Maxtor HD Failure?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Nik
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Nik

Hi

I have a Maxtor 6Y200MO (200GB) Hard Drive that has just suddenly decided to
fail on me. It is still recognised in the BIOS, and when I check its'
properties within My Computer, it reports that there is nothing on the drive
and it is in RAW format.

The drive is used mainly for archiving DVD's and photos, all of which have
been backed up onto DVD.

Is there a way of retireving the data without having to trawl my DVD's and
restore all the data?

Strange thing is, when I go to system restore, it reports that (even 3
months ago) the F: drive (as it's called) was excluded or uninstalled at
this point - which I never did!

Anyway, it's on a P4 3.2ghz, 1.5GB PC3200 400MHZ RAM system, SATA on an Asus
P5GDC Deluxe Mo/Bo running WIN XP SP2.

Any help appreciated.

Nik.
 
Hi

I have a Maxtor 6Y200MO (200GB) Hard Drive that has just suddenly decided to
fail on me. It is still recognised in the BIOS, and when I check its'
properties within My Computer, it reports that there is nothing on the drive
and it is in RAW format.

The drive is used mainly for archiving DVD's and photos, all of which have
been backed up onto DVD.

Is there a way of retireving the data without having to trawl my DVD's and
restore all the data?

Strange thing is, when I go to system restore, it reports that (even 3
months ago) the F: drive (as it's called) was excluded or uninstalled at
this point - which I never did!

Anyway, it's on a P4 3.2ghz, 1.5GB PC3200 400MHZ RAM system, SATA on an Asus
P5GDC Deluxe Mo/Bo running WIN XP SP2.

Any help appreciated.

Nik.
Click to expand...


Drive doesn't work- seems simple enough, there is no way to
get the data except with the backups.

You could try putting it in the freezer while sealed in a
plastic baggie then retry it while it's cold, but I'd
imagine that technically voids any warranty if there is one
still in effect.

IMO, best to do whatever is necessary to get a replacement
drive first (if current drive is under warranty, you may be
able to get Maxtor to cross-ship the warranty replacement if
you give them a credit card for security), then with the new
drive you can begin restoring from the backup and if all is
restorable without any hitches, there was no need to try to
resurrect the failed drive.
 
Nik said:
Hi

I have a Maxtor 6Y200MO (200GB) Hard Drive that has just suddenly decided to
fail on me. It is still recognised in the BIOS, and when I check its'
properties within My Computer, it reports that there is nothing on the drive
and it is in RAW format.

The drive is used mainly for archiving DVD's and photos, all of which have
been backed up onto DVD.

Is there a way of retireving the data without having to trawl my DVD's and
restore all the data?

Strange thing is, when I go to system restore, it reports that (even 3
months ago) the F: drive (as it's called) was excluded or uninstalled at
this point - which I never did!

Anyway, it's on a P4 3.2ghz, 1.5GB PC3200 400MHZ RAM system, SATA on an Asus
P5GDC Deluxe Mo/Bo running WIN XP SP2.

Any help appreciated.

Nik.
Click to expand...
System Restore is not meant to take the whole computer back to some
former state -- it works with system files and a limited assortment of
application files. Typically if a data drive without system files is in
the computer it is ignored by the restore program.

Smile and be glad that you have backed up your files though -- that puts
you ahead of ~99% of users I've dealt with. When their disk fails there
is no place for them to hide. But you did verify that those DVD burns
were perfect when you made them didn't you? And kept them up to date?...
 
Hi

I have a Maxtor 6Y200MO (200GB) Hard Drive that has just suddenly decided to
fail on me. It is still recognised in the BIOS, and when I check its'
properties within My Computer, it reports that there is nothing on the drive
and it is in RAW format.
Click to expand...

This may be an O/S problem and not hardware.
Check the drive using Maxtor's free diagnostic program," Powermax"
which works on most drive makes,not just Maxtor,
http://shurl.net/jV

If this reports the drive is ok we can go from there.
 
Ok, some good points. My major concern now is that I checked my Backup DVD,
and it is probably the only DVD I ever made, with errors! I can't access my
files. I can see them, but I can't get to them or copy them, and it takes
ages to read them. So now I'm panicking a bit, and it's a whole new ball
game!! (I even tried the DVD in my other PC, same results - I did check the
DVD when I wrote it, but again, I only opened it to see if I could see the
files, I didn't try opening the files!)

I'll try Sheps' recommended utility and post the results!

Thanks so far

Nik.
 
Ok, some good points. My major concern now is that I checked my Backup DVD,
and it is probably the only DVD I ever made, with errors!
Click to expand...

