jaclaz

Yes, but his is still (almost) about the history of what happened. What I want to understand is (I'll ask numbered questions, in order to hopefully receive correspondently numbered answers) what happens NOW (the past is gone ): Do you have to recover data from that disk? (Yes/No) Do you have to recover data from that disk? (Yes/No) Is the disk shown in BIOS of your PC (connected to a SATA port)? (Yes/No) Is the disk shown in BIOS of your "other" PC (connected to a SATA port)? (Yes/No) Is the disk shown in DISK MANAGEMENT (and NOT in EXPLORER or other file manager) on your PC (connected to a SATA port)? (Yes/No) Is the disk shown in DISK MANAGEMENT (and NOT in EXPLORER or other file manager) on your "other" PC (connected to a SATA port)? (Yes/No) You see, if seatools sees it, also BIOS should AND also DISK MANAGEMENT would normally see it (but not necessarily EXPLORER or any other file manager), more technically, one thing is connection of the device, and another one is the mounting of the partitions/filesystems. Connecting it (or any other possibly not fully working disk) through USB while having "auomatically access" to USB drives turned on (or whatever is the setting) is "pure folly". You should disable that behaviour, it should be this one : http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/35622/disable-scan-and-fix-for-removable-drives-in-windows/ jaclaz

The given (now for the third time ) guide is DIFFERENT form what you posted. If you do the SAME things you posted, you will probably have SAME results. Try the DIFFERENT approaches in the given guide: http://www.mapleleafmountain.com/seagatebrick.html More explicitly, it says to try having the power disconnected for 60 (sixty) seconds, and NOT 15 (fifteen) as you posted AND ALSO says that some people had better success NEVER takng power out BUT simply changing level: jaclaz

Sure , and as a matter of fact, being largely a NT4 and 2K user, and having upgraded to XP only in 2008 or 2009, it would be very unlikely that it will happen any soon. You evidently missed the game: From the little tests I made -as said - the OS itself is not at all "bad", but this is completely irrelevant, we are here (besides other reasons) to exchange ideas, knowledge and opinions, ever wondered why places like this are called "discussion boards"? So, I feel free to post - within the limits of the Board Rules, any info, idea, knowledge and opinion I have and like to share, and - usually - I have some fun when doing this. jaclaz

We are still on different wave lengths. You have described what you did (part of which was actually "wrong" or "unjustified/unneeded"), but you seemingly fail to diagnose and describe the current situation of that disk. Sure, if you expect to boot from it as a sign it is working , it is very improbable that it will do that, more often than not the disk is actually "revivied" but needs fixes to be able to read data on it or needs to be re-partitioned/formatted. (again) quick reminder: When connected to a SATA port, is it seen by BIOS? If no <- check contacts, connectors, BSY "fix" if yes, is it see but LBA0? If yes <- LBA0 fix If no <- check it with seatools Does seatools see it? (BTW which version of the tools, the DOS or the Windows one, and if the latter undr which OS?) If yes, run seatools BOTH short and long test (and post actual results). If no, either the drive is definitely dead or you need to try again checking contacts, connectors, cables, etc. If seatools sees it, does Disk Management see it as "Raw"? If yes, the disk is "revived" though "RAW". If no, try it on another PC, if it also cannot be seen on this latter either the drive is definitely dead or you need to try again checking contacts, connectors, cables, etc. jaclaz

Sure , otherways you would have had no connection. Please, try the mentoned guide (that has slighly different procedures and commands) INSTEAD of the set of commands/procedure you reported. http://www.mapleleafmountain.com/seagatebrick.html jaclaz

Try following this guide (the one recommended in read-me-first): http://www.mapleleafmountain.com/seagatebrick.html jaclaz

Well, with all due respect , it's not like someone is holding you at a gun point to force you reading this thread . I actually see very few negative comments on Windows 8 (the actual OS), a lot of them about the NCI , as well many on the doubts about usability/convenience on large screens (touch or not), and much more on the "philosophy" behind it (the Nameless Crap Interface) AND (particularly by me) some additional negative comments to the lie behind the statements of the kind "You talked, we listened". If the good MS guys behind the way Windows 8 GUI and "tiles" (and a few other aspects) have been implemented had simply said: "It's our OS, it's our money we will be making or losing, we don't §@ç#ing care about your ideas, experiences and work" it would be to me (almost) perfectly allright, they would be (as they are anyway) both arrogant and unpolite, but they wouldn't be telling "us" that "we" told them what to do and they did it. jaclaz

