My system HD is broken.  I cannot boot to Windows.  I placed the drive in another computer.  The computer "sees" the drive, but when I click on it, it says it is empty and will not open.
 
This drive contains Windows 7 on a partition, and Sonar and all my plugins on another.  All of my song files are on a second drive.
 
I am about to send the drive off to a drive rescue company for evaluation.
 
Here are my questions to those of you who know WAY more about computers than I do:
 
If they are able to read the drive, can they do a mirror of it on a new drive, which I can then install and have everything boot up and run?  Or....
 
Will I have to do a clean install of Sonar (no problem) and all of my plugin (groan)?  Or...
 
Something else?
 
 

Hi Gary,
before sending the hd to a rescue company, I would recommend to boot
your machine from a stick, cd, dvd or another hd and trying to read the damaged hd-
if that is possible - copy all important things.
 
And for this cases- save your projects !
 
regards
Pragi

There are some good videos on youtube on how to fix Hard drives with platers...Might be a stuck arm or something like that?
 
Or you walked the drive through a magnetic field or it incountered one strong enough to wipe the drive, and cause issues with the arm?
 
Does the drive click when the system is on, or trying to access it?...
 
No info..means many things..could be the arm is stuck and cannot read the drive...
 
Sending a drive to a repair man, will cost you big bucks....
 
So think about it...if you do try to open the drive to see into fixing yourself...Make sure the area is clean and dust free as you can make it....And then move slowly, and try not to make air move too much around that process...when working on it...if you do.
 
There are some recovery software programs...((Nero has one I used))...But the drive has to be able to read some data to recover that data...
 
I had a Drive that said no Data..(like you have)...and was unreadable...Still have not opened it yet...But I will, once I finished watching all those videos....wink.
 
Best wishes!

Google to see if you can find any recovery software. I assume you never did any backups (hard lesson to learn) try Acronis and an external hard drive next time.

If your data does not matter just buy a new hard drive and install windows etc. It's unlikely the recovery is going to supply you anything bootable.

Wait!!!
 
If the only things on your broken drive are Windows and Programs, and if you are not a billionaire, just buy a new drive and install everything again. Typically drive recovery is very expensive, and is only justified if the broken drive contains data that is 1. critical 2. irreplaceable (no backups) 3. valuable. 
 
It is far far easier, faster, and cheaper just to reinstall the operating system and the programs Sonar and plugins on a new system drive. Compared to what most drive recovery will entail, futzing with all your system and program settings is a walk in the park. Next time, image the system drive to a removable drive or another drive in the computer, and you can get back up and working in 20 minutes after a trip to the store for a new drive.

*****Do NOT open the drive!!!!***** I used to design/manufacture drives for Seagate and the head actually flies 1-2 microinches from the surface! A single molecule of smoke can tear the write head off. These are assembled in a clean room environment, and can never be opened in a non-cleanroom environment - the platters are covered with oil, and will turn into an unrecoverable Chia pet.
 
Depending on what is on that drive, the cost of recovery may be prohibitive. A drive scan utility similar to these would be where to begin. If the drive is put into a bootable machine, it will be simpler to evaluate. Mechanically, a HSA (head stack assembly - all the arms) is extremely unlikely to have issues, but a head can stick to media if allowed to come to rest on it (also very unlikely with modern design). The head itself taking damage is possible.
 
The circuit board on the drive may be another issue, which may be replaceable, but if a head has been damaged, an entirely new set of head is required to read the platters (not the head, nor the arm is replaceable). This must also be done in a cleanroom environment, which is why it is so costly.
 
Again do NOT open that drive (break the hermetic seal on the edge). Which model of drive is it? Does it make any noises when trying to read?

Listed to mettelus, there is absolutely nothing repairable in that drive.  If the controller board is the failure, the recovery company will swap it with a same model / firmware and try to get your data, if that's not the issue you're likely screwed.  This is another case study of why we have backups.
 
Windows 7 and on have had excellent backup mechanisms in place, use them.  Do a full backup with bare metal recovery on a periodic basis, so when the drive fails (not if... when) you pop in a replacement, boot to a recovery disk and restore... done.

if you have a good machine and you can boot it as the 2nd drive in that.. just try getback from runtime.org .. I'm guessing the ntfs version if your case.
 
you don't have to buy it, to see if it will work.. you can see if it'll recover whats on the drive.. obviously, you need another drive to copy stuff over to .. and it's not free to have the full version... far cheaper than a data recovery place
 

Unless I missed something, the OP indicates that only Windows, applications (Sonar), and plugins, were on the failed drive.  He indicated that his 'song files' (projects?) were on a different drive.
 
So, the drive is almost certainly under warranty, so get a replacement drive for it, reinstall Windows, any applications, and your plugins, and you are done.  These items are completely replaceable, and the projects are all intact.  You may have some missing plugins, or that sort of thing, but that is no big deal to fix.
 
But, if you open the drive, might that void any warranty?  And, wouldn't it take less time to simply install Windows and your applications on a new drive, than to bother with any recovery service or process?
 
Bob Bone
 

Thanks to all for the advice.  I have another question:
 
The computer in question was purchased as a refurb.  Windows was installed on a partition, and did not include a Windows 7 CD.  So, will I have to buy Windows again?