First and foremost, read-verify any important backups. The
reliability of DVD media is incredibly poor if you don't
happen upon a lucky combo of burner, firmware, media, and
ability of same burner to reread.

I can't access my
files. I can see them, but I can't get to them or copy them, and it takes
ages to read them.
Click to expand...

If it can't read 'em, of course it will take forever, then
give up. Try reading them in another drive. Then another
drive.

I don't mean to be sarcastic, but of utmost importance in
making backups is not just the making, but the confirmation
that they're restorable. Not a lecture about what went
wrong, only that it will be good to make sure the next
backup strategy is proven working.
So now I'm panicking a bit, and it's a whole new ball
game!! (I even tried the DVD in my other PC, same results - I did check the
DVD when I wrote it, but again, I only opened it to see if I could see the
files, I didn't try opening the files!)
Click to expand...

Not just opening then, checking the whole DVD and copying
them off.

You might try Nero DVDSpeed or some other utility to limit
the speed of (any, and all) of the drives you're tring to
read these in... but if the disc itself is bad there's not
much hope for it.

After a few years of finding any random CDR might've gone
bad after some time, even if it was readable initially, I
now never make single-point backups on optical media. It's
a nice concept, but it seems cheap drives and cheap media
(even expensive cheap media) just don't make for good
high-density storage. Only time will tell if the situation
improves, it could be that current discs are better able to
stand the test of time, but only a year longer from now will
we know for sure.
 
I have got the ability to boot from CD, but the Maxtor utility does not
offer the option to create a CD instead of a floppy.

In terms of Backup, lesson learnt. Tried all the different drive speeds etc.

So, back to "what to do now", I have scanned the drive with a file retrieval
utilty that tells me the files are there and retrievable (it even gives me
the option to open, but not store, the files.)

I now need to pay $130 if I want to retrieve them. Obvious question, is
there a free utility that offers this facility (before I'm suckered into
paying for it!!)

Thanks for your help so far.

Nik.
 
OK, got the ISO file. What do I do with it, it has 2 files, BOOTCAT, and
BOOTIMG. Do I create a bootable disc with Nero with these 2 files on it?

Thanks again.
 
I've read the instructions, but they don't help much as I run Nero. I have
put the files onto a bootbale CD, I can get the pc to boot into a strange
dos-type mode, but then it won't let me type anything at all and I have to
reset. HELP!
 
I've read the instructions, but they don't help much as I run Nero. I have
put the files onto a bootbale CD, I can get the pc to boot into a strange
dos-type mode, but then it won't let me type anything at all and I have to
reset. HELP!
Click to expand...

The file that downloads from the link I provided is an
PWRMAXEN.ISO, file.

You don't open the ISO with any application prior to burning
it, which would've had to happen for you to have seen the
BOOTCAT and BOOTIMG files. Don't be concerned about this
though, just have Nero burn an image as you would any other
ISO.

For example, looking at Nero 6, (don't recall if it's
"exactly" the same on other Nero versions but should be
close enough):

File-Open-(files of type: Image)-(Browse to the ISO file you
downloaded)-Burn Complilation Window (opens
automagically)-Click "Burn"

That should do it. There is another round-about way to do
it, if you told Nero to make a bootable disc and then
browsed to those two files you mentioned previously,
specifying then as the source of the bootable floppy image,
that would probably work too, but there is no reason to do
this unless perhaps you were putting together some kind of
special compliation CD but I don't even think Powermax is
set up to allow that, even for this kind of purpose you'd
probably want another boot loader and DOS instead so just
forget that I mentioned it.
 
I have got the ability to boot from CD, but the Maxtor utility does not
offer the option to create a CD instead of a floppy.

In terms of Backup, lesson learnt. Tried all the different drive speeds etc.

So, back to "what to do now", I have scanned the drive with a file retrieval
utilty that tells me the files are there and retrievable (it even gives me
the option to open, but not store, the files.)

I now need to pay $130 if I want to retrieve them. Obvious question, is
there a free utility that offers this facility (before I'm suckered into
paying for it!!)

Thanks for your help so far.
Click to expand...


Hard to say what will and what won't work since we don't
know exactly what's gone wrong, but here's one, you might
find more free alternatives with a Google search.

http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/uk/welcome.htm
 
OK, the file recovery program is mainly for file retrieval from a memory
card and reports that my media is too badly damaged. The "Expensive"
utilities contradict this, and I know I'm able to get them back (at a huge
cost!)

The Powermax utility just boots my PC into some weird dr-dos mode, with a
flashing A:> prompt that won't accept any commands at all.

Any further ideas appreciated.

Nik.
 
OK, the file recovery program is mainly for file retrieval from a memory
card and reports that my media is too badly damaged. The "Expensive"
utilities contradict this, and I know I'm able to get them back (at a huge
cost!)

