unreadable 1GB JAZ cartridge

[tsc]

One of my 1GB JAZ cartridges has suddenly become unreadable after about five
years of very light use. The internal drive just clicks away trying to read
it. No error messages appear. SpinRite 6 says sector zero is unreadable.
My other cartridges still work fine. Is there anything I might try to gain
access to the data on the defective cartridge or to get it working again?

Steve

[Ghostrider]

Post by tsc
One of my 1GB JAZ cartridges has suddenly become unreadable after about five
years of very light use. The internal drive just clicks away trying to read
it. No error messages appear. SpinRite 6 says sector zero is unreadable.
My other cartridges still work fine. Is there anything I might try to gain
access to the data on the defective cartridge or to get it working again?
Steve

Use a different JAZ drive. If also unreadable, and if the data
is important, then go the professional recovery route. Erasable
media, such as ZIP or JAZ, should not be used as the single
source for the data or the single backup, nor should there be
just a single backup. And future-tech says that good storage
media of 1 to 2 GB range are the new USB jump or pen drives.

[tsc]

Post by Ghostrider
Use a different JAZ drive. If also unreadable, and if the data
is important, then go the professional recovery route. Erasable
media, such as ZIP or JAZ, should not be used as the single
source for the data or the single backup, nor should there be
just a single backup. And future-tech says that good storage
media of 1 to 2 GB range are the new USB jump or pen drives.

Yes. Just another of the many bad choices I have made.

Steve

[a l l y]

Post by Ghostrider
Use a different JAZ drive. If also unreadable, and if the data
is important, then go the professional recovery route.

Where can I find a professional recoverer of zip disks? Is this the sort of
thing my local independant computer shop is likely to be able to do? I've
had 2 zip disks suddenly refuse to work over the past 12 months - suddenly,
in the middle of using them. They have important data on them, and I don't
feel inclined to put them in the post in case they disappear en route. I get
the feeling it's something mechanical rather than a software problem, but
I'm no expert...

ally

[Dick Kistler]

Post by a l l y

Post by Ghostrider
Use a different JAZ drive. If also unreadable, and if the data
is important, then go the professional recovery route.

Where can I find a professional recoverer of zip disks? Is this the
sort of thing my local independant computer shop is likely to be able
to do? I've had 2 zip disks suddenly refuse to work over the past 12
months - suddenly, in the middle of using them. They have important
data on them, and I don't feel inclined to put them in the post in
case they disappear en route. I get the feeling it's something
mechanical rather than a software problem, but I'm no expert...
ally

Perhaps this would be of help: http://www.grc.com/tip/clickdeath.htm

Spinrite may help recover your data.

Dick Kistler

[a l l y]

Post by Dick Kistler

Post by a l l y

Post by Ghostrider
Use a different JAZ drive. If also unreadable, and if the data
is important, then go the professional recovery route.

Where can I find a professional recoverer of zip disks? Is this the
sort of thing my local independant computer shop is likely to be able
to do? I've had 2 zip disks suddenly refuse to work over the past 12
months - suddenly, in the middle of using them. They have important
data on them, and I don't feel inclined to put them in the post in
case they disappear en route. I get the feeling it's something
mechanical rather than a software problem, but I'm no expert...
ally

Perhaps this would be of help: http://www.grc.com/tip/clickdeath.htm
Spinrite may help recover your data.

Brilliant website with invaluable information - thanks Dick. However, under
WXP this software doesn't recognise my USB zip 250 drive. I found some info
on the site relating to WNT & W2000 but what do I need to do to get it to
work under XP?

Thanks.

ally

[Dick Kistler]

Post by a l l y
what do I
need to do to get it to work under XP?

Perhaps: news.grc.com/grc.techtalk or some other grc.com newsgroup can help.
I discovered your problem myself last night.

Dick

[m***@netscape.net]

Post by Dick Kistler

Post by a l l y
what do I
need to do to get it to work under XP?

Perhaps: news.grc.com/grc.techtalk or some other grc.com newsgroup can help.
I discovered your problem myself last night.
Dick

This is exactly my problem. Does anyone have an answer other than
asking a data transfer facility to save the info to a CD?
Harold Vann

[Rick]

Post by m***@netscape.net

Post by Dick Kistler

Post by a l l y
what do I
need to do to get it to work under XP?

Perhaps: news.grc.com/grc.techtalk or some other grc.com newsgroup can help.
I discovered your problem myself last night.
Dick

This is exactly my problem. Does anyone have an answer other than
asking a data transfer facility to save the info to a CD?
Harold Vann

If you have "exactly" the same problem as the OP and sector 0 on the
disk is unreadable I don't know of any "at home" software that will
recover the data. Places like OnTrack data recovery have the software
*and* hardware to do this, but it isn't available to the general public.