Recover data from RAID drives

UrbanCoalMiner

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Mar 29, 2017
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House fire took my house, but I have recovered my desktop PC. It doesn't appear it saw much heat, but it won't pwr up - fried P/S maybe. Removed the 2 HDs Hitachi Deskstars 160G in a RAID config. Hooked them up to a converter and both pwr up & spin, but are not recognized in file explorer, but the volumes are recognized in Disk Mgmt. What is the best way to access the data?
In Disk Mgmt it shows up as: Disk 1 Basic 149.05G Online; (in the main part of the box) 149.05G Unallocated (1 large box no partitions)
 
Solution
Yes plug the results from ReclaiMe into RAID recovery software. R-Studio, UFSexplorer, DMDE are a few popular choices. I expect in your case you should be able to recover the full filename and folder structure of the original RAID data volume.

But if this is high value data you should consider seeking pro help.
Sorry about your loss 🙁

If both drives failed, it means you probably will not be able to recover them, but only one, you have a chance. Try using data recovery software, at least test your hard drives, since actual full license costs money, at lest you know you either lost or still have your info
 
thank you, using a Cinolink converter, both drives spin and show up on Disk Mgmt, but not on file explorer. My new laptop is running Win10, I'm considering swapping the P/S on the burned tower and/or accessing from an older PC. Right now I don't know what part RAID is playing in this process.
 
Assuming it wasn't a software RAID using Windows (you would've seen the spanned volume tools in Disk Mgmt), then it's best to use a board with the same or similar RAID controller and BIOS.

Ideally you would get the original board up and running again but with a similar board you could try enabling RAID in the BIOS then configuring your drives in the RAID BIOS in the same way you must have done when you set up the array in the first place.
 
So I downloaded ReclaiMe RAID Recovery Software (RRRS). Using a 2 SATA Disk Docking Station, I could reconstruct the Array. Again, the disks spin fine, they're quiet - I'm pretty sure they're intact or mostly intact.
In any event, RRRS gave me the following on the reconstructed array. (see below)

I then downloaded ReclaiMe Data Recovery Software - it recovered over 700k files! Which supports my theory that both disks survived the fire intact. Here's the catch ... when looking at the Evaluation of the files recovered - keep in mind I'm probably only interested in 1,000 or less files, but of course much of the Data & pics are missing. argh!

So I'm wondering if I should/can rebuild the array with software and access the data and pics that way? I have not purchased a License from ReclaiMe to access the files. I'm obviously disappointed in the files that are NOT showing up.

SOFTWARE or HARDWARE RAID? So again, I'm noob at RAID arrays. But I was correct in assuming it was RAID 0. Remember this was an XP system and the disks plug directly into the MB - an Intel DG9650T (see Storage Interface Specifications below reconstructed array) so the MB had the RAID controller built in onboard.

What are my options? (1) Can I use Software to reconstruct the RAID 0 array and access the files from that? The disks are currently running on a Win7Pro tower. (2) Purchase replacement MB ($84), but what if the RAM is fried or other components? Still $84 is reasonable ... my data is worth much more ... other options?


This is a plain-text general description of the reconstructed array layout.

The array type is RAID0 (also called Stripe Set).
The array consists of 2 disks.

The disks are ordered as follows:
#00: Disk 2 - Hitachi HDS721616PLA, Serial number E301Z5S1J68M, \\.\PhysicalDrive2
#01: Disk 1 - Hitachi HDS721616PLA, Serial number E301Z5S1EXEM, \\.\PhysicalDrive1

Block size is 128.0 KB , same as 256 sectors.
The data starts at sector (LBA) 0 (this is often called "offset" or "start offset").

Block map is as follows:

1 2


Storage Interfaces

SATA-300 -connectors: 6 x 7pin Serial ATA - 6 devices - RAID 0 / RAID 1 / RAID 10 / RAID 5
ATA-133 -connectors: 1 x 40pin IDC - 2 devices
 
Yes plug the results from ReclaiMe into RAID recovery software. R-Studio, UFSexplorer, DMDE are a few popular choices. I expect in your case you should be able to recover the full filename and folder structure of the original RAID data volume.

But if this is high value data you should consider seeking pro help.
 
Solution