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Thread ID: 58454 2005-06-01 07:27:00 Is my hdd fried??? almunro (7531) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
360191 2005-06-01 07:27:00 my girlfriend was using my computer and said it froze when she tried to access the second hdd. now when i boot up it wont recognise in either the bios or windows.... is the drive fired?? i have two of the same maxtor sata drives, and the one that doesnt get recognise doesnt feel like anything is moving inside when you put your hand on it, or if it is its really faint.... where as the working one you can feel the slight humming vibration of it working.does this mean my drives dead?? i really need the data on it as thats where i stored all my stuff.

Any advice would be great.

Alex
almunro (7531)
360192 2005-06-01 07:42:00 Pull out the power for the failing hdd, and reseat it fermly, it may just be that it isnt getting power. ILikeLinux (1669)
360193 2005-06-01 07:44:00 I would check inside the case.

See if either of the SATA's power connections have come off.
Speedy Gonzales (78)
360194 2005-06-01 08:08:00 i have tried reseating the connectors, but i have to get a star wrench to get inside the case. almunro (7531)
360195 2005-06-01 12:21:00 i couldnt see why it would be the connections if it worked fine one day and then didnt the next.... maybe any other reasons?? is it corrupted?? almunro (7531)
360196 2005-06-01 19:26:00 i have tried reseating the connectors, but i have to get a star wrench to get inside the case.Are these external hard drives? Just wondering how you checked the sATA connections when you haven't opened up the computer case yet? Not quite sure what a star-wrench is, but most cases are opened using thumbscrews or phillip screwdrivers to undo the screws. This is important information to mention about what sort of drive they are. If they are external drives, then have you tried the dud drive in the working drives enclosure? Jen (38)
360197 2005-06-01 19:36:00 i have tried reseating the connectors, but i have to get a star wrench to get inside the case.

NO! DONOT OPEN THE HARD DISK CASE. doingso will only make matters worse, e.g void of warrenty corruption of data... propper ruining of the hdd, the list goes on.
ILikeLinux (1669)
360198 2005-06-01 22:26:00 Yep almunro don't mess with the HD case !!!
don't want to let the vacumn out ;)
Organicpete (133)
360199 2005-06-02 01:45:00 ok it is a internal maxtor diamondplus9 sata 160 gig hdd. it has screws that have a star shape instead of say a normal allen wrench shape. i wont open the case then.

is there anything i can do to get it going or should i look into data retreival... even tho its very exxxy.

Alex
almunro (7531)
360200 2005-06-02 02:53:00 Don't try to access the drive, physically or by read/writing to it. Doing so will lessen your chances of data retrieval if the drive is failing. (Never, ever, open a drive case of an internal drive if it has data on it you want, or your going to return it to get a replacement under warrenty. Those screws are different for a very good reason, to stop you from messing with the drive.)

Go to Maxtor's website and download a bootable drive test utility (if you don't already have one) or, download a 3rd party boot disc to test the drive. Look for one that will scan the file system, disc surface (surface scan) and test the controller communications, if such a Maxtor tool is available, otherwise go with what they have got. Note: MS scandisk only checks the files system for errors, it does not do a true surface scan, it does not check the controller.

Some drive scanning utilities can give you the option of 'attempting' to retrieve data data. If the data is very important to you, weigh up the costs of professional data retrieval against your own amatuer attempts. The more you fiddle with the drive data, the more difficult and costly retrieval will be.

You could try the drive on a different IDE channel and Molex power connecter or better still, in a different computer. Do not try to write to it, just see if it works.
Murray P (44)
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