Yes it does, and it is fastish , but as you already said, it does it by indexing the files and it does not provide the level of details "required" by OP. Additionally, AFAICR, the "command line" part of it is just a "remote command" for the index (thus, to have "real-time" data, you need to have the GUI running): C:\Everything>es -h -r Search the database using a basic POSIX regular expression. -i Does a case sensitive search. -w Does a whole word search. -p Does a full path search. -h --help Display this help. -n <num> Limit the amount of results shown to <num>. -s Sort by full path. For the record it does exist an "enhanced" version of the es program (rigorously UNtested by me) here: http://forum.voidtools.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=322 https://sites.google.com/site/xixinxing/programs/nothingforeverything jaclaz

IMHO you are making it bigger than it really is : http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/17/3514556/windows-8-vs-windows-rt-surface-confused-microsoft-store-employees It's easy, if you don't build your own software you shouldn't care about it.... For NO apparent reason: http://homepage.ntlworld.com./jonathan.deboynepollard/FGA/legacy-is-not-a-pejorative.html jaclaz

It seems to me like you already did the "major" troubleshooting. What remains "outsude" the tests you already made is the actual OS install (which you didn't specify) and the browser/internet tools that you are using (that you also didn't specify). Since *anything* "hardware" is seemingly OK, check the "software", if I were you I would try downloading (when you are at a friend's house or at an internet Cafè) a "live" Linux distro and try it. If you are going through your dial-up, I presume that the smallest suitable distro can be this one: http://www.browserlinux.com/ or (even smaller) DSL: http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/download.html Testing one of these should be enough to verufy that you have not *somehow* a "botched" install of the OS or however some slowish browser/internet tool. jaclaz

Other candidates (again NOT exactly doing what required): http://home.comcast.net/~lang.dennis/console/ntfsfastfind/ntfsfastfind.html http://sourceforge.net/projects/ntfs-search/ This one might (or possibly "will"): http://malware-hunters.net/2011/03/30/introducing-mftdump-forensic-tool/ http://malware-hunters.net/category/tools/ Some .NET thingy: http://sourceforge.net/projects/ntfsreader/ jaclaz

If the Seagate Tools tell you that the disk has bad sectors, there are GREAT probabilities that it has bad sectors. Upgrading the firmware on a disk drive that has not passed successfully the Seatools tests (BOTH "short" and "long" ones) has NOT been a "smart move", please read as "DO NOT DO IT". If your drive suffers form LBA0, the LBA0 fix may work (as it has for you). If your drive suffers from BSY, the BSY fix may work. If your drive does NOT suffer from LBA0 or BSY, you can apply BOTH the fixes all the times you want, but the status of the drive won't change. The issue with USB connection could be BOTH an issue in your Registry and a symptom of bad contacts between the PCB and the disk or of bad contacts on the SATA connector. If your BIOS cannot see the disk (when connected normally to SATA), it could be a symptom of bad contacts between the PCB and the disk or of bad contacts on the SATA connector. If your BIOS cannot see the disk BUT Seagate Tools can see it, the drive is an UNKNOWN state, for which no "fix" is available. If your BIOS cannot see the disk AND Seagate Tools cannot see it, the drive (besides the above possibiliteis) is foobar (possibly because of the applied firmware). jaclaz

Ok, I'll byte. Can you just §@ç#ing READ my previous posts AND the links in it? The .iso that you should use is FreeDos based AND needs NOT any mouse as it is keyboard driven! If your keyboard misses keys ESC, F1, F10, A, B, C, R, S, Z (and the cursor keys) then you have a problem. Again: http://support.seagate.com/firmware/firmware_update_procedure.html jaclaz

Look, I don't want to seem grumpier that what I normally am, but while in the case of the adapter we have a single report of it working, the bootable CD .iso have worked for tens, hundreds and possibly thousands of users. You must have an issue with the CD, the downloaded .iso, the burning app you used or something else, those .iso: do work do boot translated to "burning cd's?" "you are doing it wrong!" Which means that you should be nice, start a new thread describing the issues you are having with that .iso/CD. Until you have solved that issue DO NOT attempt a firmware upgrade from Windows. jaclaz

