Help save my data

  • Thread starter Thread starter Peter
  • Start date Start date
P

Peter

Hi there

I have an "IBM Deskstar 60GXP" harddisk, which has suddenly stopped working.
Yesterday the pc would not boot, and even if I put the disk in another
computer (for example, as a slave drive) the BIOS cannot detect it. Actually
the first time I tried it in another computer I could see it, but after just
a couple of minutes I got a message like "unsafe removal" and the disk
disappeared from windows explorer.

As far as I can tell the disk is spinning when I have power on it (it
hums/vibrates very gently).

Does anyone have any suggestions as what I can do to save the data on the
disk?

Thanks,
Peter
 
Peter said:
Hi there

I have an "IBM Deskstar 60GXP" harddisk, which has suddenly stopped
working. Yesterday the pc would not boot, and even if I put the disk in
another computer (for example, as a slave drive) the BIOS cannot detect
it. Actually the first time I tried it in another computer I could see it,
but after just a couple of minutes I got a message like "unsafe removal"
and the disk disappeared from windows explorer.

As far as I can tell the disk is spinning when I have power on it (it
hums/vibrates very gently).

Does anyone have any suggestions as what I can do to save the data on the
disk?

Thanks,
Peter
Click to expand...

Well, apart from the obligstory "shoulda done backups", there is not much
you can do if the drive is really dead. It seems to be from your
description. I have used recovery services like OnTrack in the past for
clients, but they are really expensive. Unless you absolutely must have it,
you are sunk and the data is gone.

Eli

P.S. I have been done this road too - my sympathies.
 
Peter said:
Hi there

I have an "IBM Deskstar 60GXP" harddisk, which has suddenly stopped
Click to expand...
working.

These drives are call "Deathstar" for a reason.

If you don't have backups then most likely it's gone.

Put the drive into a plastic bag and leave it in the freezer overnight. When
you pull it out, get it into the PC as fast as possible and see what you can
do with the drive. After that you are looking at $1000+ for a recovery
company and with these drives it's the platters that are crap - so not much
chance for them either.
 
Peter said:
Hi there

I have an "IBM Deskstar 60GXP" harddisk, which has suddenly stopped working.
Yesterday the pc would not boot, and even if I put the disk in another
computer (for example, as a slave drive) the BIOS cannot detect it. Actually
the first time I tried it in another computer I could see it, but after just
a couple of minutes I got a message like "unsafe removal" and the disk
disappeared from windows explorer.

As far as I can tell the disk is spinning when I have power on it (it
hums/vibrates very gently).

Does anyone have any suggestions as what I can do to save the data on the
disk?
Click to expand...

If it's just the controller part of the HD that's gone bad, then, if you can
find another identical drive, you can swap the controller and see what
happens. This worked for one of my work colleagues with an old 40G drive.
 
If it's just the controller part of the HD that's gone bad, then, if you can
find another identical drive, you can swap the controller and see what
happens. This worked for one of my work colleagues with an old 40G drive.
Click to expand...
As it seems the disc is spinning normall, there is a great chance that
"only" the controller is defective. As suggested by Graeme, try to find a
2d-hand absolutely IDENTICAL disk (check for product numbers) and switch
the controllers. I' ve tried this before with a Seagate and it worked
perfectly.
 
I have an "IBM Deskstar 60GXP" harddisk, which has suddenly stopped working.
Yesterday the pc would not boot, and even if I put the disk in another
computer (for example, as a slave drive) the BIOS cannot detect it. Actually
the first time I tried it in another computer I could see it, but after just
a couple of minutes I got a message like "unsafe removal" and the disk
disappeared from windows explorer.

As far as I can tell the disk is spinning when I have power on it (it
hums/vibrates very gently).

Does anyone have any suggestions as what I can do to save the data on the
disk?
Click to expand...

try to get another SAME model & series one with good electronics &
swap the ele.board & than do the copying files to another one ...
 
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