Hard Drive Data Recovery 1

[AussieSean]

I am new here, so If I am not doing this peoperly, please forgive me and one chance to correct, hehee

Out of the blue, my mouse froze when I tried to click on a function, then the computer froze, I waited, no response so I tuned it off. I tried to re boot, only black screen no WIN XP Logo, Green Power Light next to the Hrd Drive Yellow light is on, and at Boot Yellow Hrd Drive Flickers a second or 2, my CD ROM Light flickers, but nothing loads. It's ironice because the day before I started backing up folders on CD's, I am a disabled combat veteran, and I have so much Medical and Military information on this Hrd Drive, most can't be replaced because of a fire in St Louis years ago that stored VA Records, I have all my legal documents that I had to have to sue the Government to gain my full combat disability ...... I am being treated for PTSD, among other things, and the Anxiety Attacks this has caused me to not sleep in 3 nights. Is there any way to make the Drive Boot, or recover the Data from it without costing me a fortune, I am on a fixed disabolity/retirement income. Thank you

 

[attrofy]

A few things to check for starters - when the power is turned on, does ANYTHING at all come on? Do you see the memory or system checks? Do you hear any beeping coming from the system?

If no to the above, then chances are pretty good that your hard drive and data are still in tact. Start by removing any non-essential peripherals - especially anything USB (physically unplug them from the PC). Sometimes these devices can hang and cause all sorts of bizaare problems. If you have no USB devices, and no printers, external drives or anything else and still no bootup, you will have to open the case and try removing items from the motherboard and reconnecting them one at a time. Depending on your level of experience with this sort of thing, it may sound daunting, but is really quite easy.

It is quite possible that your power supply took a dump, but the only way to be sure is to eliminate most other problems to begin with. The goal is to see if you can boot to the BIOS screen. This will allow you to see if the system is detecting your hard drive or not. However, if the system won't boot to BIOS, then you need to see what is causing the hang up. The best way to do this is to remove all cards (sound, modem, NIC, etc) from the motherboard (except the video card), and unplug all drives (cd-rom, floppy, and hard drive) from the motherboard. See if the system will boot that way - it should go to a DOS prompt with some errors. If that doesnt work, remove the memory, and see if there is some post-code beeps.

If all of this is overwhelming, post back and we will talk you through it step by step.

 

[AussieSean]

G'day,

I disconnected printer and all other things that was possible to unplug, the answer toyour question about beeps is NO, it mmakes no noise, just the Green Power on Indicator Light stays on, the Yellow Hard Drive Activity starts to flicler for a few seconds, the light on my CD ROM came on for a sec, but nothing on the screen, black, no logo nothing. I know this is asking so much, but like I mentioned I am a disabled Combat Veteran, and I am among other injuries being treated for PTSD. Depression and Panic Attacks, would it be asking too much for you to type out a steop by step process like you mentioned above, and on this what seems like a WW II computer I could print it out so I ddon't screw up? Thanks for being so kind.

 

[attrofy]

Well, I will give it a go and see where we end up.

One caveat - unless this is a Packard Bell, or Compaq Presario, chances are your case will be layed out in a similar manner as described below. If you have one of these two types of systems, it is possible you will have a very different layout, and may encounter many "screwless" options and snaps, plugs and retainers that hold the components in place.

Before starting, unplug the PC, and remove all cords (most are color coded) or mark them so you know where they go. Most are size or color independent, so it is kind of hard to get them in the wrong slots. USB plugs usually do not matter which slot they came from. Once the power cord is unplugged, turn the front switch on, as if you were trying to start the machine - this will discharge the capacitors in the PSU, and help eliminate excess static charges.

1.) On the backside of the PC, unscrew two (or three) screws on the right side (looking at the backside of the PC - left side if looking from the front) of the case. This should allow the side of the case to slide backwards and then be removed completely. Be sure to try and "ground" yourself by touching the metal structure of the case once the side door comes off. This eliminates any excess static charges you may have, and helps prevent damage to some of the smaller somponents that can be very susceptible to static charge.

2.) It is easiest to lay the case on its side, so you are looking down into it. There will be a few cards plugged into the motherboard that will have their external connectors sticking out the backside of the case. These will have a single screw in the top of the bracket that holds them to the case (unless you have one of those goofy types that uses a locking bracket to keep things in place - report back if there isnt a single screw in each card). Unscrew each screw, unplug the card by lfting straight up. They can be in there a bit tight, and may require a bit of force to remove them. Sometimes gently putting pressure on one side of the card, away from the backside of the case to dislodge it will help. Even wiggling sometimes helps remove these. They are pretty durable, so unless you use excessive force, these will lift straight out pretty easily with little fear of damage. You will most likely have a modem or network card (if on broadband) and possibly a sound card, and a video card. If you have an antiquated scanner or other external device, it is possible you have an older driver card that needs to come out as well. Be sure to note which slots these devices come out of, as they will need to go back into the same slots they came out of. These can be easy to mix up, and some slots are similar in design to others - but many newer components have different slot architectures. Also, there may be some cords running to other internal devices coming out of these cards 9particularly sound cards). Make note of where they plug in, and any oreintation they may have (certain colored wires facing certain directions). You may need to unplug these to get the card out of your way.

