External Hard Drive failure

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leow

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i have a seagate 500gb external portable hard drive and i think its failed on me. i recently post another prob with my pc about a thunder storm blowing my pc up :( and way ive sort my pc now, but when my pc was struck my hard drive was connected via its usb cable, when it happened i quickly checked it on my new samsung tv via a usb port on the tv and it loaded up fine np, was looking at my pictures and playing mp3s and videos, perfect, i thought it was fine, anyway i got a new motherboard installed that and got back onto windows, i decided to plug my hard drive in and it powered on like normal but after 10 15 secs it turned on and stayed off, i tried this a few times and it keeped doing they same thing, at this point i wasnt happy as this had all my photos and personal data (typical i didnt have a backup) anyway i got onto seagate and they said its under warrenty and to send it back, while talking to them i plugged it back in and it powered on and it stays powered every time i plug it in now, but windows doesnt detect it, nor in device manager. is there ANY thing i can do to try a recover the data myself or is it lost forever? and if u suggest a data recover company can u recommend any and a rough price, AND also do they look at what u have on the drive ?

Please help a stupid none back up lad

leow
 
leow said:
i have a seagate 500gb external portable hard drive and i think its failed on me. i recently post another prob with my pc about a thunder storm blowing my pc up :( and way ive sort my pc now, but when my pc was struck my hard drive was connected via its usb cable, when it happened i quickly checked it on my new samsung tv via a usb port on the tv and it loaded up fine np, was looking at my pictures and playing mp3s and videos, perfect, i thought it was fine, anyway i got a new motherboard installed that and got back onto windows, i decided to plug my hard drive in and it powered on like normal but after 10 15 secs it turned on and stayed off, i tried this a few times and it keeped doing they same thing, at this point i wasnt happy as this had all my photos and personal data (typical i didnt have a backup) anyway i got onto seagate and they said its under warrenty and to send it back, while talking to them i plugged it back in and it powered on and it stays powered every time i plug it in now, but windows doesnt detect it, nor in device manager. is there ANY thing i can do to try a recover the data myself or is it lost forever? and if u suggest a data recover company can u recommend any and a rough price, AND also do they look at what u have on the drive ?

Please help a stupid none back up lad

leow
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As Windows is not seeing the drive it is a bit hard..Since you have replaced the motherboard and reinstalled Windows, Windows migh actually have re assinged a drive letter for your USB drive that is already in use....As for Data recovery, I can suggest a free one you can use yourself, it even recovers files from reformatted drives and detects invisible drives....RECUVA..Give that a swirly pants nad see what you can recover..Its a pretty sh*t hot free program....:thumb:
 
just to let u no i havent reinstalled windows will that make and difference ?
Also ive googled and a few people have said open up the drive from the houseing and try and plug it in internally with an ide cable what u think about that ?
 
also i tend to cut and paste files, does that make a difference when looking for deleted files ? as im not deleting the files only moving them from 1 place to the other
 
leow said:
just to let u no i havent reinstalled windows will that make and difference ?
Also ive googled and a few people have said open up the drive from the houseing and try and plug it in internally with an ide cable what u think about that ?
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So when you replaced the MOBO you just used the old HDD..? you idn't reformat..? Well there could be your problem..Even if it is the same model MOBO, things will have changed since your first one..Updates, BIOS, blah blah blah...
Yeah you could try doiung that with the External HDD..BUt why IDE..? YOu have an ASUS board don't ya..? If so use SATA..If the external drive isn't SATA, you can buy IDE to SATA connectors...Also do you have any mates that have machines running Linux..? Try accessing your drive on one of those, or if you have a mate with a Mac..Access your drive from that..LInux and MAc are ace at opening and recovering data from none functional drives...
 
will formatting my internal hard drive doing anything so that windows will access my external portable hard drive ?

some more info on my drive, i can heard the drive spinning which to me sounds like its working, could it just be a prob between the drive and the computer the houseing ? this is making me think about opening it up
 
Download Kanotix and burn it to a CD, then make sure your pc is set to boot from a CD, put the Kanotix cd in your cd/dvd drive and restart the pc. You should then be running a Live CD version of Kanotix. This will allow you to see if the external drive is seen and working.

http://kanotix.com/changelang-eng.html

happywave.gif
 
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Abarbarian said:
Download Kanotix and burn it to a CD, then make sure your pc is set to boot from a CD, put the Kanotix cd in your cd/dvd drive and restart the pc. You should then be running a Live CD version of Kanotix. This will allow you to see if the external drive is seen and working.

http://kanotix.com/changelang-eng.html

happywave.gif
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Will that work with any external mass storage..? ie mem cards for cameras/phones etc..?
 
Madxgraphics said:
Will that work with any external mass storage..? ie mem cards for cameras/phones etc..?
Click to expand...

Yep, it recognises Windows file systems without any pratting around unlike some linux distros. You may have to mount the card or drive etc but that is only a click or two. Kanotix is a good standby for troubleshooting or data recovery.

nod.gif
 
Abarbarian said:
Yep, it recognises Windows file systems without any pratting around unlike some linux distros. You may have to mount the card or drive etc but that is only a click or two. Kanotix is a good standby for troubleshooting or data recovery.

nod.gif
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Cheers mate..Thnk you just helped me therte, and I am going to link this to this post.. I think it might help him find his pics
 
Madxgraphics said:
Cheers mate..Thnk you just helped me therte, and I am going to link this to this post.. I think it might help him find his pics
Click to expand...

Well now folks,
I'm glad i didnt bin that hard drive me gf dropped a couple of weeks ago.....mine plugs in, powers up but my lapper doesnt see it.You can hear the drive whirring too but no sign of it ont screen....might try that kanotix thing after ive had a kip.....you's are all upv.late tonite!!??
Zzzzz
 
Abarbarian said:
Wolfenstien ;)
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Never had you down for an all nite gamer, dude......i believe theres a new wolfie out but didnt think it was out ont pc. have you got it saved on your Hard Drive LOL
Zzzzz
 
captain zed said:
Hi AB,
There is a pc format out after all, my bad dude.
Heres a linky for ya
http://e3.gamespot.com/story/6211184/wolfenstein-updated-impressions
Zzzzz
Click to expand...

Ta matey. It it Return To Castle Wolfenstien I'm playing and there are loads of extra maps to be had. I got the extra blood extra and this topless Elite Guard one. :D It is an old game but pretty darn good.

http://www.planetwolfenstein.com/wildstar/singleplayer.htm

http://www.fileplanet.com/111389/110000/fileinfo/Topless-Elite-Guard-Skin

:D
 
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