Q: (from Michael)
As I mentioned my hard drive crashed and took with it several videos, photos, etc. I went to the Geek Squad and Computer Doctor and they said the drive was toast. When I slave this drive to another drive, the drive is recognized but indicated as not formatted or corrupt. From my survey of the internet, I believe the Master Boot record has been corrupted. I should add the drive still spins (I can hear that). I then was able to load some demo software that allowed me to "see" some of my lost files-but I had to pay to recover them. Before I pay, I want to get a second opinion from some one that understands file recovery from crashed systems. The software that seemed to function the best was:
R-studio
Recover my files
I had no luck with Recover my data
A:
If it really is just the Master Boot Record, Microsoft provides free utilities to repair the MBR. You can go to the Microsoft site: http://technet.microsoft.com and search for MBR Repair. We have lots of information and more instructions on how to use our MBR repair tools.
This is a company that does data recovery and has a nice troubleshooting site:
http://www.datarecovery.com.sg/data_recovery/troubleshoot_master_boot_record_corruption.htm.
If you are looking for a professional organization to recover your data: www.ontrack.com is the group that I’ve used in the past. I’ve had them do several successful personal & business recoveries. If they are unable to recover the data, they have a nominal “examination” fee.