PC Aaaaaaaaarrrgh datastrophe*

[chunkolini]

Datastrophe, can I patent that as a new word?

Chunko has all his work and arty data on a separate hard drive in case of PC failure. Chunko got lazy about having the data in two places, preferring the security of the hard drive. Cin you see what happens nixt kids? (to quote the Professional Australian Rolf Harris?)

Yep, the hard drive thingy, a Freecom 250gb thingy has croaked. It just goes quote " Meep meep meep meep" as you switch it on, the blue LED is alight. just sounds as though the drive thingy is not spinning up. Mrs C spoke to the supplier and they confirm that it is knackered and will replace it. How kind.

Mrs C was quoted £15.00 to have a look at it, £50.00 to do something or other and £200 if they can save the data. 'They' whoever 'They' are can kiss my deleted expletive for that.

Can anybody reccomend a data retrieval service? I dont mind paying a reasonable amount for it.

Guess what, In future I will have the data on the PC and the seperate hardrive.

Cheers all, Chunko'.

 

[English Steve]

OK, I don't know what I am talking about, but here goes. I had a similar problem a couple of years ago when the hard drive on my pc failed - it wouldn't start no matter what I did, and contained a lot of photos which had not been backed up.
A chap at work fixed it for me by taking my hard drive out and piggy-backing it onto the hard drive in his pc. He could then start his machine and read my hard drive, copied everything onto a dvd for me which I could then copy onto my new pc when I got it.

I can't tell you how to do it, because I don't understand these things, but it did work.

Hope that helps a bit.

 

[Wozzaaah]

Yes, yes, yes, Just did exactly what Steve says with a neighbours failing drive and retrieved their data.
The issue you may have is that a USB HDD will most likely be a SATA one whereas your pc may not be SATA equipped, not a prob as long as you can find someone with a slightly newer system to put your drive into.
I'd hope it's just the caddy that's failed, not the actual drive itself.

 

[Archie]

If it's just the caddy then you can buy a new USB enclosure off eBay and just swap the HD over. However, you're not going to know if it's just the caddy unless you try! If it turns out to be the drive then I suspect you will end up with a large bill to remove the data from it.

 

[madkayaker]

I have a USB enclosure for hard drives you can borrow if you like.

 

[drjim]

Chunko

I've sorted this sort of thing for a variety of friends/family. I expect it is the case electronics not the drive. Dismantle it and get some pics of the drive itself - label and connectors. We can then work out what you need to do to plug it into your PC. Most of these external drives seem to be using PATA drives rather than newer SATA ones, more likely if yours is a year or two old. So with luck we can talk you through popping it into your PC and seeing if it works.

Jim

 

[bill_gj]

Some IDE drives that won't spin up can be temporarily rejuventated by sticking them in the freezer overnight and then retrying them while they're still v.cold - I did this on one hard drive a few years ago.
If it does work (i.e. it starts up) you need to be prepared to get your data off immediately as you may only have one stab at it.

 

[pete3000]

hope this is useful

Sorry to hear you have a drive fault chunko, This sounds all too familiar, I can offer some advice but you may need to do a bit of reading and fiddling.

I am assuming you have a working pc with tinternet connection.

1).you need to download knoppix live cd 5.1.1 (inportant live cd bit)
2).and burn this to a cd with something like free ware iso burner, burn-at-once.

This will then allow you to use your pc as a linux pc for a while.

3).attach your external usb drive thingy and boot your computer from cd.
3b) you may need to change your pc bios to allow boot from cd or become first bootable drive.

4).once booted you should hopefully see your drive now as linux forces a dirty boot (fnarr)

5) Right click on your internal PC hard drive icon and change read/write mode to write to allow knoppix to copy file from your external to internal. The as windows select a folder or all and copy paste. the difficult bit is to remember to click once only on drives to read them.

6)once finished click on shutdown and reboot system.

hope this works for you as I have used it many times to recover work from failing hard drives with the famous click of death.

Pete

 

[Wozzaaah]

Good advice from all Chunko' but try the simple one first and see what happens before you either lose data or a shedload of money.
If the drive is the wrong type to fit inside your PC, take MK up on his offer, if the caddy he has is the wrong type for your drive give me a shout as I have both types of caddy, IDE and SATA and you're more than welcome to borrow either.

 

[madkayaker]

think mine is IDE (long Grey cable black end)

 

[Roop]

I hope you will be able to retrieve your data..... I use this online service for my back-ups (after a similar diaster that you have on your hands):

http://www.mozy.com/

(Assuming you have an adsl connection...)

Best regards, Robert

 

[TechnicAl]

chunko

serves you right for asking

 

[Paul.]

I use one of these for accessing 3.5" and 2.5" drives, helped quite a few folk with dead computers, although if the drive is faulty it won't help.

 

[malcolm]

Pricy! I've got one of these: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280304862282
Hard drive enclosure is a good search term.

Not awfully good quality. I use it to hold my backup disc.

 

[Paul.]

It is expensive now, I paid £15 in one of the sale promotions, but it works every time, the one I had previously bought off ebay was more trouble than it was worth.

 

[chunkolini]

PATA? SATA? Latte?
I am a bit afraidy of these things, but I will dismantle it in the morning and post pics and see what I need. I had figured that it is more likely to be the 'stuff' linking the Drive thingy to the PC rather than the Drive Thingy itself. Big Al, too right!
But it does sound potrntially less of a datastrophe than I initially thought.
I figure if somebody can advise me on which casing I need I can get one from Fleabay as the price seems quite reasonable.

I'll be back, Chunko'.

 

[HasBean]

These are useful, had a few drives with knackered boot sectors that I've managed to retreive data off with it.

 

[chunkolini]

Rightyo
I have just invalidated the warranty on the hard drive thingy, didn't have to hit it to hard to get it apart. Does the image give enough information re connectability and type etc?

So what's next? I am wary of going inside the computer tower, but if it is a simple matter of plugging it into an existing connection I will have a go.

I await your directions......

Chunko'.

 

[Wozzaaah]

That's a SATA drive Chunko' You may be lucky and have a motherboard with SATA capability, open the case and look for two small L shaped connectors identical to the 7 pin one in the middle of your drive as you look at the photo. They could be anywhere on the mainboard but are most likely to be near the IDE (big ribbon type) connectors and are quite likely to be a nice bright colour. They'll also be marked SATA 1 and SATA 2. If you have them then you're in good shape, however, you'll need a sata cable and you might also need a molex to sata power cable adapter. You might also need to jumper the pins on the back of the drive to limit it to 1.5Gb/s transfer rate for your PC to be able to see it.

Edit: Hasbean's link is probably the easiest solution .
Edit: A bit cheaper on Ebay too.

 

[Omniata]

I agree with Woz, easiest method would be to follow HasBeans link.

If it doesn't work you've always got it for another drive and it won't "crush" your wallet...