jaclaz

An image (as I conceive it) is a "forensic sound" image of the WHOLE disk (not only C: drive). Though if an actual BIOS virus, something like the ol' Chernobyl virus: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIH_(computer_virus) strikes the PC won't boot and you will need some more advanced recovery options, usually BIOS files can be found or however taking a backup of the BIOS is not an issue at all. jaclaz

Yes , I have looked and No , there are not, hence I suggested you to ask the vendor as - from the schematics - it seems to me like that converter works ONLY at 5v TTL levels (which is what I am trying to tell you since my very first reply). Don't ask me, ask the vendor, or get another SURELY 3.3V TTL level converter or get an oscilloscope and test the converter you have. You have now all the info you need to make sure the converter is of the right kind or it is not (it is not IMHO) and you were told what a suitable procedure to make sure which kind is it (ask the people you bought it from). jaclaz

The "theoretical" (the one noone actually follows) backup routine is the following: daily (which doesn't mean "once in a while" or "when I remember doing it", it means daily) connect one of two identical external drives to a machine and back up data on it, then disconnect the external device and put it in a safe place (the next day use the "other" external drive).If (like many people that actually do backup) you are using a NAS or however network attached storage or however you keep the "backup disk" connected to the machine you are as exposed to that kind of ransomware as if you had NO backup strategy at all. Making - say - once a month an actual image of the machine disk (capable of bare metal recovery) is a plus, but the OS and all apps can be reinstalled, the important part is just the data. jaclaz

I am losing you. You have BOTH a SSD and a hard disk in the same laptop or are you exchanging them (still on the same laptop)? I thought you were re-using the HD on another machine after having upgraded the laptop to the SSD. In any case, running the manufacturer's tests is the next step. jaclaz

No. You are still confusing the POWER levels (Vcc) with TTL levels. Mind you, I am not saying I am right (though I am right ), you asked for help and you were told what is in my opinion the things to do: verify with the manufacturer that the converter uses 3.3v TTL levels (as it seems NOT like that converter operates at 3.3v TTL levels)The fact that it works when powered at 5 V BUT DOES NOT WORK when powered at 3 V indirectly confirms this. You are of course perfectly free to ignore this advice. jaclaz

It sounds more like a cable issue. I would change the cable, verify connectors, then check the SMART data. Though those data are COMPLETELY UNRELIABLE - in the sense that a failing hard disk may have all it's SMART data "perfect" one split second before dying - IF the counters show issues, THEN there are issues. Also use the manufacturer tests to verify the condition of the disk drive. jaclaz

Then, you won't likely find "professional" help on a Forum which members are mostly "amateurs", and which is not dedicated specifically to data recovery, you might have better luck in a specialized forum often frequented by the pro's, like (example): http://forum.hddguru.com/ jaclaz

Sure, no toon can resist .... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096438/quotes?item=qt0406091 jaclaz

@ChrisR OT and JFYI, this might interest you (Win7PESE, actually WinFE related): http://reboot.pro/topic/19409-thesis-on-winfe-shared-by-alex-van-ginkel/ jaclaz

Nice. jaclaz

Good, now we have seemingly the confirmation that that stupid program needs to be launched once having changed dir to it's directory (which means that some of the needed files to execute it are in that directory). So, change the test.cmd to: @ECHO OFFSETLOCAL ENABLEEXTENSIONSCD /D %~dp0sccui.exeand it should work. If it does, try using in startnet: START "Mycmd" /D "%systemroot%\System32\bin" /W "%systemroot%\System32\bin\sccui.exe" jaclaz

Good. Now remove from test.cmd the "CD .." line. @ECHO OFFSETLOCAL ENABLEEXTENSIONSECHO Test.cmdECHO %~dp0ECHO Changing directory ...CD /D %~dp0ECHO Now executing %~dp0sccui.exePAUSEsccui.exeAnd now what happens if you press the CTRL+C and what happens if instead you do "press the any key"?jaclaz

It is seemingly the "wrong" type of converter. Compare with: http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/128807-the-solution-for-seagate-720011-hdds/page-163#entry988633 http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/128807-the-solution-for-seagate-720011-hdds/page-108#entry915966 Particularly check this (also linked in the read-me-first): http://www.interfacebus.com/voltage_threshold.html The seagate disk - for all we know - uses TTL, i.e. it understands anything between 2.0 and 3.3 V as a "high" and anything between 0.35V and 0.8 V as a "low" (and emiits the same signal levels), if your converter, as I believe uses instead TTL/CMOS levels, the "highs" can be higher that 3.3V and the disk will NOT understand them (the lows should not be a problem). If you bought it, ask the vendor about which EXACT TTL levels (NOT the Vcc voltage at which it can be powered and from which a device can be powered) the converter uses, since this: http://www.mikroe.com/downloads/get/1509/max3232_manual_v100.pdf seems like a "simple" circuit I believe that it is NOT a "variable" one (but it could be ). HOW EXACTLY are you powering that converter? jaclaz P.S.: Maybe you can get away with a 2.2 kOhm resistor: http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/128807-the-solution-for-seagate-720011-hdds/page-141#entry956029

