Dead Disk Pain

pdurrant · 03-16-2009, 04:33 PM

The one certain thing about a hard disk is that it will die. I often tell people this when discussing backups.

And yet it still comes as a surprise when it happens. On Saturday morning the 250GB hard disk in my MacBook died. Very dead. Examination shows no visible damage, and the electronics seem to be OK. But there's a nasty clicking sound when trying to access the data, and no data is to be found.

Luckily I have an automatic backup to DLT Tapes.

But I'd forgotten how long and painful the restore process was. I'm just about all done now, after two days of copying and restoring.

Note to self: Add in a Time Machine backup drive to my system. It's a lot quicker and simpler to restore the current system from a Time Machine backup. The Tapes are excellent for recovering small batches of files that have been deleted or corrupted (& for moving offsite), but are no substitute for a current copy of the hard disk on another hard disk.

If I'd had a current Time Machine backup, I'd have been fully recovered on Friday evening, instead of Monday evening!

DixieGal · 03-16-2009, 04:49 PM

The thought just makes me cringe! Good luck!

Sweetpea · 03-17-2009, 04:42 AM

Ohh, we had that happen to us a few months back!

Luckily, our HD died slowly. So, we were able to make a backup from it (using Ghost) to the new HD. I only miss a few files (due to bad blocks) and they are somewhere on a DVD (which I can't find btw...)

HarryT · 03-17-2009, 04:51 AM

Yes - a good backup strategy is essential. You realise that after your first HD crash. Some years ago I had a "grinding metal" HD crash on a Dell laptop, and lost loads of stuff. Never again!

smurphy · 03-17-2009, 05:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

If I'd had a current Time Machine backup, I'd have been fully recovered on Friday evening, instead of Monday evening!

Yo mate ...

yes - that is one thing you always want to avoid.
As I don't use only 1 OS - I had to setup someting which is working through all OS's I use (Linux, XP and Mac OS-X).

I do allr estore Operations from the Linux Side, and it usually doesn't take more than 30minutes

Command Line Rules !

RWood · 03-17-2009, 06:34 PM

I am still restoring (er, make that rebuilding) my wife's system. The HD just shut down. When I asked for the last backup she handed me the disks from 2005. And she wonders why last month's email is missing....

desertgrandma · 03-17-2009, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RWood

I am still restoring (er, make that rebuilding) my wife's system. The HD just shut down. When I asked for the last backup she handed me the disks from 2005. And she wonders why last month's email is missing....

Um. Um. Ummm..........I'd still be looking at you blankly.......

Sweetpea · 03-18-2009, 08:15 AM

I don't think we've made any recent backups...

Maybe we should buy a Terabyte HD for backup... But that thing can die too so we'd have to buy another one, that can also die, etc...

pdurrant · 03-18-2009, 08:39 AM

If your backup disk dies, you just get a new backup disk. No problem.

Only if both main disk and backup disk die at the same time do you have problems. Which is why you have off-site backups....

Hmm... I'd better get my off-site backups in order too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

I don't think we've made any recent backups...

Maybe we should buy a Terabyte HD for backup... But that thing can die too so we'd have to buy another one, that can also die, etc...

RWood · 03-19-2009, 09:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Um. Um. Ummm..........I'd still be looking at you blankly.......

Do you want me to explain how a disk made in 2005 does not have items on it from last month or are you wondering why I even mentioned it?

Picked up a pocket backup unit for her system from SimpleTech -- it has a great backup program included -- and I will be doing the backups now once a week.

The business data is on mirrored RAID in addition to DVDs and an off-site backup. The sound system has its own backup scheme as does the email.

03-16-2009, 04:33 PM	#1
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 73,941 Karma: 315160596 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Oasis	Dead Disk Pain The one certain thing about a hard disk is that it will die. I often tell people this when discussing backups. And yet it still comes as a surprise when it happens. On Saturday morning the 250GB hard disk in my MacBook died. Very dead. Examination shows no visible damage, and the electronics seem to be OK. But there's a nasty clicking sound when trying to access the data, and no data is to be found. Luckily I have an automatic backup to DLT Tapes. But I'd forgotten how long and painful the restore process was. I'm just about all done now, after two days of copying and restoring. Note to self: Add in a Time Machine backup drive to my system. It's a lot quicker and simpler to restore the current system from a Time Machine backup. The Tapes are excellent for recovering small batches of files that have been deleted or corrupted (& for moving offsite), but are no substitute for a current copy of the hard disk on another hard disk. If I'd had a current Time Machine backup, I'd have been fully recovered on Friday evening, instead of Monday evening!

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03-16-2009, 04:49 PM	#2
DixieGal Hi There! Posts: 7,473 Karma: 2930523 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Ft Lauderdale Device: iPad	The thought just makes me cringe! Good luck!

03-17-2009, 04:42 AM	#3
Sweetpea Grand Sorcerer Posts: 9,707 Karma: 32763414 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Krewerd Device: Pocketbook Inkpad 4 Color; Samsung Galaxy Tab S6	Ohh, we had that happen to us a few months back! Luckily, our HD died slowly. So, we were able to make a backup from it (using Ghost) to the new HD. I only miss a few files (due to bad blocks) and they are somewhere on a DVD (which I can't find btw...)

03-17-2009, 04:51 AM	#4
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Yes - a good backup strategy is essential. You realise that after your first HD crash. Some years ago I had a "grinding metal" HD crash on a Dell laptop, and lost loads of stuff. Never again!

03-17-2009, 06:34 PM	#6
RWood Technogeezer Posts: 7,233 Karma: 1601464 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Virginia, USA Device: Sony PRS-500	I am still restoring (er, make that rebuilding) my wife's system. The HD just shut down. When I asked for the last backup she handed me the disks from 2005. And she wonders why last month's email is missing....

03-18-2009, 08:15 AM	#8
Sweetpea Grand Sorcerer Posts: 9,707 Karma: 32763414 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Krewerd Device: Pocketbook Inkpad 4 Color; Samsung Galaxy Tab S6	I don't think we've made any recent backups... Maybe we should buy a Terabyte HD for backup... But that thing can die too so we'd have to buy another one, that can also die, etc...

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