The Powermax utility just boots my PC into some weird dr-dos mode, with a
flashing A:> prompt that won't accept any commands at all.

Any further ideas appreciated.

Nik.
Click to expand...


Maybe I linked it wrong but the link I supplied previously
was to a 'site that has several utilities- if the one you
downloaded was for memory cards, try the other one meant for
hard drives.

Did you make the CDR with Nero as I outlined previously?
If you burn the ISO and boot to it, the program should start
up fine. Maybe your system has some odd CD boot problem.
This is another reason why it's good to have a floppy. It's
only $10 in a multi-hundred dollar system.

If all else fails, take the drive to another system and then
make a powermax floppy there or try again with the powermax
ISO (or try remaking it).
 
Hi

I have a Maxtor 6Y200MO (200GB) Hard Drive that has just suddenly decided to
fail on me. It is still recognised in the BIOS, and when I check its'
properties within My Computer, it reports that there is nothing on the drive
and it is in RAW format.

The drive is used mainly for archiving DVD's and photos, all of which have
been backed up onto DVD.

Is there a way of retireving the data without having to trawl my DVD's and
restore all the data?

Strange thing is, when I go to system restore, it reports that (even 3
months ago) the F: drive (as it's called) was excluded or uninstalled at
this point - which I never did!

Anyway, it's on a P4 3.2ghz, 1.5GB PC3200 400MHZ RAM system, SATA on an Asus
P5GDC Deluxe Mo/Bo running WIN XP SP2.

Any help appreciated.

Nik.
Click to expand...
Is the disk making any clicking or repetitive noises? Does it take a
long time for the system to detect the disk when the system boots up?
Spinrite has saved me many times from disks I gave up on and will let
you know the severity of the damage if this is the case. There are
also tools that will allow recover some of the data if the disk is not
to badly damaged...

Are you using an external SATA controller or do you need to load any
special drivers for your OS to recognize the disk? Was this disk part
of a software are hardware RAID stripe? The first thing I would do is
determine if there's a mechanical problem with the disk. If not then
determine if there's a usable file system and how access it. Since
you didn't describe any of the typical symptoms of a mechanical hard
disk failure and the disk is SATA, I'm a bit inclined to think this an
OS or software problem rather than dead disk.
 
The CD allows bootable discs no problem. It boots from the ISO image, but
then goes to the A: prompt after doing a whole load of stuff, like loading
up some weird dos system. My choice I suppose, I hate floppy drives, and
this is the only time I have ever "slightly" needed one in the past 5years!

I did a Seagate "online" drive test that checked the drive for about 20
mins, which reported no errors. I'm happy that the HD is stable, and may be
retrievable, but without getting the data off it that I want (i.e. DV
Capture of my kids etc) I really don't want to reformat it back into NTFS.

I will try and obtain some sort of software that will allow me to retrieve
the data and then take it from there, needless to say - lesson learnt about
checking and rechecking backed up data in future!

Thanks for all your good advice.

Nik.
 
Nik said:
OK, the file recovery program is mainly for file retrieval from a memory
card and reports that my media is too badly damaged. The "Expensive"
utilities contradict this, and I know I'm able to get them back (at a huge
cost!)

The Powermax utility just boots my PC into some weird dr-dos mode, with a
flashing A:> prompt that won't accept any commands at all.
Click to expand...


The MSaxtor PowerMax did not work for me either!

Dave C
 
OK, the file recovery program is mainly for file retrieval from a memory
card and reports that my media is too badly damaged. The "Expensive"
utilities contradict this, and I know I'm able to get them back (at a huge
cost!)

The Powermax utility just boots my PC into some weird dr-dos mode, with a
flashing A:> prompt that won't accept any commands at all.

Any further ideas appreciated.

Nik.
Click to expand...

I've just made and tested a floppy with this version of Powermax,
http://www.sheppola.karoo.net/powermax406.exe

928k download.
 
Ok, some good points. My major concern now is that I checked my Backup DVD,
and it is probably the only DVD I ever made, with errors! I can't access my
files. I can see them, but I can't get to them or copy them, and it takes
ages to read them. So now I'm panicking a bit, and it's a whole new ball
game!! (I even tried the DVD in my other PC, same results - I did check the
DVD when I wrote it, but again, I only opened it to see if I could see the
files, I didn't try opening the files!)

I'll try Sheps' recommended utility and post the results!

Thanks so far
Click to expand...

I've just made,burnt and tested this Powermax bootable CD .ISO.
http://www.sheppola.karoo.net/powermax.zip

Right click on file after download and extract.Choose open with and
choose Nero.Double click and follow through.

HTH :)
 
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