A destroyed HDD, no backups at all

[Ed_Sparrius]

The HDD in friend's Pavillion was totally destroyed. She has zero backups. The backup Image on the HDD is also damaged. I cant connect to the internet with it. HP say this is a retired PC. Any idea where and how I can get a replacement image?

[WAWood]

Let's talk about the drive, first. What do you mean by "totally destroyed"? The only way I now to do that is to take a sledge hammer to the drive. Is that what was done?

[Ed_Sparrius]

Hi. By "totally destroyed" I meant that I ran filerecovery software and there were zero files intact that could be recovered on the C: drive particion. The 😧 partition, with the recovery files, did have many intact files but would not initialise on attempting to use the Repair option   So I am presuming that was also damaged.

[WAWood]

Zero recovery is very unusual, even for a failing drive.

My favorite recovery app, which was able to recover nearly 100% of a 3TB drive that somehow got reformatted, is GetDataBack from Runtime software.  I think it still costs around $50, and it has always been able to recover most if not all of the data. 

But yes, it depends on how badly damage the drive happens to be.

[Ed_Sparrius]

Yes? I agree. Total data destruction is very unusual. I have been working with computers since the very early 1980's and have never experienced this. It is as though a very strong magnet was put near the HDD. But this is almost impossible as the HDD was inside a desktop tower.

Another possibility is a very vicious  virus did the damage.

I used the Stellar Data Recovery software, which is rated very highly, but it could not recover anything sensible despite having a njmber of different approaches.

I am more than happy to try the software you suggested but I doubt that it will have a different outcome.

In the meantime, would you know where I can get a image of the recovery files? 

Thank you for your assistance.

Ed.

[WAWood]

HP no longer sells or makes available downloadable images; instead, it has something known as the Cloud Recovery Tool -- by which you download and make your own Recovery USB stick but you have to supply the 32GB stick and this does not always work.

The recovery drive can then be used to install Windows and the HP drivers and utilities that originally came with your PC.

You will need a working PC and a 32GB USB stick to hold the recovery files. Here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmtXOU40vxk

You use the Microsoft Store to download the actual tool:

https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9mtks9pr7r3n?rtc=1&hl=en-us&gl=us

If you use a different PC to run the tool, you will have to provide your PC's product number. Here is an HP link for finding that information:

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/ish_2039298-1862169-16

Here's a video from HP Support about using the Cloud Recovery Tool:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7AwuKNJKS4

[Ed_Sparrius]

Thank you. I will give it a go.

[Ed_Sparrius]

Hi. Thx for this. Got the USB and started the process. But this is for win 10 laptops. I have a desktop PC. So I dont know if the recovery wizard is appropriate?

[WAWood]

I have not actually used the HP tool as I make my own image backups, but from what I have been told, you use the Product ID of the target PC in the tool and it then knows which specific install image to make -- and that image will match what came preloaded originally on the computer.  I don't believe there is an option to choose a specific version of an image.