There has been a misunderstanding actually more than one, and possibly a couple of mistakes in the posted batch. Let's start from scratch, OK Check that the test.cmd is in the directory X:\windows\system32\bin\ i.e. %systemroot%\system32\bin\ and that it has these contents: @ECHO OFFSETLOCAL ENABLEEXTENSIONSECHO Test.cmdECHO %~dp0ECHO Changing directory ...CD /D %~dp0CD ..ECHO Now executing %~dp0sccui.exePAUSEsccui.exeWhen you are prompted to "Press any key", press CTRL+C instead to stop the batch. Are you having a console with prompt: X:\windows\system32\bin>Yes or No? IF you have it as above, and type in it: sccui.exeand press [ENTER] what happens? jaclaz

Breaking the Law is illegal. Breaching a contract may be illegal ONCE (and IF) a Court has ruled that the contract breach happened AND it was illegal (i.e. it is breaking the Law) and that the contract is legal. It is NOT the same thing. jaclaz

Well, no. Meaning that you posted about having a converter (it is not a controller) based on MAX232 and capable of doing BOTH the "low" and the "high" TTL levels. (historically 90% - say - of converters based on a MAX232 are ONLY "high" level TTL) IF - for any reason - that converter works at the "high" TTL level, a loopback test will work alright, BUT it won't be EVER capable of "talking" to the disk. You have to make SURE that your converter is actually designed to work at the "low" TTL levels AND that is working at those levels. Please check again the Read-me-first: http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/143880-seagate-barracuda-720011-read-me-first/ particularly point #6 And/or post a link to the specifications of the actual converter you are using or schematics (if autobuilt). jaclaz

Yep, but it makes no sense that from a "same" command prompt the stupid thingy works AFTER the first time (when the error presents itself and you press Ok to it and you run the command again) . At least this is the behaviour I understood from the tests performed @ jbrush115 Usually giving up is NOT an option. Maybe we could call this a "time-out" waiting if some other member has an idea for further tests/approaches.... jaclaz

Well, actually it is not respecting the PCI standards, being "illegal" is different. These clowns here: https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/ https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/security_standards/role_of_pci_council.php just as any self-appointed, self-generated assembly of clowns calling themselves an "industry standard" remain mainly worth-nothing/do-nothing people that pontificate about theories, are of not any practical use if not to provide a valid justification for the big Credit/Debit Card circuits (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, etc.) continuing to do whatever they see fit and keep their dominance on market and market shares. Whether a country or state Law - separately and independently form the above - do coincidentally prohibit that storing, it is another thing. jaclaz

Sure, Seatools for DOS: http://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/item/seatools-dos-master/ they come as a bootable .iso. jaclaz

The ONLY things that should be done after an unbricking are: image the disk/save the data (if needed) run the Seagate tests, BOTH the short and the long oneif any of the two tests fail, throw the stupid disk in the dustbin. jaclaz

Try describing your issue in more detail, as is it is not understandable (by me at least). jaclaz

No guide . You can try tracing the SATA channel back from the chip pins (READ the given thread), but you will have to see how encryption (if any) works. Basically you are in a Catch22 situation, if you have to ask (and ask here on MSFN) you won't be able to do it. @bphlpt That family of WD drives have on the PCB a SATA to USB bridge, there is NO SATA connectors exposed (if you prefer the external case is just an external case with NO SATA to USB bridge, and the stupidly tiny USB connector of the cable coming from the computer is inserted directly to the disk drive PCB). jaclaz

That would really be cruel (after all the good guys from NSA that will listen to it are good chaps) . About the botched Surface 2 update, traditionally MS excuse (about botched updates for conventional PC's) was "there are so many different possible combinations of hardware that notwithstanding our extensive testing it is still possible that this update is conflicting with some other installed software on a minimal amount of PC's" Proof we are not alone: http://www.pcdoctor-community.com/blog/posts/2013/10/22/9-Things-Microsoft-Could-Do-To-Fix-Windows-8.1/ jaclaz

Is in any way the command prompt you get when pressing CTRL+C to stop the batch different from the one that you get after the error? jaclaz

Strange. I mean if it is "too early", it shouldn't work from the command line after the error. Try again with: @ECHO OFFSETLOCAL ENABLEEXTENSIONSECHO Test.cmdECHO %~dp0ECHO Changing directory ...CD /D %~dp0CD ..ECHO Now executing %~dp0sccui.exePAUSEbin\sccui.exeTry with the above.Once "normally" i.e. pressing "any key" to end the pause, and once pressing CTRL+C to stop the batch and issuing to that command prompt manually the bin\sccui.exe. Result should be the same (cannot say if working or not working). jaclaz