[Hitokage]

My E drive died a horrible death.

When I boot the computer up with it attached (it was set as Primary Slave), the computer won't even boot up. It affects the C/D Drive (C and D, partioned) which it is set to be slave too.

When it has power, it makes an odd 'click click click' sound, and the computer cannot find it.

If I go into the bios and go through and select each drive, it seems to see it there, but still cannot find it on booting up.

Undid it from the system and the whole computer boots up fine.

I despretely need to save the data on this drive. Is there...

1) Any way to get this drive powered up long enough to get the stuff off it?
2) Any way, if the drive is broken, to get the data off of it?

I need to get the data off. I can't even find words to stress how important the stuff on this drive is to me. Anything anyone can suggest for saving the drive AND/OR just getting the data off would be a life saver!

PS -- I have more then enough room on the rest of the computer's drives to get the stuff from my dead E drive. Also... it was fine before I moved, and once I moved it was fine. I left my computer running that night (after rebooting it after the move) and when I woke up, the drive seemed to have died. But it DID run for MANY hours the day before!

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Before you throw it out....
There is always a possibility that it may have enough life left for one or two sessions, long enough to copy the contents to a fresh drive.

The most common symptom is click,click,click,click.
That is the drive arm slipping, a mechanical failure and worn out part on the arm.
This is opposed to a head crash, where the arm and heads drop onto the platter and eat it like a car with a flat tire running on the rim.

If it still clicks, a few hours in the freezer may be enough to expand the faulty part enough to grab long enough to clone it off to a fresh drive.

Freeze it overnight and then stick it in another machine with a comparable size drive.
If you can access and read it, run whatever disk copy software (Acronis) you have and get what you can on the fresh drive.

[fleamailman]

Before you throw it out....
There is always a possibility that it may have enough life left for one or two sessions, long enough to copy the contents to a fresh drive.

The most common symptom is click,click,click,click.
That is the drive arm slipping, a mechanical failure and worn out part on the arm.
This is opposed to a head crash, where the arm and heads drop onto the platter and eat it like a car with a flat tire running on the rim.

If it still clicks, a few hours in the freezer may be enough to expand the faulty part enough to grab long enough to clone it off to a fresh drive.

Freeze it overnight and then stick it in another machine with a comparable size drive.
If you can access and read it, run whatever disk copy software (Acronis) you have and get what you can on the fresh drive.

[Hitokage]

...Are you serious? ...Freeze it?

Acronis - is that a good program?

[nicedeals]

I'm sure it can be saved

[fleamailman]

I am not confident, but it is worth a try at least, nothing more to lose, but at least this reminds everyone that harddrives, like people, can go at any moment, so back ups are called for.

[warriorscot]

I wouldnt use Acronis on it disk images arent a good idea at the best of times with a drive thats broken or soon to be even worse its alot of load just copy the files manually. You might try accessing the drive via a linux live CD you can sometimes access and copy data through linux that windows wont normally read.

[Hitokage]

So should I really stick it in the freezer?

Could I send it back to the company for them to fix the misaligned/broken reader?

[warriorscot]

The company wont fix it the drives are manufactured on an assembly line they cost a fortune to repair. Yeah you can stick it in the freezer put it in a ziplock bag some people say freezing it works certainly wouldnt hurt it.

[fleamailman]

Once scot answers, it's for sure

[Kemasa]

There are companies which charge a lot of money to recover the data. I personally don't know of any to recommend, but it is something you could check into.

Another option is to replace the disk control board (on the drive). You may need to use a board with the same (or close) firmware. That sometimes works, depending on what is wrong with it.

You can also try downloading a diagnostic program from the maker of the disk, which may or may not work depending on how the drive is working. If the diagnostic program does not work, that points more to the control board than a mechanical issue with the disk.

Personally, I would not try freezing it.

[bmwboy]

Freeze it if all else fails, it worked on my old 10 gig once.

--bmwboy

[warriorscot]

If its detected in bios that indicates that the control board is ok, professional recovery companies can be effective however it is VERY expensive especially if its a damaged drive.

Electronics is generally more effective at lower temperatures, it wont hurt it if its allready dead.

[bmwboy]

Remember though, the frozen hard drive may only boot once or twice if at all, so be sure to backup when you get it thawed!

--bmwboy

[Hitokage]

Well here's the report from the freezing thing:

The computer booted, SAW the drive. When it went through the first checks.

But it wouldn't load it up.

It just kept making that awful clicking.

How MUCH money are we talking about for someone to get the data from the drive?

[Hitokage]

Okay looked closer.

It goes through the first checks. Recognizes the drive.

It goes into Windows Opening screen. I hear the drive power up and something starts to spin.

Then it sounds like something is moving, and its 'flicking' over something metal. The drive stops spinning. It starts again, then something moves and the 'flick' is heard again. It distinctly sounds like metal being 'flicked'

Isn't there any way for me to just send it to the company or something and have them fix the little broken part?