Q. Apparently my Firewire drive disconnected and now it prompts me to reformat. Data recovery service wants a minimum of $250. A friend says that buying a new disk enclosure may solve the issue. What to do?
A. If your drive has a removeable disc drive (ie it's an enclosure with a removeable SATA or PATA disc inside), then it is possible that buying a new enclosure may help.
Otherwise, there may be a software issue (although unlikely if it prompts you to reformat the disc) - try reinstalling the driver.
The only other alternative is to use a data recovery service, but shop around - they aren't all the same price (that is pretty high). Also , try haggling - People will try to rip you off because they know that you need the data - IT COSTS THESE SERVICES VIRTUALLY NOTHING, THEY WILL CHARGE SUCH A HIGH PRICE BECAUSE THEY KNOW THAT YOU ARE DESPERATE AND HAVE NO ALTERNATIVE.
Otherwise, there may be a software issue (although unlikely if it prompts you to reformat the disc) - try reinstalling the driver.
The only other alternative is to use a data recovery service, but shop around - they aren't all the same price (that is pretty high). Also , try haggling - People will try to rip you off because they know that you need the data - IT COSTS THESE SERVICES VIRTUALLY NOTHING, THEY WILL CHARGE SUCH A HIGH PRICE BECAUSE THEY KNOW THAT YOU ARE DESPERATE AND HAVE NO ALTERNATIVE.
How to retrieve data from a floppy disc that apparently was not formatted originally?
Q. Hello,
I am using my external USB 3 1/2 floppy drive to open and copy data from my old floppy disks to CD's and thumb drives. I am able to open and read all of the floppy discs just fine, except for one. I know there is data on it, but it apparently wasn't formatted originally. When I try it on my Windows 7 laptop and try to open drive A, I get the message "You need to format the disk in drive A: before you can use it". When I try it on my Windows XP pc, I get "The disk in drive A is not formatted".
Problem: I need the data that is on this disc. I can't copy the disc without opening it first. I can't open the disc without it being formatted. I can't format the disc without losing the data that is on it, which I need.
Any solutions?
Thank you
I am using my external USB 3 1/2 floppy drive to open and copy data from my old floppy disks to CD's and thumb drives. I am able to open and read all of the floppy discs just fine, except for one. I know there is data on it, but it apparently wasn't formatted originally. When I try it on my Windows 7 laptop and try to open drive A, I get the message "You need to format the disk in drive A: before you can use it". When I try it on my Windows XP pc, I get "The disk in drive A is not formatted".
Problem: I need the data that is on this disc. I can't copy the disc without opening it first. I can't open the disc without it being formatted. I can't format the disc without losing the data that is on it, which I need.
Any solutions?
Thank you
A. Either you are mistaken or something is wrong with the disk. A data recovery service can help but it's going to cost you. You could also try data recovery software like R-Studio, which will read the bits off the disk and attempt to reconstruct the data. Forensics software like ProDiscover basic operates in much the same way. Both will even find deleted files from a disk that has been reformatted.
How many times can you safely reformat a computer hard drive?
Q. Does it harm you PC to reformat your hard drive and how many times can this be done, what does it actually do?
A. Short answer: As long as the hard drive itself is "alive" you can continue to reformat to your heart's content.
If the drive starts to mechanically fail (end of its life), then of course your re-formatting days are over (at least until you replace the drive).
You may mean whether the formatting itself will somehow shorten the life.
Depending on how you look at it, the answer is maybe.
It going through formatting motions (from a mechanical device standpoint) is no different than the thousands and thousands of read/writes it goes through in a normal day anyway.
I hope I made myself clear.
Say the hard drive has a definite life of exactly 50 million read/write operations.
Whether you are using the drive for normal use or whether you are doing some other thing that causes activity on the drive, it'll quit at 50 million, no matter how it got that many.
*The 50 million read/write operations" example is unrealistic. Hard drive life expectancy is usually rated in hours of use (or MBTF, Mean Time Between Failures).
For example
(Credit to Jane Litte at dearauthor.com)
"An average computer hard drive has an MTBF of 400,000 hours and thus should last at least 45 years.
In reality, though, the life expectancy of a hard drive is three to five years.
In order to preserve your information, you must move your data from your existing hard drive within that 3 to 5 year period else face the risk of losing it or paying for an expensive data recovery service."
If my answer helps you, please vote me Best Answer.
Yours,
Hugh
.
If the drive starts to mechanically fail (end of its life), then of course your re-formatting days are over (at least until you replace the drive).
You may mean whether the formatting itself will somehow shorten the life.
Depending on how you look at it, the answer is maybe.
It going through formatting motions (from a mechanical device standpoint) is no different than the thousands and thousands of read/writes it goes through in a normal day anyway.
I hope I made myself clear.
Say the hard drive has a definite life of exactly 50 million read/write operations.
Whether you are using the drive for normal use or whether you are doing some other thing that causes activity on the drive, it'll quit at 50 million, no matter how it got that many.
*The 50 million read/write operations" example is unrealistic. Hard drive life expectancy is usually rated in hours of use (or MBTF, Mean Time Between Failures).
For example
(Credit to Jane Litte at dearauthor.com)
"An average computer hard drive has an MTBF of 400,000 hours and thus should last at least 45 years.
In reality, though, the life expectancy of a hard drive is three to five years.
In order to preserve your information, you must move your data from your existing hard drive within that 3 to 5 year period else face the risk of losing it or paying for an expensive data recovery service."
If my answer helps you, please vote me Best Answer.
Yours,
Hugh
.
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