Vista - Data Recovery Options

I'm almost a little embarrassed to post this, but I figured, why not?

My computer (despite the presence of a UPS) was killed by an extreme power surge last week Tuesday during a thunder storm, which is very common in my area. The only components that survived this disaster are the 8 hard drives (Show us your rig). The data on all but 3 of these drive is ok, and was 100% accessible by plugging them into a temporary XP machine loaned to me by my ISP. The remaining three drives where configured as a JBOD array in order to provide a single 530GB "drive" to contain my music and videos folders without fuss.

The JBOD setup was a standard function of the ASUS A8N32-Sli-Deluxe motherboard. The RAID controller on the replacement motherboard that the insurance company is giving me (MB-M3A32-MVP Deluxe/WiFi-AP) does not support JBOD, so in most cases I'd be pretty much stuffed, if not for the backups I already have.

The problem is this - The last backup I have of this JBOD array was made about a week before the computer was popped by lightning, and covers only about 90% or so of the data, which leaves me with about 33GB that has not been backed up.

So what I'm looking for is this:

1. A reputable data recovery program that can scan the 3 individual drives (possibly scanning for NTFS structures) and recover the data. I have got GetDataBack NTFS 3.02, but it's success rate isn't very good, so I don't know how well it will work in this instance.
2. A Vista x64 driver that can "emulate" JBOD from standard SATA connections so that I can re-construct the 3-drive array (even if only temporarily), and then use Windows Explorer to copy the lost data to new locations.

I've already run up the phone bill through the roof contacting component suppliers in South Africa to try an locate a separate SATA RAID controller that supports JBOD, but no joy.

All I need to do is recover that missing 10% that has been lost. Unfortunately, brute force data recovery is my only option, as some of the sources where I got the music and videos are no longer available, as they too where wiped out by the storm, some of which aren't as regular with their backups as I am.

Are there any suggestions?

I would suggest as an array is involved, unless you can reconstruct that
array, and almost certainly you might only succeed with that by, using an
identical motherboard, or possibly using a motherboard that utilises the
same sata controller, then you should seek help from a professional & very
expensive data recovery company.


"dzomlija" <dzomlija.366932@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net> wrote in message
news:dzomlija.366932@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net...

Unfortunately, an identical motherboard is out of the question, as the one I was using (ASUS A8N32-Sli-Deluxe) was discontinued by ASUS several months ago, and I have been unable to locate a similar board that uses a compatible SATA controller. I can't check now, as I no longer have the board (the insurance company wanted it for the own inspection teams).

Other than GetDataBack NTFS, are there no other software alternatives that I can try?

"dzomlija" <dzomlija.366d90@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net> wrote in message
news:dzomlija.366d90@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net...I have never seen the point in using JBOD, especially as I like to have
different types of files in different arrays, drives or partitions. What
controller was it that you used for JBOD? If it was a Promise or Silicon
Image controller or similar, it is possible that you can get a PCI/PCIe
controller card with the same chip, or another compatible one from the same
manufacturer.
GetDataBack for NTFS is really good software. You actually might be able to
recover everything you need, as only some files will be spanning more than
one drive.

ss.

"Synapse Syndrome" <synapse@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:uVrOC6IhIHA.1188@xxxxxxAnother thing:

I suppose you like to have everything appearing as one drive, as you were
using JBOD. Instead of all that hassle, of setting up a JBOD array like
that, you could just use NTFS Mount Points, within Disk Management, or NTFS
Junction Points. With this you can extend the apparent size of any tree of
folders seamlessly, in a similar way, but at the same time keeping the data
safely on different disks. You can also add and remove disks as and when
you need them.

ss.

In article <dzomlija.366932@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net>,
dzomlija <dzomlija.366932@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net> wrote:Try to find another A8N on ebay

It was the onboard Silicon Image controller that I used. I setup the JBOD as a quick and dirty (and cheap!) way of getting the 530GB I needed to consolidate all my music and videos into a single "partition". In hindsight, it was perhaps a dumb move, and I should've gone straight to to buying a 500GB hard disk instead.


GetDataBackNTFS it is then. I use it a lot when I recover data from customers hard disk who "accidentally" erased their files or formatted their drives. I've just never tried it in a scenario such as this before, and was thinking that maybe there are other utilities out there that may also help.

Thanks, SS...

On Thu, 13 Mar 2008 00:15:05 -0500, dzomlija
<dzomlija.3673n6@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net> wrote:
Try using this card: PCI Express Serial ATA II (SATA II) Card, 2x
External Port (e-SATA), SiI3132 Chipset
<http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10407&cs_id=1040702&p_id=3581&seq=1&format=2>

Thanks, SS, I'm looking into it now. But the one for which you provided the link has only 2 e-Sata ports. I need at least 3 SATA RAID ports that can be configured as JBOD. Thier product ID 2667 looks to be a better selection.

"dzomlija" <dzomlija.368xmf@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net> wrote in message
news:dzomlija.368xmf@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net...
OK, but I did not post that link.

The card you mention,
http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2
is PCI and not PCIe, which would be preferable though. I'm not totally
sure, but if you using three or four drive simultaneously (in RAID-0, for
example) the PCI bus might not have enough bandwidth for the fastest
possible operation. It won't be an issue with JBOD though, and only with
RAID-0. I could be wrong though, and it might not be relevant to your use
of the card.

ss.