Dead hard drive - help!!

[150873]

My hard drive is dead…..)-: (Seagate barracuda sata 200Gb)
Here are the symptoms, can you help me get the data out of it?

It has been acting up for quite a while, when I would turn off the my PC desktop (XP) for a while and then turn it on again the bios would not find the hard drive and give me a message saying to insert a CD.
After leaving the computer on for a while, or switching it on and off a few times, it would suddenly recognize the hard drive and start normally.

Finally, yesterday I tried to turn on the computer and it would not, no matter what I did. I tested the hard drive on another computer and it won’t even spin up.
Tried freezing it and that did not help either.
A new hard drive that I installed on the PC works fine.

Any ideas?
Do you think that the motor is stuck or maybe some electronic component is not working.

Thanks!

 

[ArizonaGeek]

If it is dead like you say than it is pretty much dead. The only way you could get the data off it would be to pay a professional to recover the data. Rates on that can easily start at $2,500 and go up from there.

One last thing you can try is to stick the drive in an external USB drive case and connect it to see if your PC can see it.

Here is something else you can try it might work if you have the time to do it.

Here is a recovery place that only charges $500 for a hard drive recovery. That is SUPER cheap, the cheapest I have seen for a physical problem.

There are a lot of smart people around here so someone might pop in with some other tricks that might work but I wouldn't get my hopes up for the "home remedy."

Good luck!

Cheers
Rob

The answer is always "PEBKAC!

 

[funkytunaa]

I've gotten "dead" drives going by holding the drive while it's plugged in and giving it a jerking spin as the computer turns on, it's sometimes enough to get the motor moving. Once it's moving you can get all the data off....quickly.

just a note too, check with seagate as per your warranty too. i found that my last seagate had a 3 year warranty, not just the 1 year from the computer place. I think it was on the seagate website the models and drives are listed. It won't get your data back but you'll have a spare drive.

Cheers!

 

[macten88]

how bout 200 ways...give it time to load:

http://www.hddrecovery.com.au/downloads/200ways.pdf

 

[goombawaho]

Also try these people. My company uses them for drive recovery. Not $2500, more like 400 - 700.

http://www.gillware.com

 

[roland63]

I've never had critical data on a failed drive so I don't have much to lose when I do this. Once or twice I have got another chance at data retrieval when I remove the drive (has never been from a laptop, hold it about 18 inches above a countertop or desk and let it go.
Apparently this seems to have an "awakening" effect if at least to get one last crack at the data.

 

[CapitalData]

Putting the drive in a freezer, huh? Yes... nice article...200 ways of data recovery. Funny...
Do not EVER put the drive in a freezer. Why? Simple.
You put the drive in a freezer. What happens? Right.. CONDENSATION. And condensation is bad. It's water. Do you want to see water on your disk platters when you spin up your drive hoping it would just give you all the data? It's the same as if you ride a watercraft at a speed of 200 miles/hour and hit a concrete wall.

When the drives fail and if you think it's either electrical or mechanical - don't play with them. Don't connect them to another computer to try, as you loose that one chance to get your data by a professional company. Drives do not fail just because. It's either electrical, firmware or mechanical failure. Probing it on different machines or trying to freeze it to death or kicking it - will not change a thing. If the data is critical - seek for professional help. If data is not critical - then it's up to your imagination.

Never forget to backup your important data, so when disaster strikes - you just smile.

Best Regards,
Karen
Capita Data Recovery Inc.

http://www.capitaldatarecovery.com