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*EMERGENCY* Dying, but not dead hard drive!.. What is the best recovery software?

aaron321

aaron321

macrumors member
Original poster
May 22, 2014
72
4
Providence
I desperately need help with an attempt to get all files copied over from a 8Tb dying hard drive. I do not know how long I have. I do know it's important to describe the drive's current status, so I will do so here:

1) Drive was starting to slow down during a copying process, now copying a single 93Gb folder to the functioning drive takes days instead of minutes, and it will more than likely take a total of 3-5 days, with the original estimate at 2-3 weeks.

2) All sources are telling me to stop copying ASAP, and I will.

3) I own SuperDuper, but am hoping there is even better software for a failing hard drive

4) The hard drive icon first showed signs of an issue only a few days ago, when it randomly disappeared from my desktop and then reappeared later. Currently, it has mysteriously reappeared. It is also visible in Disk Utility, but was not visible for the last few days.

5) So far, all advice has been about Linux or PC data recovery software. I'm posting in this forum hoping for some more Mac helpful advice!
 
So this was a external HDD that was always running, rather then a backup HDD that you keep off mostly? I would have checked the HDD first with Disk Utility and ran First Aid. If it showed damage I would have manually tried to copy the hierarchy in parts to see what is salvageable. A 96GB folder from a typical USB-A HDD would be about 15 mins to copy normally if large files.
 
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Realityck said:
So this was a external HDD that was always running, rather then a back HDD that you keep off mostly? I would have checked the HDD first with Disk Utility and ran First Aid. If it showed damage I would have manually tried to copy the hierarchy in parts to see what is salvageable. A 96GB folder from a typical USB-A would be about 15 mins normally.
Click to expand...
You are completely misunderstanding my post. The drive is failing as we speak and this is an emergency. I need quick solutions to save the data while it is still working. The only reason I decided to post in this forum? Every time I ask for help elsewhere, I get PC and Linux advice!!
 
aaron321 said:
You are completely misunderstanding my post. The drive is failing as we speak and this is an emergency. I need quick solutions to save the data while it is still working. The only reason I decided to post in this forum? Every time I ask for help elsewhere, I get PC and Linux advice!!
Click to expand...
You could just leave the Mac running with the drive going bad , buy another external drive and then try to use superduper backup to copy the contents you select from that going bad drive to another external drive. As you said if it mounts and shows on desktop its worthwhile seeing what you can save before it dies.

Usually when a drive is going south you try to rescue what hierarchy your able to copy from manually instead of automatically. If its a slow copy, you can cancel and go onward thru another part of disk hierarchy to see if that copies normally.

You're the only party that knows what contents are paramount to being saved. We also don't know the nature of HDD's failure whether its got tracks that are mechanically damaged or its the controller that is going bad. Drive rescue is very expensive, done in a clean room with the customer needing to buy a drive to extract data to, you also might not even have the files rescued in any hierarchy depending on failure type.

I am not familiar with anything specifically Mac that is for rescuing HDD's going bad.
 
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Best thing to do is install a new drive and recover the data from your most recent backups.

Far easier than messing around trying to copy old files when there are recent backups.
 
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aaron321 said:
You are completely misunderstanding my post. The drive is failing as we speak and this is an emergency. I need quick solutions to save the data while it is still working. The only reason I decided to post in this forum? Every time I ask for help elsewhere, I get PC and Linux advice!!
Click to expand...
You have completely failed to describe the situation.

The question asked was very reasonable and helps define potential solutions.

  • Is this a system drive or a backup drive?
  • Do you have existing backups?
  • Is this 93GB folder full of very small files or large news (smaller files take much longer to copy).
  • What actual errors are you getting (a "triangle" doesn't help).
We get you're probably concerned over this, but attacking people who are genuinely trying to help will not get you the answers you need.
 
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BrianBaughn said:
There isn't anyone here who knows how to copy files from a failing HD faster than the drive is allowing!

I've never tried SuperDuper but I know that Carbon Copy Cloner will at least generate a report that reveals file corruption problems and show errors that occurred during the process.
Click to expand...
Actually there are means and methods that can be faster than regular file copies - for example block level copies.

However the OP hasn't given us much of anything to go on here.
 
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What file system is used? HFS+? APFS? FAT32? EXFAT? NTFS? Linux only file system? Determining what file system is in use helps to determine which path to take with trying to recover/copy the files from the drive like whether to manually copy the contents or create a clone or disk image...

I am not familiar with macOS specific software but have you tried creating a disk image and save it to your computer? That way, you don't have to keep the drive connected since you can just copy files from the disk image...

You would only need a recovery software if the drive shows empty when you connect it to the computer or there are files deleted by mistake or the drive got infected by malware which lead to having some files hidden although a recovery software may not be of any help when the contents get encrypted by ransomware...

