontrack, if the data is that important. They will charge $150 to even look at it, and if they can get the data, it can range from about $500-$1,500. Expensive, but all data has a price.

I wish you luck and if you need any more tips on it please feel free to ask.

bennielou · Feb 23, 2010

I put the drive in the freezer once too. Depending on how you view your reputation, as a last ditch attempt, you can also pay a recovery company. It's mucho expensive though.
It only happened once to me,way back in the beginning, and that taught me a great lesson.
Now I back up on the job, and then two other computers in my office.
I hope it all worked out.