[stitusandrews]

Hi All,

I have got an issue with my computer. It is pretty old (6 years, custom built)

MY dvd drive wasnt working so I was playing around changing the IDE cables and the slots. All of a sudden I started to see smoke coming from the IDE cable and hard drive four pin junction.

My question is: Will the hard drive be of any use. At least will be able to retrive my data.

Please advise thanks.

PS(I am not too techy and this is the best way I could explain. sorry.)

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Hi stitusandrews

My question is: Will the hard drive be of any use. At least will be able to retrive my data.

This will depend on the cause of the smoke and the damage done.

Was the computer powered up when you were changing cables and slots around and what is the present working condition of the computer, is there any visible damage such as scorching!

[phillpower2]

Hi stitusandrews

My question is: Will the hard drive be of any use. At least will be able to retrive my data.

This will depend on the cause of the smoke and the damage done.

Was the computer powered up when you were changing cables and slots around and what is the present working condition of the computer, is there any visible damage such as scorching!

[stitusandrews]

Hi stitusandrews

My question is: Will the hard drive be of any use. At least will be able to retrive my data.

This will depend on the cause of the smoke and the damage done.

Was the computer powered up when you were changing cables and slots around and what is the present working condition of the computer, is there any visible damage such as scorching!

Hi Phill,

Thanks for the reply!

Yes the computer was ON while I was chainging the FOUR PIN cable to the harddrive.

I was able to smell the smoke but it wasnt burning. The hard drive doesnt seem to have any damage on its outer part.

Thank you,
Titus

[phillpower2]

Please make sure that you remove the main power cord and take anti static precautions
before doing the below;
I would inspect the whole of the interior of the computer for any signs of scorching
this should include the motherboard, cables, memory sticks, all cables and connections
and any add on cards etc.
Make a note of where all the connections go from the psu to the MB, HDD and optical
drives etc and then remove the psu for testing outside of the case (this is possibly
what you could smell) here is a link for testing your psu but this will only establish
that it has not blown altogether and not that it is functioning correctly;
http://www.smpspower...rs-pinouts.html

Edited by phillpower2, 29 June 2010 - 09:46 AM.

[stitusandrews]

I will try this and let you know.

Thank you for your assistance!

One question though, will my hard drive be working? from your experience, what do you think?

Edited by stitusandrews, 29 June 2010 - 09:57 AM.

[phillpower2]

Hard to determine until it can be tested and we cannot do this
until we establish if your psu is working, I myself have never
encountered a smoking HDD but I believe it can happen if the 4
pin molex connector is pushed on incorrectly as it shorts out,
unfortunately this could also be the burning smell.

[stitusandrews]

Hard to determine until it can be tested and we cannot do this
until we establish if your psu is working, I myself have never
encountered a smoking HDD but I believe it can happen if the 4
pin molex connector is pushed on incorrectly as it shorts out,
unfortunately this could also be the burning smell.

I will hopefully get back to you with a positive answer!

Thanks for your help mate!

[phillpower2]

No problem, when you are ready and good luck.

[stitusandrews]

No problem, when you are ready and good luck.

Hi Phill,

My hard drive is fried so is the SMPS.

I bought a new hard drive (sata) 500 gb and using the old smps that I have.

Thanks for your help though mate.

[phillpower2]

Hi Titus
Thank you for the update, I am sorry to hear it is not better news.
Have you tried hooking the problem HDD up as as a slave to retrieve
your data, or is it the PCB that is shot.

Edited by phillpower2, 03 July 2010 - 07:44 AM.

[123Runner]

Just as a FYI....

Anytime you seen smoke, any and all components are suspect to being bad.

You got away lucky that it was only the hard drive. Unfortunately you most likely lost the data because if the drive smoked it would have been where the ide cable got plugged in/ or the board on the drive. With the board smoked there is no way to recover other than a professional service such as ontrack.

I would not plug it in as a slave because the damage could back feed to the board or PSU.
I would keep an eye open for any weird problems because you could have weakened the board.

I also doubt the PSU because the 4 pin connector is quite hefty and difficult to plug in backwards where the ide cable can be forced backwards quite easily.

[phillpower2]

Somebody here http://pressf1.pcwor...ad.php?p=925548 plugged the 4 pin molex in the wrong way!
There are also some suggestions for retrieving your data.

[123Runner]

I have this "Made in PRC" portable hdd case. Its molex connector is soft, not like the real hard white plastic that u never plug it in wrong way. So that's how it happened.

Its because it is a soft connector. That would make it easier to mess up. The standard hard connectors in a computer would be more difficult. Actually I have never run across a 4 pin soft connector. You learn something new every day.