Re: [tlug] Recovery -- The Dead HDD Sequel

[CL <az.4tlug@example.com>]

The dead HDD lived for a bit, then passed away quietly.  During the time 
it was up and running, I got all of my business, work, and job hunting 
files, old Claws Mail folders, Firefox, and T-bird setup files off of 
the Linux side, but due to what can only be described as an early onset 
senior moment failed to also capture and save the WIN XP.vdi image of my 
then-current virtual disk. Of course the only serious loss on the WIN 
side was the layout for my daughter's tenth birthday invitation (I still 
do my best Japanese layout work in WordPerfect 8.0J Office) and the 
artwork and fonts I'd downloaded for the job, but the reaction of the 
Rest Of The Family was regret at the loss, not joy at the recovery. 
Those of you with small children may understand ...

I was copying data off another storage HDD (I keep a stack of 3~4 spare 
HDDs of 320Gb and larger size that have been pulled from machines being 
upgraded and use them to store "STUFF") using  my IDE / SATA-to-USB 
adapter (Century CRAIUS2 2.5" + 3.5" + IDE + SATA adapter; less than Yen 
2,000 and highly recommended -- http://century.co.jp) and decided to 
plug in the Dead HDD just to see what would happen.  It spun up and was 
found by the Device Manager.  So, I immediately grabbed everything I 
remembered that I needed from the /home directory and then it was 01:00 
in the morning, and I went to bed.  When I got up five hours later and 
remembered that I should also grab the .vdi file, the platters were 
spinning but the disk was no longer found.

I am disappointed that I didn't remember to grab absolutely everything 
when I had the chance but believe that being 95+% whole is better than 
being less than 10% whole.  If it's all the same to you all, I think I 
am going to skip the opportunity to pay over Yen 200,000 to recover that 
birthday party invitation layout.  I have placed the Dead HDD in the 
same location and position that it was in previously to see if the magic 
will enter it's case once more but am doubtful of further luck.

So now it's off to Besia Electric-kan in Kamisu to see if they'll 
replace the 2Tb Buffalo USB External that died in less than six months. 
 Fortunately, all it had on it was downloaded torrents.  I got it when 
the previous 2Tb disk died after a month.  The dead one was one of three 
2Tb externals I purchased at the same time and the other two have never 
missed a beat.

--
CL