Restoring Hard Drive with software

Hey all,


Hard drive died the other day and I used a program called GetDataBack to try and recover it. Now, in fairness to the program, it did discover a few files on the drive that i previously had no access to (the problem was that the "master file table is corrupt").

Anyway,

I didn't actually get to restore the files because it only lets you see if it CAN restore them, but then in order for the program to work, you've to splash out €85 or so to get a serial key.



So my question is.. in the event that i paid the money and purchased the software and recovered my files.. is it reasonable to expect that the drive will then live on as normal as though nothing has happened, or will its next death be imminent?


I usually buy two of every HDD i buy so i can keep two copies, so that's obviously more expensive than the software. However, it's also more reliable as you're guaranteed to have a permanent back up of your files (its unlikely they'll both die at the same time, realistically).


Would it be worth my while buying the software and using that from now on, or should i stick to the more expensive, though more reliable, buying more HDDs?



Cheers

Kevster

When I wiped my disk, I splashed out around that much for undelete software (Recover My Files), and it got everything back (and I mean 'everything'). However, this situation is a little different, and I think you should invest in getting the data back, and then invest in a new disk.

CrinkElite

I have used SpinRite to recover data from dead drives, It just works. It ofter restores a dead drive to full working order with your data intact. I now have a 1TB drive which I use for Games and the pagefile, it was origionaly an external drive which was dropped and had stopped functioning. I ripped it out of it's enclosure, ran Spinrite for a few hours and it's been working now for 5 months+.

the software costs $90 from www.grc.com (as far as I'm aware there's a moneyback guarentee)

I can't compare it to other similar software as this is all I've ever needed but I am amazed at it's ability to restore a clicking unresponsive drive that would otherwise have been demoted to a doorstop.

monkeypants

The decision whether to replace a disk or not depends on how much risk you like to take. You've just bought this program and used it and it has recovered some data for you. Do you trust it to have repaired the disk as well?

Snowbat

Give PhotoRec a try before parting with your money. It is free, cross-platform, open source software and very effective by all accounts. It's not just for photos!

It comes bundled with a program called TestDisk
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Download