JBOD & motherboard upgrade

[pilotbob]

I want to change my m/b and proccessor for a faster device. I currently have 2 160gb SATA drives connected as a JBOD setup and showing on the system (XP Pro) as a single 320Gb drive. At the moment the total used space amounts to about 100Gb. can I assume all of this will be on Drive 0 and that Drive 1 will be empty. I guess I will have to defrag the drive first. If so I could simply set up the new system with the second (empty) hard drive as the new primary drive then after installing the OS, connect the original first drive and extract the data. Does that make sence????

Many thanks,

 

Bob.

[pilotbob]

Recovering files from Raid drive

 

I have a 160Gb SATA drive which was removed from an old XP pro system with 2 similar drives set up as a JBOD (320Gb) NTFS single drive. The second drive has failed so I can't set them up as before. I have fitted the first drive into a new system as Drive "E" The new system recognises the drive but will not allow me acccess to the files, presumably because it want's to see the second rive too. It simply reports the drive is not formatted. Any ideas how I can recover the files on the drive, I don't need the operating system files, just the data stored on it.

System is a Phenom 9950 Quad core, XP pro x64, 2 x 160Gb Sata drives. 4Gb ram.

I've done a search for data recovery software but am completely bewildered by the choices.

Many thanks for your suggestions.

 

Bob.

[Kaje]

I wouldn't bother setup a raid array (not that JBOD is an actual raid format). I would just instal the drives as Drive0 & Drive1 and have 2 seperate hard drives. If however you do want to use Raid I would run them stripped although the performance gain on newer drives isnt that much of an advantage nowadays. Edited February 28, 2009 by Tootech

[pilotbob]

Thanks for the advise, that's exactly what I planned to do, however I still need to get to the data that's on the old drive. If I format it as an NTFS drive will I be able to use any form of data recovery software to retrieve it?

[BeeCeeBee]

Perhaps I am missing something but unless you need the old drive for your new setup why are you not just holding it aside. You should be able to use a caddy and attach it through a usb cable and pull the data off at that point.

 

Once that is done safely you can format and install the old drive if you wish.

[RandyL]

I know nothing about RAID or JBOD setups but be advised.

 

If you FORMAT the drive it theoretically wipes it clean. This means you will probably need expensive programs that might or might not recover none or some of the data.

 

Data can be recovered from a formatted drive by experts but this also can be cost prohibitive. I won't comment about price options as this is not my field but it won't be cheap most likely. Think big money.

 

Please do not format until others weigh in as data recovery seems to be your main concern.

[Tootech]

The best way, and its free to check is to run a data recovery program over the disk.

 

As you cannot see the file system on the disk, I doubt any of the free recovery programs will be able to help.

 

If you want to have a look with one, try FreeUndelete, Photrec, or PCFileInspector.

 

FreeUndelete - OfficeRecovery.com

PhotoRec - CGSecurity

CONVAR & PCinspector Data Recovery Datenrettung recupero dati datarecovery récupération données

 

For unreadable partitons try GetDataBack For NTFS

 

GetDataBack - Data Recovery Software

 

You can install it on your main drive, then scan your other drive for partition info and data. That way you will know if it is readable/ retrievable.

[Dalo Harkin]

It all comes down to what you want to use the system for.

Mirrored RAID is for backup/safety

Striped RAID is for speed and faster transfer rates.

and JBOD is what most used as its easy to set up and doesnt effectively lose you any space

[pilotbob]

Perhaps I am missing something but unless you need the old drive for your new setup why are you not just holding it aside. You should be able to use a caddy and attach it through a usb cable and pull the data off at that point.

 

Once that is done safely you can format and install the old drive if you wish.

 

The point is the system will not read from the drive as I guess it's seeing the first half of a JBOD array and simply reports the drive as unformatted.

I will try the software recommended by Tooltech, GetDataBack sounds like the on to go for.

[pilotbob]

Update, GetDataBack has found all the files successfully. I just need to decide if they're worth the $79 to buy the licence. A brilliant piece of software though and would recommend it to anyone needing data recovery. Thanks for the advise.

[Dalo Harkin]

Hmm, finding the missing files is one thing - recovering them is something else