Dead Hard Drive?

  • Thread starter Thread starter wtw
  • Start date Start date
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wtw

Surprise of surprises. My main hd is giving me the black screen routine. It
wants me to slip in a disk to boot up. What I disk? I tried my install CD,
but I don't think that's the story.

In any case,I took out the hd and put it into another machine. It was not
detected. However, I'm not convinced there was some other difficulty there.
So let me ask if that was right, then I would think the hd is dead. Possibly
it doesn't power up. How would anyone get data off it if there's no way to
power it up or even if some mechanical failure occurred?

I suppose it could be the case it does receive power. If so what's the next
step to get at the data or find out what's ailing it?
 
Previously wtw said:
Surprise of surprises. My main hd is giving me the black screen
routine. It wants me to slip in a disk to boot up. What I disk? I
tried my install CD, but I don't think that's the story.
Click to expand...
In any case,I took out the hd and put it into another machine. It
was not detected. However, I'm not convinced there was some other
difficulty there. So let me ask if that was right, then I would
think the hd is dead.
Click to expand...

If it is not detected, then it basically is dead. Basically you can to
the spin-test by only plugging in power, disks are allmost allways set
to auto-spin (start when there is power) unless you did disable
that. If it is a quiet disk, placing your whole hand or your eart on
top should still reliably identify whether it is spinning or not.
Possibly it doesn't power up. How would anyone get data off it if
there's no way to power it up or even if some mechanical failure
occurred?
Click to expand...

Data recovery companies will replace hardware and have
access to special firmware and diagostics equipment.
More importantly, they have experience in dealing with
such problems and are far less likely to make the problem
worse than other people.
I suppose it could be the case it does receive power. If so what's
the next step to get at the data or find out what's ailing it?
Click to expand...

There are two options:

1) You have backup. In that case the most cost effective
thing is to replace the disk. Your chances to repair it
are small and you would likely spend more time and money
than the disk is worth. If you are worried about the
data, then open it and bend the platters. (For the truely
paranoid: Use a blowtorch to heat them up to a glow.
This provides abolute security, as the suface can only
hold data up to a cerrtain temperature.)

2) You do not have backup. In that case the next step is
to estimate how much the data on the disk is worth
to you and get a quote from the data-recovery company
of your choice. If the quote is higher then the worth,
go to 1). Otherwise give them the disk. Side note:
Messing with the disk usually makes professional
recovery more expensive aor impossible.

Sorry, but this is not a DIY thing. Occasionally people are
successful with a number of tricks, but that is something only
to try out as experiment, with disks where making matters
worse is not a problem because the data is not worth a lot.

Arno
 
Much of it is backed up.

Bob Willard said:
Power up your time machine, and pop back to a time when you could have
backed up your data. On the off chance that you don't have a time
machine,
at least learn from your mistake. :-)
Click to expand...
 
Previously wtw said:
Much of it is backed up.
Click to expand...

Good. Next step: Decide what the non-backed up part is worth.
If it is basically nothing, you can experiment. If it is
worth a lot, then do not mess with the disk.

Arno
 
Thanks for the tips. I had backed up some important data months ago, so it's
not a total loss.

Although I might wring my hands and curse, I more often say it's a good
thing in that for the most part re-creatable, and a lot of cases good
riddance. There's probably more stuff out there that's long gone for
usefulness. The PC was 5 years old, and in the last year it's become
apparent because of a small memory, it not possible to increase, and small
disk size was ready to be replaced.

Probably the two most valuable things on the system were a video I was
working on, and a python program I just completed. Both are on other drives.
The only pain will be reinstalling the software packages. It looks like
I'll be headed to our Fry's in Roseville (near Sacramento) to build another
system (Win), or possibly purchase one, which I've never done. It'll have
more memory and maybe even something of a easily implented back up system.

Now if I could just I could just have something like this crash take out my
old magazines, books , saved articles and computer parts, it probably would
be a good thing.

I read an article a few months ago called Pre-delete Cruft. It's a way of
dealing with old stuff. You just mark a date on articles that is an estimate
of when you no longer need it. The next time you happen across it and see
the date, toss it. The same idea is applicable to computer files. I guess I
just hit the automated version of it.

Despite it all I will take the hd to a local computer shop and just let them
check to see the hd does have a heart beat.
 
See my note to Arno about the value.

I just called our local computer shop, and they say they have hardware
tricks that can possibly spin up the drive. $75/hour. I think I'm going to
take them up on one hour.
I'd also like to know what the h/w tricks are.
 
wtw said:
S
I just called our local computer shop, and they say they have hardware
tricks that can possibly spin up the drive. $75/hour. I think I'm going to
take them up on one hour.
I'd also like to know what the h/w tricks are.
Click to expand...
Probably to replace the electronics of the drive. Some people claim that
freezing the drive can bring it back from death, for a short time.

As other said, better not mess with the drive if you have the only copy
of data you care about on it
 
Previously Chris said:
Probably to replace the electronics of the drive. Some people claim that
freezing the drive can bring it back from death, for a short time.
Click to expand...

For some very specific problems, e.g. slowly heat-damaged
semiconductors, this can work. The point is not the freezing, but the
operation significantly colder than the temperature where it fails.
Also may work for other devices.

Arno
 
Arno Wagner said:
For some very specific problems, e.g. slowly heat-damaged
semiconductors, this can work. The point is not the freezing, but the
operation significantly colder than the temperature where it fails.
Also may work for other devices.
Click to expand...

The other things freezing can help with is a dry joint or cracked trace,
just the thermal effect making a usable connection for a while.
 
The other things freezing can help with is a dry joint or cracked trace,
just the thermal effect making a usable connection for a while.
Click to expand...

Yes, that is another one.

Arno
 
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