HDD quit working

  • Thread starter Thread starter InOverMyHead
  • Start date Start date
I

InOverMyHead

What does this mean?

Hard drive (Maxtor 80GB int.) is recognized on bootup POST but not by
windows. Computer can't boot from it, and does not recognize it from a DOS
floppy boot.

Removed and installed as a slave in another machine: POST does properly
identify it as before but windows (Explorer or Disk Mgr) does not see the
drive.

Using GetDataBack-NTFS, this program sees drives '0' and '1' and can attempt
data recovery, but with tons of errors. So I know it is properly seated and
spins up okay. Now - what are my options and which is recommended? Any
help would be greatly appreciated.

1) Bad MBR - rebuild with ?? or
2) Bad MBR - impossible to rebuild lacking a saved copy which I don't have
or
3) Forget fixing it - just attempt data recovery or

Bob

Background: eMachine had been working fine for 2+ years. No known physical
trauma. Constant eTrust Antivirus protection. Have no OS installation disk,
but do have the standard "Recovery" (Ghost) disk, but of course it is
useless if computer can't see the drive. Also have made fdd set containing
Recovery Console. Tech support is only semi helpful - to the point we're
now dancing in circles.
 
3) Forget fixing it - just attempt data recovery.
Click to expand...

Gets my vote every time. You can allways mess with it AFTER you have got the
data off!

I've had 4 drives fail in the past 4 years with no real common failure mode.
How valuable is the data? If it's more valuable than the cost of a
professional recovery service then you know what to do. If it's not
particularly valuable then try recovering the data to another drive - either
way I'd bin the drive. Just not worth the hassle of trying to fix. The
clincher is...
can attempt data recovery, but with tons of errors.
Click to expand...

That's about as good as it gets. It's not uncommon for them to stop and
never work again with no data recovered. I think my experience is typical...

One of my drives started to fail with a high error rate, then while trying
to get the data off it the head started to make a buzzing noise. Turned it
off and tried again this time I got a different lot of data off but it
started buzzing in a few mins. I repeated this process until I had 80% off
the drive then it started buzzing as soon as it was turned on and no further
data was recovered.

The next drive that failed just started to make a screeching noise and the
PC locked up. My wife called to tell me she had switched it off due to the
noise it was making. No data was recovered (but I had backups so didn't need
to)

Next drive just stopped working. PC wouldn't boot. Tried hooking it up as a
slave but couldn't explore the drive. It spun up and sounded ok. No data
recovered (but I had backups so didn't need to).

Recently a drive in an external USB enclosure started to cause problems -
nightly backups to it failed because they didn't verify. Got progressivly
worse over a few days.

So 2 out of 4 probably would have resulted in a total loss of data had I not
got other backups.

Given the low price of hard drives it's not worth spending hours trying to
repair one unless you need to to get the data off.
 
InOverMyHead said:
What does this mean?
Click to expand...

That the drive is dying.
Hard drive (Maxtor 80GB int.) is recognized
on bootup POST but not by windows.
Click to expand...

That is because the drive can respond to the bios asking for its
basic details but cant provide the data from the platters reliably.
Computer can't boot from it, and does
not recognize it from a DOS floppy boot.
Click to expand...

For the same reason.
Removed and installed as a slave in another machine:
POST does properly identify it as before but windows
(Explorer or Disk Mgr) does not see the drive.
Click to expand...

For the same reason, and you have proven its the drive
at fault and not something outside the drive, particularly
if you didnt use the same ribbon cable in that config.
Using GetDataBack-NTFS, this program sees drives '0' and
'1' and can attempt data recovery, but with tons of errors.
So I know it is properly seated and spins up okay.
Now - what are my options and which is recommended?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

If the data is very valuable, use professional recovery.

If its not quite that valuable, try www.retrodata.co.uk

If its not very valuable, but worth recovering if you can, see below.
1) Bad MBR - rebuild with ?? or
Click to expand...

Unlikely to be that. Any decent recovery software should be able to fix that.
2) Bad MBR - impossible to rebuild lacking a saved copy which I don't have or
Click to expand...

Decent recovery software can scan the drive for files and doesnt need to
use the MBR. But GetDataBack-NTFS indicates that it isnt just a bad MBR.
3) Forget fixing it - just attempt data recovery or
Click to expand...

Its possible that a logic card swap from an identical
model may allow the data to be read. Best to have
the rev level and firmware as close as possible.

You do sometimes find that if you freeze the drive in the freezer,
in a plastic bag, that you can get the data off while its still very cold.
You may need to do that more than once to get all the data off.
This can work if the drive has developed a dry joint or a cracked trace.
 
Back
Top