In cases like this, it is usually best to have the drive running in a minimalist environment like bootable USB flash drive [live Windows or live Linux] to try to manually copy the data or clone the drive or create a disk image while the drive can still be read by the system...
 
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the best
1. copy first the important file and small
2. dont select all paste all style . slower the copy.
3. if ntfs windows you check via sfc and if macos better using first aid .

** only use fsck with pro , dont do yourself . mistake happen!
 
Since the OP doesn't address simply restoring the data from backup, presumably this important data has no backups?
 
I'd get another drive (large enough to hold the contents of the problem drive).

I'd then use either SuperDuper or CarbonCopyCloner to "dupe" the contents from the problem drive to the good one. May or may not work, but you must try.

Data Rescue is a good utility for data recovery, but it's not going to work on a drive that has suffered a HARDWARE failure. The only way to get data from a hardware-failed drive may be to send it to a data-recovery outfit. BUT... this is going to cost you THOUSANDS of dollars.
Is the data REALLY worth that much to you?

The problem drive (questions):
Is it an external drive?
If so, who was the manufacturer?
Is the drive enclosure "open-able"?
If so, could it be opened, the drive itself taken out, and tried in another enclosure or perhaps in a USB3/SATA docking station?
 
killawat said:
The drive taking longer and longer to copy from could be indicative of a physical failure of some sort. If its still chewing on the same portion after a day its likely that the data in that section is beyond repair. You need to use a separate machine for this and/or a virtual machine will work fine. macOS by default has a bunch of protections that need to be disabled before disk imaging tools can get to it.
Tools: Equally sized hard drive to copy to that you can reformat to exfat. USB or CD drive
1. Download r-disk studio emergency edition. it will clone your drive for free.
2. right click on the disk (which should match up in size) and select create image
3. image type: byte to byte image to your new external drive. R-studio will only attempt to read 1 sector and then move to the next if it can't. this is crucial to salvaging what's left.
4. back in macOS, mount the newly imaged drive and rename the image to .dmg
5. double click and mount in macOS.
Click to expand...
This is what I need to do today. If you have ANY other information pertaining to this, PLEASE send it my way.
 
aaron321 said:
You are completely misunderstanding my post. The drive is failing as we speak and this is an emergency. I need quick solutions to save the data while it is still working. The only reason I decided to post in this forum? Every time I ask for help elsewhere, I get PC and Linux advice!!
Click to expand...
Take it to a professional data recovery service now.
 
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MarkC426 said:
If this is your backup, then this is a duplicate of your system, why do you need to copy it...?
Get a new drive and create a new backup of your system.

By definition your system drives will be more up to date than the backup.....?
Click to expand...
I'm guessing it is an backup archive, not a mirror, and therefore has a lot more data on it.
 
winxmac said:
What file system is used? HFS+? APFS? FAT32? EXFAT? NTFS? Linux only file system? Determining what file system is in use helps to determine which path to take with trying to recover/copy the files from the drive like whether to manually copy the contents or create a clone or disk image...

I am not familiar with macOS specific software but have you tried creating a disk image and save it to your computer? That way, you don't have to keep the drive connected since you can just copy files from the disk image...

You would only need a recovery software if the drive shows empty when you connect it to the computer or there are files deleted by mistake or the drive got infected by malware which lead to having some files hidden although a recovery software may not be of any help when the contents get encrypted by ransomware...

In cases like this, it is usually best to have the drive running in a minimalist environment like bootable USB flash drive [live Windows or live Linux] to try to manually copy the data or clone the drive or create a disk image while the drive can still be read by the system...
Click to expand...
This is exactly what I need to do ASAP. I have tried reseaching this stuff and it will take me too long to understand how to do it the right way, so I will probably have someone come to my house if they actually know how to do this. Mac OS Extended (Journaled) is what the format is called. It's an externel 8TB drive (WD My Book 25EE) USB connection.
 
The copy speed is so slow that it's almost imperceptible. That is why I am hoping there is a way still copy the files before the drive actually disappears from view/ becomes inaccessible.
 
After you get the current emergency resolved or save as much data as possible, the next step will be to evaluate backup solutions with redundancy. Good luck.
 
aaron321 said:
This is exactly what I need to do ASAP. I have tried reseaching this stuff and it will take me too long to understand how to do it the right way, so I will probably have someone come to my house if they actually know how to do this. Mac OS Extended (Journaled) is what the format is called. It's an externel 8TB drive (WD My Book 25EE) USB connection.
Click to expand...
Is the OS before Catalina? Most systems are using APFS formatting now. Also when you do get past this, and you have another external backup HDD, don't have it powered all the time, just when you intend to use it. To avoid HDD deterioration or issues.
 
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