Options to recover data from corrupted OS hard drive

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ahammadhu

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Jun 2, 2013
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My OS hard drive recently failed and it failed to boot. I have installed windows 8.1 on a new drive. Then in my attempt to recover the data from my old hard drive, I hooked it up to an empty sata port, tried to boot Windows but couldn't. It didn't go past new windows boot screen. Then I tried to boot from a Ubuntu LiveCD but that too didn't boot when I had the old hard drive connected. Please suggest me ways hows to proceed.
 
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ahammadhu

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Jun 2, 2013
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Would it be fine to connect SATA cable when the PC has already booted? I mean is there any chance to lose all data permanently. Also I want to point that before installing Windows 8.1 on the new drive, I ran Ubuntu LiveCD and could view the old hard drive. Now I am unable to boot from the LiveCD as well.

 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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Mar 16, 2013
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Hot connecting a SATA drive cable? Unknown. I would not try it with a drive with the only copy of critical data.

So the machine boots and runs with Win8.1? Again, I suggest a USB device.
 
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mbreslin1954

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Nov 27, 2010
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If the motherboard disk access mode is set to AHCI then hot connecting a SATA drive should not be a problem. But I agree, I still would not try it with the only copy of important data. Get a USB hard drive docking station or interface device. Much safer.
 
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ahammadhu

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Jun 2, 2013
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Yes the machine runs and boots on Windows 8.1 Pro 64 bit. I am cautious of any step I'd take as there is a chance of losing the data. I have tried to boot from a USB device too, but to no avail.

 
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ahammadhu

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Jun 2, 2013
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As its a 3.5" desktop drive, I am having a hard time finding a compatible dock or external device. I have tried this earlier on many hard drives. Maybe this is an issue with Windows 8.1 as I have successfully done this with from Vista and W7.

 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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I don't know where you are looking, but there are literally hundreds of suitable USB docks and cables.
I have one of these, for exactly this purpose:
http://www.amazon.com/Vantec-CB-ISATAU2-Supports-2-5-Inch-5-25-Inch/dp/B000J01I1G
 
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ahammadhu

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Jun 2, 2013
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Thank you. I have been able to install Windows 8.1 and Ubuntu on my new hard drive and also get to read the old corrupted drive. However, the drive is in RAW format and hence even chkdsk has failed to check the drive for errors and Ubuntu has failed to mount the drive. Would connecting it as usb make it readable.
 
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ahammadhu

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Jun 2, 2013
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I have connected the hard drive via SATA to USB adapter. However windows starts to read it and disconnects the drive. Even disk management fails to detect the drive. I connected it to my Mac mini OS X Mavericks the drive is read at first and when I try to copy the files to my local drive, an error pops up and the drive is automatically unmounted. Any ideas on how to proceed?
 
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