My hard drive crapped the big one

[GreatArtist]

It totally stopped working and it made a moderately loud klunking noise
every few seconds.
Anybody know what that noise is exactly? Is there any hope in hell of
making this thing work long enough for me to get back my files?

On another computer, I have a maxtor & a quantum hard drive that both
lasted 8 yrs without a problem and are still working, even though for a
couple of years they ran very hot due to a bad power supply. I guess
they made me think hard drives are more reliable than they are.

Today I just bought a Seagate 300gb drive that cost $80 after rebate
from Circuit City. It's going to be sweet having all that space.

 

[Arno Wagner]

It totally stopped working and it made a moderately loud klunking noise
every few seconds.
Anybody know what that noise is exactly?

It tries to recalibrate the heads. If the normal (more silent) mode
fails, it does some more extreme things. Should not cause damage
by itself but is an indication of a very serious problem.

Is there any hope in hell of
making this thing work long enough for me to get back my files?

Professional data recovery. Unless your files are basically worthless
and you like to gamble.

On another computer, I have a maxtor & a quantum hard drive that both
lasted 8 yrs without a problem and are still working, even though for a
couple of years they ran very hot due to a bad power supply. I guess
they made me think hard drives are more reliable than they are.

They are more reliable than they used to be. But they are also
more sensitive to things like heat. What has gone up tremenduously
is the reliability per bit stored.

So in good conditions, you may get 10-25 times the reliability
(thinking of those old 20.000h MTBF Seagates), but in bad conditions
(hot, strong vibration, bad PUS) thay may actually fail more often than
older drives....

Today I just bought a Seagate 300gb drive that cost $80 after rebate
from Circuit City. It's going to be sweet having all that space.

Think about how you will back that up before putting anything
worrhwhile on it.

Arno

 

[Rod Speed]

It totally stopped working and it made a
moderately loud klunking noise every few seconds.
Anybody know what that noise is exactly?

Its the drive recalibrating when it cant read the platters anymore.

Is there any hope in hell of making this thing
work long enough for me to get back my files?

You might be able to get the data back by swapping
the logic card with an identical model drive.

On another computer, I have a maxtor & a quantum hard drive that
both lasted 8 yrs without a problem and are still working, even though
for a couple of years they ran very hot due to a bad power supply.

That last is very unlikely unless you mean the fan in that.

 

[GreatArtist]

That last is very unlikely unless you mean the fan in that.

Well they ran very hot to the touch until I changed power supplies.
Then they were normal.

 

[GreatArtist]

Well they ran very hot to the touch until I changed power supplies.
Then they were normal.

And also it wasn't a fan issue. I kept the case open all the time.

 

[Rod Speed]

Rod Speed wrote

Well they ran very hot to the touch until I changed power supplies.
Then they were normal.

Likely a coincidence like you moved from hot to cooler weather at the same time.

And also it wasn't a fan issue. I kept the case open all the time.

Even more likely it was the room temp, not the power supply.

 

[Arno Wagner]

Well they ran very hot to the touch until I changed power supplies.
Then they were normal.

Sounds like bad airflow from the PSU. And, yes, that would be a bad
PSU IMO.

Arno

 

[Arno Wagner]

And also it wasn't a fan issue. I kept the case open all the time.

Interessting. Hmm. Might be possible with the righ error
mode. Too high voltages is one. A lot of noise on the power line
ia also one.

Arno