Failed External Hard Drive - Please Help..

[johnt03]

I have a 250gb Lacie usb2.0 hard drive that stopped working today. The computer doesn't recognize it and hangs up or doesn't restart if the drive is connected. It powers up and makes a series of ticking sounds. I took the enclosure off and connected the internal drive to the IDE port - same symptoms. I tried it with different computers to no avail.

I went out and bought a duplicate drive, opened it up and opened that cover of the inner drive itself only to see 2 platters. I read somewhere that there is no way of swapping double platters between the drives. I did NOT open up my own drive.

Can I try anything else? The 200gb data in it is extremely important. Is the next step to send it out to a service? Which one is the best? Thank you..

 

[baltman]

ontrack.com recovered all but a couple files from a failed drive for me. Not cheap, but if what you have on the drive is worth the cost... They charge $100 to eval the drive and tell you exactly what they can recover at what it'd cost.

Brian

 

[kestrel1]

Change the controller board from the good HD to the faulty HD. as long as they are the same make & model it should be OK. You may need star drive bits to remove the controller board though.

 

[kestrel1]

Also the BIOS of the machine that you placed the drive in probably needs updating, so that it can recognise large disc's

 

[Grenage]

johnt03:

If you're getting a clicking noise then I would imagine the motor/arm inside the drive is defective, changing the board will not help here.

I read somewhere that there is no way of swapping double platters between the drives

Unless you are a very skilled professional, attempting to move just a single platter will almost certainly result in a complete and utter loss. If you really want the data on the drive, your only chance is with a professional data recovery service (such as that mentioned by baltman).


Carlsberg don't run I.T departments, but if they did they'd probably be more fun.

 

[creyes1]

You can try SalvageData.com. They have helped me in the past and are really great at recovering data. They offer a free evaluation and a no obligation quote. Call them you have nothing to lose.

 

[SjrH]

I know this sounds stupid but have you tried removing the drive from its caddy and dropping it from a small height( 4-6 inches) onto a diffusing surface (The sole of a trainer for instance).

This is well within any drives shock tolerance levels and has freed many 'sticky' atenuators for me over the years!

Obviously, this is not a course of action i'd recommend, but if you've nothing to loose and don't fancy paying out £££'s for recovery then it may be worth a go.

wn i gro up i wna b a typo