External USB HD failing

[ErikJan]

Have an ext HD (500 Gb,one partition, NTFS). Suddenly there are problems.I need to get the data off.

This is NOT about recovering deleted files: nothing was deleted. When I connect the drive, I do get a drive letter but that's it, all attempts to approach anything more fail. In tools that I have that boot from CD, I can see the drive too and (after I ignore many disk errors), I can see the file structure. The partition seems OK, so this is also not about recovering partitions.

I think I'm looking for tools that allow me to access the files and folders and copy them off the drive (then I can re-format and fix things)... I tried to image the drive (Acronis TruImage), taking disk errors for granted ("Ignore All") but that stops halfway and does not progress anymore. Then I used SpinRite 6 (sees many sectors with read problems, first attempt to correct even one makes SpinRite crash (error B022). It's a WD so I booted with WD's latest LifeGuard DOS (CD)... that one doesn't even see the drive! I'm beginning to run out of options... Any why could I read the drive at one moment and completely lose access seconds later (there were never problems). No, there are no viruses or anything involved. My system is clean (McAfee, Malwarebytes -incl. the new rootkit scan-, HitManPro) and my surfing behavior is 'normal'.

Suggestions would be very, very welcome; I'd probably need low level access, but also Linux/Unix doesn't see the drive (To make things worse: all my files and disks are doubly backed-up except... you guessed it: this one )

[StuartR]

My guess is that there has been a catastrophic failure within the drive, such as the heads crashing into the medium and creating a scratch. That means your data is never going to be recoverable, without the kind of technology that governments use for forensic analysis of destroyed disks.

[ErikJan]

I don't think so as I can see the file structure. Have a recovery tool scanning now (ignoring all errors) and it has found 900+ file entries in the NTFS structure already. I agree that something is really bad but parts of the drive can be accessed.
It's a pity these tools first need to scan the whole bl.. thing (>20 hours) before I can even try to recover someting...

[BobH]

There are data recovery services available in the US that will - for a fee - recover data in situations like you describe. Many are not trustworthy and might do further harm, but there are some good ones; so shop carefully for the service.

We used them on occasion before I retired, when high security data was caught on damaged disks. I don't remember the names of the services.

[viking33]

There are data recovery services available in the US that will - for a fee - recover data in situations like you describe. Many are not trustworthy and might do further harm, but there are some good ones; so shop carefully for the service.

We used them on occasion before I retired, when high security data was caught on damaged disks. I don't remember the names of the services.

I seem to remember that those fees from the "recovery services" were very pricey and took loads of time to accomplish anything, if at all.
Maybe things are different today and as you say, some shopping is needed. Also depends on the importance of the lost data.
Another sign of the life saving importance of Imaging Backup programs.