So, I have an external Harddrive (Maxtor Personal Storage 3200 500GB) that seems to have some bad sectors. Windows can only read a few of the files on it, and linux is having trouble as well. I am currently running ddrescue in linux, but after only 45.6MB of a 20+GB file, I have 24 errors totalling 405kB. I think some of these issues may be due to low read speed since it is designed for USB 2.0 but is currently only connected to a USB 1.1 port. I was wondering if anyone knew of anything I could do to improve the readability of the drive (other than plug it into a USB 2.0 port, the Windows machine I'm using is USB 2.0 and does worse than linux running ddrescue.)

~Viz

plug it into your system, like, open your computer and physically mount the drive. you'll get better performance than over USB, and a minor advantage in file read & recovery. Use something like disc doctor, or possibly a drive cloning program to mirror your failing hard disk, then recover from that. or something like badcopy pro is pretty decent at recovering messed up files off of pretty much anything.

I've actually considered that, although, I'd rather not crack open the USB case if I don't have to, so I'm looking at that as a last resort. It's a very good suggestion though, thanks.

~Viz

what Grafitti says is true, cause internal IDE connection can issue a few more low level commands to the harddisk which the USB-to-IDE adaptor cannot.

In fact you should do that ASAP, cause with bad sectors, normally it will spread. So the more you try to recover, the more bad sector formed around the same area. So, it's better to use the best possible method to recover your data before it got worse. Data is worth more than anything.

So, yeah, been trying to get the case open all afternoon (you're right about the bad sectors, it was getting worse). Anyone know any tricks for this type of external. Cause I really don't want to hit it with a hammer, but I'm having trouble finding any other release mechanism. I searched online, and someone indicated there were some metal tabs accessible through slits, and I think I see them, but am having trouble accessing them. The slits are maybe 1/16th of an inch thick. And the tabs are metal. Anyone know of anything that might be lying around that could possibly fit in that? Cause I'm out of ideas.

~Viz

Well, I got the external harddrive open (used a cafeteria metal knife to open slide the tabs) but I'm still having problems with the drive. When I plugged it into my windows machine, After a short while it got really hot, and when trying to open a file, there was an error writing $MFT to the drive. Now the windows install won't read the drive at all. Does anyone know why, or have any suggestions?

~Viz

if it is spinning ok, you could try wrapping it in a dishcloth and putting dry ice around it. --or an icepack, so long as it's not getting things wet. a cold hard drive can sometimes run anyways, when it wouldn't if it was regular temperature. I'm sure you've heard about people sticking their hard disks in ziploc bags in the freezer. it's only a last resort though, because while it does work in a lot of cases, you've got to get the data off quick before it heats up, and every time is more difficult than the last. it messes with the drive and ruins it eventually. can you still see it in the bios? does it make clicking sounds? try wiping the MFT and the MBR and writing new ones. run chkdsk with the f parameter if you can get it in a command shell, and hopefully you'll get something working.