A Pre-install Environment, something that you can boot in emergency from a DVD or USB stick and that can be used to boot the PC (and possibly connect to the internet) even with a failed hard disk. Running *any* firmware upgrade from a Windows (generally) and from a Windows Vista or later is what I call "asking for troubles" or "pure folly". IMHO firmwares should be updated from the most "reduced" simple, UNconnected to *anything* environment in which it would run (typically DOS, and DOS booted from a CD). This is how the "right" Seagate firmware updating works: http://support.seagate.com/firmware/firmware_update_procedure.html What you want is the appropriate .iso from here (and NOT the Windows tool): http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/207951en Of course if the Seagate guys provide a Windows tool, it must be "safe" to use it, only issue is that there is NOT one way on earth they can have reproduced the exact same situation of your peculiar Windows 7 install, and BTW the guide: http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/210091en is clearly Windows XP related (but then again there is NOT one way on earth they can have tested the tool on an exactly similar system to your Windows XP install) About the cable/adapter, what we know is that a member bought one from that same e-bay seller and the one specimen he got did work, do you want a written guarantee (from me) that the specimen you will get will work? Sure I guarantee that in case of malfunctioning you will get your money back (of course limited to the amount of money that you will send me in exchange for the guarantee - which becomes operative and legally binding after 7 days from the receiving of the payment on my Cayman Island UNtraceable account ) . jaclaz

Here is a good "base pointer": http://www.forensicswiki.org/wiki/FAT (and ALL links in it) After reading that introductory page (and before perusing the links) go through this site: http://thestarman.pcministry.com/asm/mbr/index.html several important bits and pieces of info, starting here: http://thestarman.pcministry.com/asm/mbr/DataRecovery.htm Since - at the moment - you have a FAT16 issue, an exceptionally good resource (if you can still find a copy of it *somewhere* would be the (paper) manual for Norton Utilities (for DOS or the "for Win95" or "for NT") that AFAICR has some very good examples of manual rebuilding of FAT tables, this one (example to make it clear, you want something with Peter Norton depicted on it , NOT any of the later crappy Symantec "wonders"): http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Symantec-Norton-Utilities-Version-3-0-Windows-95-/230830439307?pt=US_Drivers_Utilities_Software&hash=item35be90fb8b jaclaz

A perfectly "mechanically sound" AND new (and never "fixed" - BTW along an UNdocumented, UNofficial, UNsupported, casually discovered/leaked method) hard disk may fail tomorrow (or the day after tomorrow) or even NOW, for NO apparent reason. Hard disk failures are UNpredictable. There are chances that the same two hard disks (model, make, manufactured the same day, with just one single digit of the serial number increased, bought the same day in the same shop) used by two twin brothers in two identical PC's, physically located in the same, room, powered by the same line, with exactly the same contents and read/wrote in exactly the same way fail - respectively - after 1 week and after 3 years (or one or both never fail in their usage lifetime). Seriously, I have seen identical drives in identical RAIDs fail for no reason, and no, it wasnt the case about which tray (upper, lower, one of the middle ones) they were in. I would make a tested PE of some kind or a Linux Live (please read as "emergency way out") before that. Not to put you down in any way mind you, I actually tend to be an optimist , only trying to make you fully aware of the possibilities... Your playing against the odds is a lot like "playing against the house", it will win. (in the long run) But, on, the other hand: jaclaz

Naaah , the original price was $599 allright, but it was made by $500 + 99 of the cover , and they are not going to actually charge you $120 if you change your idea, only $119.99. Seriously, sometimes I do wonder how such senseless prices as the *9.00 or *9.99 are still in use (not only by Microsoft) it's not anymore the 19th century.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_pricing On other news (but still numerology related ), ever heard of anyone announcing a release on the 26th of October or anyone inviting to an UNdisclosed product announcement on October 23rd? http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology-science/technology/ipad-mini-release-date-price-1384082 jaclaz

Good, this is the "right" approach. There is no need whatever for a computer science degree, as a matter of fact I have personally met "IT specialists" that deemed tasks similar to this one "impossible", yet *somehow* they were later proved to be perfectly possible . In your case the issue is that there is no way to know ab initio IF it is possible or if the result, if possible, would be satisfactory. I see it more a matter of evaluating the costs/benefits of such a task, after all it is an Excel spreadsheet of which - at least from the directory structure I saw - you seemingly have earlier versions (and I presume that a copy of such earlier version is still avaialble "somewhere" - like in your home or office PC) so you have to evaluate: the time that will take you to re-update the spreadsheet (from an earlier version) the time that it would take you to re-create it from scratch the time that it would take you to learn how to (hopefully) recover that file the time that it will take you to actually analyze and (hopefully) recover that file the value you atttribute to your time (and thus the price that you may be wanting to pay a profesional for it) Of course I cannot make an "online course" on the matter (provided that I have the capabilities/knowledge to make one ), as said - unlike other much simpler cases seen (and often but not always solved) - through the forum, you are in a "difficult" situation with a huge number of "bifurcations", and exploring all the possible paths, with the aggravation of "not-real-time" comminication is not a viable possibility. I can give you the "basics" (of which some I already gave you) and suggest you the (hopefully) "right" "generic" approach and possibly a few links to read, but not much else. jaclaz

