Quote:
Originally Posted by MonicaOP
I don't know how to deal with this.
2 weeks ago one of my pc discs crashed, the one where I had my calibre library and also my collection of fanfics from the past 20 years or so.
I'm trying to see if I can recover some of the information on the disc, is going to be really, really costly but I just... so many years, so many books, stories, fandoms, I just don't know what to do.
Be well, Monica
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Backups are the obvious answer, but that doesn't help if you don't have any.
For recovering the disk, a lot depends on how the disk has crashed, and whether it's an internal or external disk.
If it's not a physical problem, but some bad data written to the disk meaning it won't mount properly, commercial data recovery software should be able to help. In this instance the FIRST thing to do is to get another disk of the same size, and make a bit-for-bit copy of the old disk onto the new disk, and work on the new disk with recovery software. For extra safety, two disks, and make one copy onto one disk, and then copy from that to the other new disk to try out the recovery software.
If the fault is a physical failure, is the fault in the disk itself, the electronics on the disc, or (if external) in the external controller or power supply?
If in the disk itself - that is, the electronics respond, but won't read any data, then you have no option but a specialist recovery firm that has a clean room.
If it's an external disk, the solution might be as simple as switching the disk to a new enclosure.
It's its the electronics on the disk itself, you *MIGHT* be able to fix it by buying another of the EXACT SAME MODEL, include as closely as possible, the same manufacture date, and swapping the electronics. The difficult bit is finding a 'donor' disk. Actually swapping over the PCBs is simple. (I have done this ONCE, many years ago.)