Hard Drive Is Fried

[DougieJedi]

My hard drive died back in August. The computer wouldn't boot up. I sent the computer in and got it fixed--new hard drive and OS. I try and plug the old HD back in as a slave and the computer boots up but the second HD won't show up. Sometimes, I get a message from the SMART monitor as it boots telling me the HD status is bad, back up and replace. How do I do this if I can't access it? I think it spins, I can feel a vibration if I touch it while it's plugged in. I don't really want to send it in to a recovery company if I don't have too. What do I do? Some of the data on there was backed up, but not all of it. It is critical that I get all my programs and other data from it.
If it helps any, my computer is a VAIO VGC-RA710G and the hard drive with the problem is a Western Digital Caviar 250 gig.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Some people have luck with the freezer trick. Put it in freezer for 20min or so, then be prepared to hook it up quick and work fast, because if it works it won't work for to long.

If that doesn't work data recovery is your only choice

 

[RebateMonger]

If you can't get the drive to show up in the BIOS, or if it can't be read after it shows up, you need the help of a reputable data recovery company. Expect it to cost between $500 and $2000.

If you data isn't worth that much, then you can always try the freezer trick. Or the hammer trick.

 

[DougieJedi]

No, it shows up in the BIOS.
The Freezer trick? Does that really work, and how?

 

[DougieJedi]

It's still not showing up in My Computer, but it shows up in the BIOS. What's the hammer trick?

 

[MulLa]

If data is "critical" I suggest you don't try any of these "tricks", you might get lucky with them and get your data back. Most of the time you'll end up making it worse and harder for data recovery companies to get data back. Harder = more time spent on your drive = more $$$.

 

[stevem326]

If you have the money, I would recommend SpinRite by Steve Gibson. SpinRite is legendary for being able to recover data from badly damaged hard drives. The price is $89, though, and that scares a lot of people off. I guess it all depends on how much your data is worth to you.

 

[DougieJedi]

I turned it off and on again. After booting up, it said that the drive (in this case F:/) should be checked for errors in that friendly Windows screen. Below that it said to press a key before the time runs out to stop the disk from being checked. I did that, logged in and I gave up. My Computer wouldn't open. It would just think. So I popped it back in the freezer. I'll try again in the morning.

 

[DougieJedi]

Originally posted by: MulLa
If data is "critical" I suggest you don't try any of these "tricks", you might get lucky with them and get your data back. Most of the time you'll end up making it worse and harder for data recovery companies to get data back. Harder = more time spent on your drive = more $$$.

I'd like to try anything I can before I pay. After that, then I'll pay what I must.

 

[DougieJedi]

Originally posted by: stevem326
If you have the money, I would recommend SpinRite by Steve Gibson. SpinRite is legendary for being able to recover data from badly damaged hard drives. The price is $89, though, and that scares a lot of people off. I guess it all depends on how much your data is worth to you.

If I can't access the HD in My Computer, how is this going to work?

 

[thegimp03]

I used Recover My Files a few weeks ago. Recovered all 250+ gb. Highly recommended.

 

[RebateMonger]

Some basic hard drive repair principals:

There are four basic types of hard drive problems:

1) Mechanical hardware failure, including severely damaged heads, platters, and motors.
2) Failed controller system, including the harddrive's onboard controller circuit board, the PC's harddrive controller system, and the cabling system.
3) Logical errors on the hard drive. There's no platter damage, but the bits on the platters have gotten "scrambled".
4) Bad sectors on the hard drive. Your system may start to boot, or may boot successfully, but when accessing certain data, it'll do repetitive retrys which may also cause your OS or programs to crash.

Data recovery programs can fix 3) and 4). They can't do anything for 1) and 2). Sometimes, things like the "freezer trick" can temporarily "fix" 1). But when you mess with a mecahnically damaged drive, you risk making the damage worse.

 

[DougieJedi]

I tried the free trial of Recover My Files. I'm not sure, but how could it access a HD that I can't?

 

[DNose]

I have this post under the general hardware

Topic Title: Have You Ever Done Real Data Recovery.
Topic Summary: What utilities are at the top of your list and why.


This is a fairly easy scenario to recover data. I could have that data recovered in one hour

using R-Studio. In this case spinrite would take to long & is not necessary.

I just saying if you handle it Wright you will get your data back.

I would definitely not do anything or use anything that might change the drive.

If you care about the data.

Not only dose it make it harder to recover it also can make it imposable.

Do not freeze the drive. Freezing dose work in rare case's but it is a final step because of the moisture that involved.

Recover My Files is just what it sounds like, A Joke. It just doesn't try hard enough.

RebateMonger
Golden Member Facts are also 100% correct.