Hard disk failure! - wow.

I've had a really nasty wake up call this weekend. I LOST a hard disk. Ok, I still have the original files for I did back up the original files, but I did lose the work I did on them which is kinda nasty. My only relief is that it wasn't a big job which I lost in amongst it. However there was a job which I now have to somehow have to catch up on as soon as I can! On the upside I guess I guess I can look on that job with a fresh set of eyes starting new.

So note to all. Backup on a billion things... all the time! - I have such bad luck this last year, I've lost 3 laptop's (hardware errors). This is my own personal nightmare.

I hope not many relate to this. I've finished cursing now and Im just dealing with it.

That sucks. I have learned my lesson years ago, but I never fully lost a disk, just a few files and then read errors as the disks failed. I now have two backup systems in place. One I use the Time Machine software built into the Mac. And I have a daily scheduled task to backup all my disks to encrypted external drives. Monthly I swap these with another set I keep at my brother's house. He does the same. So I should never be out more than an hours worth of work, unless the house burns down. Then I may lose up to a month's worth of work.

I really do know how you feel. I had a problem in May, the hard drive and motherboard had to be replaced. Luck i had all sorts of backups, but to rebuilt with software is time consuming and a pain to call everyone about license issues.

I keep 4 backups, one off site, keeping current is a pain and boring but necessary.

Time machine's cost some reasonably serious money though. However it might be in best interests when I can. That and at least one other external hard disk, and not a portable. *sighs* Multiple backup's and possibly several times a week seem like a really good investment... ... now!

On a side topic, Im sure those who are fortunate enough to use medium format digital have some extremely seriously large backup systems.

Danielle, if it is a Mac disk before you completely give up hope, consider a trip to the Genius Bar at an Apple Store (if you have one in your area). I lost a disk and they spent 8 hours with me helping me recover. I got almost all my files recovered.

Note I did have a Time Machine, but for some reason it had stopped doing automatic backups about a month before the failure, naturally...

Also, in case you ever find yourself in a serious bind, there are services that can recover data from badly damaged or corrupted hard drives. They aren't cheap, and they aren't very fast, but they are effective. (I had to use this service once, and was glad I did.)

The other day, Time Machine on my system stopped, and it turns out that it has run out of space on my backup disk. Haven't had a chance to figure out how I'd like to proceed. Other than that, by far, Time Machine is the best backup tool I've encountered on any computer, and I've dealt with lots of them.
<knock on wood> Fortunately, I've never needed to see how TM does at restore though.

As for the OP , if the drive didn't have a hardware failure, then some recovery is likely possible. I've had a few drives over the years that failed, but would function for some period of time after being powered off for a while. In my experience, a catastrophic drive failure is not common, FWIW.

I'm glad you had a backup. Hard drives will die.

WRT time machines, if you have them backing up large files they will fill up quickly. I had this issue while scanning images to my wife's iMac. If you set up the time machine to delete old files when it runs out of space it will, but it does it very inefficiently. Instead of looking at the source drive and determining how many files to delete it appears that it deletes only the files needed to copy the current file over. What was happening on my wifes machine was that it took so long to delete and copy that time machine never finished a backup cycle prior to starting the next.

I use a small external hdd for a time machine and for images and work data I use a NAS that also has an external backup. The NAS is a computer that has a raid array that is both redundant (mirrored) and fast (striped). Essentially the back up (1 copy) and the Raid (2 copies) gives me triple redundancy. A NAS can be an old repurposed computer or a dedicated device. The cost of the repurposed computer w/ HDDs, OS and configuration can get costly and time consuming or if you have the hardware and OS already it can be just time consuming to setup. A dedicated device will cost 400.00 and up depending upon how large and fast.

Eventually I'll be replacing the NAS with a thunderbolt drive array similar this thunderbolt pegasus, but first the price has to come down.

Hi Danielle,

How did the recovery go? I do realize this is an old thread but I may be of assistance to you if it has not moved forward. By profession I am a computer forensic examiner and as luck would have it, about 20% of the drives we receive for examination are faulty. So with training, lots of practice, and then actual recoveries I am looking at the possibility of opening a small business that offers hard disk drive recoveries.

If you are interested please drop me line. I havent quite figured out where to advertise or how so...still a work in progress.

Take care

Erick

I had a hard drive go and Windows refused to be able to access anything from it. Yet the computer could load Windows from the hard drive with no problem. I tried Linux - and the hard drive worked (and still works three years later) fine.

If you lose all hope....

Dead Link Removed has an AMAZING track record recovering hard drives for professional and enthusiast photographers the world over. I can offer you a referral discount (I'm a PPA member and it discounts my services from them) if you choose to go this direction...