The "most dangerous" thing that can happen when "flashing" something is a power outage/failure, personally (and this applies also to BIOS flashing, modem/routers, etc.) I wouldn't EVEN THINK of performing a firmware flashing without having everything connected to a suitable UPS. The chances are low, but it can happen. 70% is not a "logical" request, most probably you are above 95% with a trend towards 99% BUT the whole point is the remaining 1÷5% IMHO if your data has less value than 70 US$ or so (a street price for a 500 Gb hard disk), it means that they have no value at all. Additionally, since you are going to spare that money for a backup, I am led to believe that you intend to re-use the "fixed" disk as primary and "only" data storage. In this latter case you have 100% probabilities to lose the data , the question becomes not anymore "IF", but rather "WHEN"... jaclaz

Yep, the "usual" approach (since the *need* for details on files is more "felt" in forensics and to a much lesser extent in data recovery) is to extract/make a copy of the $MFT and then parse it. If you search for "$MFT parsing" or "$MFT parser" or "NTFS parser" you will find a few (usually python) scripts, such as: http://www.integriography.com/ As well, if you are into putting something together yourself there are a few libraries around: http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/74128/NTFS-MFT-deleted-files http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/81456/An-NTFS-Parser-Lib and some AHK tool/code that can probably be "adapted" : http://www.autohotkey.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=85072 jaclaz

Well, if you follow the thread, you will see how OP standingbear is now among the happy bunnies : BTW you already "owe" us a cute happy bunny pic for the consultancy given till now . Cannot say, basically - provided that Seagate is telling the truth - later fiirmwares do not suffer from the SAME bug, but - as seen extensively - can get in the BSY issue allright nonetheless. The "fix" is basically a way to get off a BSY loop, but since we don't know why exactly the disk enters this loop (and when/how it does so) there is no way to know in advance IF it will be effective, let alone "actually fix" anything. Any disk "repaired" this way (as well as *any* disk *anytime*) may fail again (for the same or for other causes). As a "rule of thumb" it's not like that, i.e. it is not that you need a backup before attempting a (risky) operation such as a firmware update, you should have a backup ANYWAY (actually two of them, on different media and kept in two different physical locations) of any data that you value. Normally a firmware update should NOT create any data loss, but Murphy's Law is EVERYWHERE, continuously trying to prove itself true once again.... jaclaz

Read a few posts starting here : jaclaz

Sure you can post a link to the adapter you ordered , though "logically" you should have read the read-me-first, and the FGA's and the recommended guide before. The BSY state is typical of a particular issue of the earliest firmware, BUT it can happen (and sometimes be solved) also to later releases (most probably for "different reasons"), this should be clearly understandable from the read-me first, in the FOREWORD: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=143880 and/or in the FGA''s (#2 actually): and/or in the recommended guide: http://www.mapleleafmountain.com/seagatebrick.html jaclaz

What is the problem with mft2csv? JFYI, the "development" thread is here (and yes, joakim is a member there besides MSFN and reboot.pro): http://www.forensicfocus.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=8010/postdays=0/postorder=asc/start=0/ but AFAICR mft2csv is a $MFT parser, you need to provide it with a $MFT (and that's where NTFS_File_Extracter may come into play): http://code.google.com/p/mft2csv/downloads/list Both are written with autoit and the source is available, but right now they should be GUI only. The actual output of mft2csv (once you "feed it" with a $MFT) contains more info that you will ever want to know, or if you prefer, your "requirements" are a "small subset" of the capabilities of that tool. Possibly a good idea would be to contact the Authors of tools like ndff or tfind: http://ndff.hotbox.ru/en/index.html http://www.deadnode.org/sw/tfind/ or other similar tools, that alredy have the "main" $MFT parsing engine. jaclaz