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attn: computer experts... failing hard drive

H

HardTech

Golden Member
ok, so my 300GB media drive kind of crapped out on me a few weeks ago, so I ordered a EIDE/SATA->USB kit

I just plugged it in and Windows detects the drive just fine, but it won't assign it a drive letter. I checked Disk Management and it's not in there either.

Any suggestions?

it's a Seagate 7200.8 NCQ hard drive btw... only a few months old
 
Originally posted by: HardTech
ok, so my 300GB media drive kind of crapped out on me a few weeks ago, so I ordered a EIDE/SATA->USB kit

I just plugged it in and Windows detects the drive just fine, but it won't assign it a drive letter. I checked Disk Management and it's not in there either.

Any suggestions?

it's a Seagate 7200.8 NCQ hard drive btw... only a few months old
Click to expand...

If anything, it's even *less* likely to work through an IDE/SATA->USB enclosure.

If you can see the drive while it's directly attached, but you can't read the partitions/data, try data recovery software. Odds are some of the filesystem data got corrupted, but most of your data is probably there.

If you can't see the drive at all while it's directly plugged in (even in Disk Management), it's broken to the point where software fixes are not going to help.
 
Originally posted by: Matthias99
Originally posted by: HardTech
ok, so my 300GB media drive kind of crapped out on me a few weeks ago, so I ordered a EIDE/SATA->USB kit

I just plugged it in and Windows detects the drive just fine, but it won't assign it a drive letter. I checked Disk Management and it's not in there either.

Any suggestions?

it's a Seagate 7200.8 NCQ hard drive btw... only a few months old
Click to expand...

If anything, it's even *less* likely to work through an IDE/SATA->USB enclosure.

If you can see the drive while it's directly attached, but you can't read the partitions/data, try data recovery software. Odds are some of the filesystem data got corrupted, but most of your data is probably there.

If you can't see the drive at all while it's directly plugged in (even in Disk Management), it's broken to the point where software fixes are not going to help.
Click to expand...

do you think Norton Ghost will be able to detect it?

What would you recommend for data recovery?
 
ok, an update

I booted via Norton Ghost and it wasn't able to recognize my hard drive.

When I plug it in via USB in Windows, Windows detects a new USB Device but doesn't do anything else. It doesn't even know it's a hard drive.

I REALLY need the data off of this drive and can't afford data recovery services (I got a quote for $900-$2300). I'm a college student and not a corporation.

Any suggestions?
 
Try plugging it into different IDE ports... I too have 300GB 7200.8 that will run on my seconday master, but not on my primary master. And make sure the jumper is explicitly set, don't use cable select.
 
I dont really know what you are doing - I assume you are putting the BAD seagate into an EXTERNAL(?) enclosure. Is this the drive that has your data? If your drive "crapped out", why should it work anyways?

Why on earth didnt you just slave it to an internal drive??

"Windows recognizes it". Which windows? Was XP already on drive before you put it in enclosure?
Or is windows on another internal drive already?

FWIW: 7200.8 can be either SATA or IDE.

USB enclosed Drive has to be "initialized"........
http://www.sabrent.com/Drivers/SBT-EBU25.htm

Edit:
Didnt mention enclosure brand, but for bug free USB 2.0 I guess you need XP SP2.

 
Originally posted by: Bozo Galora
I dont really know what you are doing - I assume you are putting the BAD seagate into an EXTERNAL(?) enclosure. Is this the drive that has your data? If your drive "crapped out", why should it work anyways?

Why on earth didnt you just slave it to an internal drive??

"Windows recognizes it". Which windows? Was XP already on drive before you put it in enclosure?
Or is windows on another internal drive already?

FWIW: 7200.8 can be either SATA or IDE.

USB enclosed Drive has to be "initialized"........
http://www.sabrent.com/Drivers/SBT-EBU25.htm

Edit:
Didnt mention enclosure brand, but for bug free USB 2.0 I guess you need XP SP2.
Click to expand...

yes, I put my CRAPPED OUT hard drive into an EXTERNAL CLOSURE to try to get it to work. I figured it would be easier to see where the problem was?

The reason I didn't just slave it is because it was a slave when it failed, and I already tried that route without much success.

Since this is my media drive, XP is on another drive and I'm able to boot up into XP just fine. SP2 is installed, so USB2.0 is not an issue. Enclosures don't have to be initialized, at least the enclosures I've purchased have never required initialization.

my drive is EIDE, but I guess that's pretty obvious since I talked about slaving it and stuff
 
my media drive died. I used a program called get data back ntfs. It took like 8 hours to scan my drive, and the recovery proess was rather slow, but i was able to recover about 190 out of 210gb on my drive. With most of the file structure / folders intact.
 
Originally posted by: jonnybruno
my media drive died. I used a program called get data back ntfs. It took like 8 hours to scan my drive, and the recovery proess was rather slow, but i was able to recover about 190 out of 210gb on my drive. With most of the file structure / folders intact.
Click to expand...

I've pretty much given up on it. I've booted into Ghost and tried scanning my hard drive like that without luck.

It detects USB drives too, since I had my other external drive hooked up and Ghost read that just fine
 
i would really try get data back instead. i only had success with that after trying other programs. i've read many others have had the same experience. just boot from your normal drive with the failed drive hooked up as a slave. as long as it detects it, i bet you will be able to pull some stuff
 
Originally posted by: jonnybruno
i would really try get data back instead. i only had success with that after trying other programs. i've read many others have had the same experience. just boot from your normal drive with the failed drive hooked up as a slave. as long as it detects it, i bet you will be able to pull some stuff
Click to expand...

that's the thing, it doesn't detect it. If Windows would recognize the drive, I'd know just what to do in order to get the data off.

Since it's not being detected, I'm suspecting something much worse is going on, i.e. the circuit board is fried, the head crashed into the platters, etc.
 
basicall HDD fail because of following:

Bad mobo controller - your primary master works, so this is not you
Bad HDD (PCB) IDE controller chip
Warped platter(s) - usually from dropping or knocking over - not you
Head crash (usualy repeated clicking or grinding) - prob not you
Head separation - very noisy like a mixmaster - not you
A single or multiple cold solder joint on back of HDD PCB where its soldered to molex connectors (excessive force in plugging/unplugging)
Fried or frozen servo assembly
Frozen shaft bearing
Fried motor winding

My guess is bad HDD controller chip or bad servo unit or bad motor
Your easiest fix attempt is to do a switch replace of HDD PCB - with an identical one from a drive bought on ebay as cheaply as possible. Just unscrew and replace.

The next thing is to send th drive to the recovery company and have an analysis made on the drive. A friend just did this , and you have to ship drive to them of course, and they charged $80 to open it and check it, and they came back with bad servo diagnosis - which meant $2200 recovery was the only way.
 
So when you slave the said hdd, is it detected in the Bios correctly? If it is not then the hdd can be assumed dead for good (but if you can hear the hdd whine it could just be a bad hdd board and can have it replaced with an identical board). If it is detected in the bios, is it being detected in Window's Disk Management? Obviously, if it's not detected in the bios it will never be detected in Windows DM. But if it's detected in the bios it may or may not be detected in DM. But if it is detected in DM except that you cannot access the data, then you have a chance of recovering that data. But if it's not detected in DM, then the hdd may not be spinning anymore or the read arm is stuck. So which one is it? Do you hear it whine or spin?
 
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