Faulty IDE HDD or..?

[jimmy_84]

I have an IDE 3.5 “HDD ..haven’t used it for 8-9 years but it’s well preserved. I bought an i IDE-USB2 adapter (with external power supply) to be able to retrieve the stored data..
I tried connecting hdd to power supply to make sure it’s working. the hdd worked fine (without any suspicious noise). then i connected it to laptop through the IDE-USB2 adapter.
I remember the hard drive had 2 partitions, suddenly i found 10 more partitions on My Computer!! and they look empty except for 2 who had some data on it!! I didn’t go further in order not to compromise my chances of recovering lost data.
What’s wrong with my HDD? and how can i recover the data?

 

[RolandJS]

If you can clone the suspect HD (source HD) onto an equal or slightly-larger target HD, you can practice data recovery on the target HD.

 

[jimmy_84]

If you can clone the suspect HD (source HD) onto an equal or slightly-larger target HD, you can practice data recovery on the target HD.

Any advice or software you recommend using for cloning/recovery??

 

[RolandJS]

EaseUS, AOMEI, Macrium Reflect and many other free programs can be used for making a clone. The list of DIY data recovery programs, free and fee, is a long one. I do not know what to recommend, not knowing your geek background.