06-16-2009, 01:09 PM

hey all, I am fairly new to using a mac, so please be gentle if i dont understand all the lingo.

I have a lacie d2 quadra (1TB) external drive, and that crapped out on me recently. i sent it to drivesavers and they recognized that the data is still there, but for a whopping 2300, they can get it back for me. unfortunately, i cant ever afford that. A friend of mine told me that I need a partition recovery (he looked at the drive by plugging it into a pc) but that I would need to run it through a mac to do so.

here's my question: what is everyone's recommendation as a software to use for PARTITION recovery? I am using a MAC MINI running on MAC OS X 10.4.11


thanks everyone!!!

06-16-2009, 01:22 PM

Hi,

You might get something out from your drive if you try with: DiskWarrior 4

Hope it helps!

06-16-2009, 02:29 PM

A lot depends on what's wrong with the drive. You state that it "crapped" out on you - that's not helpful when asking for advice.

If the drive can be accessed via software, then perhaps something like Disk Warrior will be able to help. Partition recovery software for the most part works the same way - if the drive can be accessed.

If the drive can not be accessed through normal means, then the only choice that remains is professional drive recovery. I suspect the $2300 price that
you were quoted by DriveSavers is because the drive will have to be disassembled and the data recovered from the platters.

Regards.

06-16-2009, 03:15 PM

again, wanted to reiterate that i'm really new to this, so i am sorry that my limited vocabulary is not helpful...

some background - when i plug the drive in, it is recognized when i pull up 'about this mac' but not under disk utility - at all.

a friend told me that theres a possibility that the data is there, but the partition is gone, so we are trying to recover the partition? again, this is what I am told. 2300 dollars is not an option, but before I gave up completely i wanted to at least try all that I can.

thanks all

06-16-2009, 05:49 PM

If Disk Utility can not "see" the drive, chances are that software such as Disk Warrior or Data Rescue II will likewise not be able to "see" it. Since both programs are not inexpensive, it might not be worthwhile to purchase either one.

You didn't mention what file system the external drive was using. If it's NTFS or FAT-32 there are programs that can repair and recover a damaged partition, however, they either have to be run from Windows or a self bootable CD or DVD.

And, again this is assuming the drive is accessible and it's the partition which is damaged. If there is something else wrong with the drive (electronics or mechanical) all bets are off. I fully understand your dilemma with needing the data and not being able to spend a fortune to get it back.

Regards.

06-19-2009, 12:18 PM

when we hooked it on a pc, we went through disk management, and one drive came up but it said it was not initialized and the other just didnt come up

06-19-2009, 01:55 PM

Originally Posted by mac_newbee

when we hooked it on a pc, we went through disk management, and one drive came up but it said it was not initialized and the other just didnt come up

Disk Manager from Windows is generally good about recognizing the accessibility of a drive. If one of the partitions was not recognized by DM and the other needs to be "initialized" (formatted) that could indicate partition table problems or a defective drive.

If you have access to a PC, it's better to try to repair the drive (if possible) from the PC rather than using Mac recovery software. Go to this website and download a copy of "Bootit Next Generation". Burn the image to a CD (it will be bootable) and run the program from your PC (attach the LaCie first).

Read the instructions for the program carefully (good help file on the web
site). It's not designed for a novice but it works. Anyway, the program can repair and recover a damaged partition. No guaranty it will work, but it won't cost you anything to try.

An alternative to using the above program is commercial partition recovery and rebuilding software. Take a look here. Not inexpensive but it might be something that you prefer. Good luck with the recovery.

Regards.