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HD dead! Please help me recover My Pictures!

AnitaPeterson

AnitaPeterson

Diamond Member
Hello everyone,

I'm grasping at straws, hoping somebody might be able to help.

My primary HD has just died. I was listening to some music, when suddenly I had a Blue Screen of Death, and when I restarted the machine, Windows wouldn't load anymore.

I entered the BIOS, and much to my shock, the Primary Master was no longer recognized. It's as if there's no HD in the system.

When I turn the machine on, I hear something like a cricket sound, repeated twice every 20 seconds. Otherwise, i don't think the HD is spinning - I can't feel anything when I touch it.

I tried taking the HD out and putting it into an external USB enclosure - it still cannot be recognized by other computers, and the cricket sound is still there.

The only thing I really care about on that HD is the "My Pictures" folder, because I have my Europe vacation pictures there.

After doing a bit of Google searching, I found that this could be a firmware problem, the so-called "N40P firmware corruption" issue.

It would cost me at least $500 (which I can't afford!) to go to a specialized data recovery service...

I hope that perhaps someone here with lots of computer expertise can help me recover my files.

Now, I'm not a computer genius, but I'm quick-witted and I can follow proper instructions. I've never done this before, and I don't know what can be done, what software is necessary, or what hardware combination.

This forum has 100,000 members, I'm sure at least one of you will know more about the problem than I can ever hope for.


Here is all the HD information, as listed on the top label:


MAXTOR DiamondMax Plus 8, 30 GB, ATA 133

Code: NAR61590

LBA: 60058656

E-H011-02-3427

6E030L0510213 ABA

SN: E12QHC3E

A264 Made in Singapore (2)


Please help as much as you can! Thank you!
 
I've had luck doing the following:

1) Put drive in anti static bag, and then in the freezer.
2) Once frozen, boot up the drive and get your data off.

This has been helpful for click of death type problems and I was able to get all the data back. I'm not sure if it's applicable to yours.
 
Maxtor was known for shipping the bad heated chips... freezer trick should work... Good luck, I suggest buying another drive before doing the freezer trick.. so you have something to copy out the data to..
 
I'd also try SpinRite, I think it costs money but its supposably really good at data recovery and hard drive maintenence, but getting that would probably be last resort if you realy need your stuff.
 
Here I go, to the freezer, with the HDD sealed in two air-vacuumed ziploc bags... I'll leave it there until tomorrow. I have the space where I can download my files. All I need is access...
 
If the issue is firmware, rather than mechanical, you can sometimes recover data by swapping the controller board. You would need a drive of identical make and model(absolutely the closer the better, down to revision numbers if you can). If you can find one, it is pretty easy to swap the boards, undo a few screws, carefully unhook any connectors, and swap.

That is useless for mechanical issues; but it can work to get intact data off a drive with a b0rked board.
 
Originally posted by: phisrow
If the issue is firmware, rather than mechanical, you can sometimes recover data by swapping the controller board. You would need a drive of identical make and model(absolutely the closer the better, down to revision numbers if you can). If you can find one, it is pretty easy to swap the boards, undo a few screws, carefully unhook any connectors, and swap.

That is useless for mechanical issues; but it can work to get intact data off a drive with a b0rked board.
Click to expand...


aaaah, but "ze plot sickens"... I thought so, too, until I found the information that Maxtor keeps firmware error information on a secondary chip, and a board from another drive might bring further confusion... unfortunately i had to restart, so I lost the URL...
 
Originally posted by: AnitaPeterson
My primary HD has just died. I was listening to some music, when suddenly I had a Blue Screen of Death, and when I restarted the machine, Windows wouldn't load anymore.
Click to expand...

DRM just gets worse and worse.

Sorry about your loss. I lost a 3 disk array when my SCSI card's BIOS got "updated" by Nero (retail, not pirated). Trust me, in a couple of years the pain from the loss subsides. The freezer trick should work for you, good luck.
 
You might try zero assumption recovery. it has a demo version but I think that image files are free to recover if it can nab them.
 
OK, folks, here's an update 🙁 :

I tried the "freeze trick" (with the HDD inside two sealed, vacuumed ziploc bags, left in the freezer for 24 hours), but the noise is still there, and the drive still can't be seen.

Therefore, only two explanations remain: bad firware or bad hardware.

Please, if you have the know-how necessary for a recovery, let me know. Like I said, I'm trying to keep costs down to a minimum...
 
Believe it or not, I was in the process of backing up the C:/ drive. I'd finished backing up the entire My Documents folder, except for the pictures!
 
Some time ago I experienced same problem - HDD is likely dead. But because friend of mine works in company that recover lost data from broken disks I got my data back for free. If you are not going with HDD to such company you its very unlikely that you´ll be able to recover your data.
 
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