Paul 55,114 Posted August 18, 2007 Share Posted August 18, 2007 Howdy, I have an issue where I have a drive the computers will not read. How can I get the data off the drive? What really sucks is, this drive was just purchased this year! I have an old 40 gig that is several years old and still going strong! Same manufacturer, Seagate. Link to post Share on other sites
Bob Ward 321 Posted August 18, 2007 Share Posted August 18, 2007 Howdy, I have an issue where I have a drive the computers will not read. How can I get the data off the drive? What really sucks is, this drive was just purchased this year! I have an old 40 gig that is several years old and still going strong! Same manufacturer, Seagate. Paul, there are a number of possibilities here. First, it's odd but the larger drives in home PCs are more prone to failure for some reason. Sucks but it's true in the data world. If you tried it in more than 1 pc then there is a good chance it has failed. What about your back ups? Sorry, just had to throw that in the mix. If it has failed, it could be the controller/interface circuitry only. That is a good possibility unless there is audible noise from the drive. If that is the case then your only option is to send it to a data recovery specialist. They will repair the interface circuitry, or bypass it long enough to get your data off. It's usually not cheap, but that is relative to the data involved. Seagate offers a set of tools on their support site that might let you get to the data long enough to copy it to a CD if the interface is good. If you need to discern which is the best company to do the recovery, PM me and I will help you research it. Link to post Share on other sites
Mike S 1 Posted August 18, 2007 Share Posted August 18, 2007 Yes Paul it is not easy ...... we just had one of our main hd for the maintenance dept. go down last week .... a specialist came out and took the drive out of the computer and noticed that is was really hot ....... he put it in the freezer at work for about 1 hour and then put it back in and with a program he had with him managed to get the files he needed before it crapped out again ........ he told me that sometimes he got lucky and other times he had to take it back to his shop and try to extract it the hard way ........ he said it could take as much as several days if the drive would last that long ........ people laugh at me because I have 2 external drives and 2 external drives one of which is 500gig ....... I use big Bertha to store all my data just in case ...... I can also keep a fan on it just to make sure it stays cool ....... I also have several 2 gig thumb drives for storing stuff I really need to keep from getting lost Link to post Share on other sites
Alan S 4,607 Posted August 18, 2007 Share Posted August 18, 2007 320 Gig Hdd.... Mmmm. Paul has got a big one. Link to post Share on other sites
Admin (Retired) Aerosick 1,701 Posted August 18, 2007 Admin (Retired) Share Posted August 18, 2007 320 Gig Hdd....Mmmm. Paul has got a big one. But it's broke down a lot! He calls it his Harley Knucklehead... Billy Link to post Share on other sites
tom_shor 1,202 Posted August 18, 2007 Share Posted August 18, 2007 But it's broke down a lot! He calls it his Harley Knucklehead... Billy Kinky. Bet the girls love that. Oh wait that's a motorcycle never mind. Link to post Share on other sites
Mike S 1 Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 (edited) Well mine is bigger than his .... 500gig ..... and it is external to boot .......... so nanny..nanny poo poo ........... But wait a minute he lives with two beautiful Filipina hard bodies and I live with ........ well never mind ......... Edited August 19, 2007 by Mike S Link to post Share on other sites
Paul 55,114 Posted August 19, 2007 Author Share Posted August 19, 2007 Hey Mike, Mine is an external too. Unfortunately, it has my entire life on it. Link to post Share on other sites
Mike S 1 Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 Wow .... sorry guy ...... wish there was some way to help ....... will it spin at all or is it locked up ...... have you tried using it out of the case ....... I have had cases go bad as a case of a sata drive I bought and ended up frying it because the case was bad ........ just trying to help ........ I'm sure you tried it all Link to post Share on other sites
Paul 55,114 Posted August 20, 2007 Author Share Posted August 20, 2007 Wow .... sorry guy ...... wish there was some way to help ....... will it spin at all or is it locked up ...... have you tried using it out of the case ....... I have had cases go bad as a case of a sata drive I bought and ended up frying it because the case was bad ........ just trying to help ........ I'm sure you tried it all Hi Mike, First, yes it does spin up. I just can't get the computer to 'see' the drive, no matter what I do. Second, it originally was in an external case, but I believe it may have gotten too hot, as it was very hot to the touch in the case. The previous case it was in stopped working (power supply issue) so I put it in the desktop, where it did work. Later, because I was unable to get the laptop to access the HDD, I put it back in the case, until it failed (or whatever happened, happened). Link to post Share on other sites
David Spicer 218 Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 Hey Mike, Mine is an external too. Unfortunately, it has my entire life on it. Paul, if this is an external USB drive, it may be just a driver issue. Try uninstalling the device in Device Manager and let Windows reinstall the driver. Link to post Share on other sites
Paul 55,114 Posted August 20, 2007 Author Share Posted August 20, 2007 Hi David, I removed the drive from the case, to verify that it wasn't a case issue. Unfortunately, it wasn't. The HDD still wasn't recognized by the desktop either. Soooo, hopefully I will be able to locate someone to repair my drive or (at least) get the data off the drive. Link to post Share on other sites
Bob Ward 321 Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 Hi David, I removed the drive from the case, to verify that it wasn't a case issue. Unfortunately, it wasn't. The HDD still wasn't recognized by the desktop either. Soooo, hopefully I will be able to locate someone to repair my drive or (at least) get the data off the drive. I'm on the job, I just got drunk and I missed it. I can't see straight yet but I will find the right one tomorrow AM since it was another holiday today! Cheers! BTW - is this thing SCSI, IDE or ATA or really USB? Link to post Share on other sites
Paul 55,114 Posted August 20, 2007 Author Share Posted August 20, 2007 I'm on the job, I just got drunk and I missed it. I can't see straight yet but I will find the right one tomorrow AM since it was another holiday today! Cheers! BTW - is this thing SCSI, IDE or ATA or really USB? It's an IDE drive that I had in a USB external drive case. I'm thinking the drive may have overheated. It is in a room where air-con is running (paranoid about too much heat on my electronics) whenever the network and computers are on. If this is the case, it is the first drive I will have ever lost because of failure. Of course, I did have a Western Digital some years ago, that had some sectors that went bad. But, the rest of the drive was still fine. Link to post Share on other sites
Bob Ward 321 Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 It's an IDE drive that I had in a USB external drive case. I'm thinking the drive may have overheated. It is in a room where air-con is running (paranoid about too much heat on my electronics) whenever the network and computers are on. If this is the case, it is the first drive I will have ever lost because of failure. Of course, I did have a Western Digital some years ago, that had some sectors that went bad. But, the rest of the drive was still fine. It may sound odd but the freezer trick can work sometimes, but be careful of condensation if you try it. I'd wait for the experts since this is you life on the files! Link to post Share on other sites
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