The only thing that you should leave will be the video card. It will most likely be the top most card (when the PC is standing up) and will be where the monitor cord plugs in. It is possible that many of these components are built into your motherboard, and you may not have any cards in these slots. This istypical on newer PC's (last 5 - 8 years). If your PC is considerably older though, you will most likely have a few cards there.

3.) Look at the front of the case, and see where any and all drives are located. Chances are you only see the CD-ROM and floppy drive. Any Hard Drives will be hidden from view from the outside of the case, and these are usually mounted below the floppy drive. Follow their cables down to the motherboard. Chances are you might have two of these on the same cord. The cords are flat, wide (usually gray) ribbon cables. These will plug in with big rectangular connectors. The power cords are small, squarish, and have multiple colors on them (red yellow and black usually). These go to the Power Supply Unit (PSU). Depending on the age of your computer, be sure to note that there is a red stripe on one side of the ribbon cable. It is actually one of the 40 wires that is colored red, or has some red marking on it. This red stripe runs the entire length of the cable, and tends to twist as it is routed through the components. It goes on the board in one particular direction. Most PC's within the last 10 years or so have a "keyed" plug and keyed outlet on the motherboard, but there are some that are not keyed (especially the older ones). If you look closely at the motherboard, you will see a small number "1" printed near the end of the socket where the red stripe goes. These can be hard to see - so it is easier to pay attention which way the cable is oriented, and which direction the red stripe is facing. This will only be necassary for when you replug the cord back in. If the plug and motherboard are keyed, there is no fear that you will insert it incorrectly (there will be a small square "bump" on one side of the cable, and small square notch or slot in the socket on the motherboard).

Take note of each of the ribbon cables which way their red stripe is facing. If space or tangles become an issue, and you have to unplug the cable from one of the drives, be sure you have easy access to replug the cable in (or you may have to take the drive out of the case to plug it back in). Or sometimes those cables work loose on drives, and you find the other end laying in the bottom of the case wondering how it got there. If this happens, don't panic, the red stripe 99% of the time faces the small power plug on the drive. Post back if you have to remove the plug from the drive or the drive from the PC (assuming you have access to another computer). You can bend one of the pins on the drive if the cable is not lined up correctly, and sometimes removing the drive is the easiest way to ensure this doesn't happen. So try not to unplug the cable from the drive unless you have no choice. And if you do have to unplug it, try to be sure to pick a drive that is easy to plug back in.

4.) Now, the only thing you should have left in your case that is still conencted to the motherboard is the CPU (kind of squarish, sort of tall with a fan mounted on top of it - or a card looking device that has some rather large fans or shrouds mounted on it. It is located in a seperate place from the periperal cards that stick out of the back of the case); the memory (long rectanular chips plugged into the board, standing up off the board like the peripheral cards were. Memory is usually located right next to the CPU) as seen here The CPU has a round cooler in this case, the thing right above the gold anodized heat sink, and the two memory sticks are seen at the bottom of the picture - the green ones with all the chips on them). The only other thing left attached to the motherboard should be the Video card - unless it is integrated (the monitor will plug in right near the mouse and keyboard, and you will see a small set of squares in the top left hand corner of the board where the mouse and other devices plug in). There may be some small fan conenctors plugged in as well.

Be sure there are no cables or shrouds hanging anywhere near any fans (especially the cpu fan), and plug the power cord back in Also connect the keyboard and the monitor. Try to turn the PC on. If it boots up, it will get to a prompt asking you for a bootable disk. Just turn the PC back off and proceede with reasembly.

If nothing happens, try to unplug your memory sticks (one at a time if you have more then one). It is possible, depending on the age of your machine that you have to install the memory sequentially. In either case, you should get some beeps on restart if something is wrong. We will address that later if you get to that point.

If still nothing, try to remove all the memory sticks, and see if you get any beeps.

This is about where the step by step troubleshooting will have to stop. There are a few too many variables to cover removing a CPU without knowing more specifics about your system. Unless the CPU died, there is very little removing it will tell you. But the only way to really test it is with a similar system to see if the other system will post.

I don't know for certain if you will get a post code (beeps) without a CPU in place. This would only tell you for certain that the PSU (power supply) is "sorta" working. It may not be functioning properly enough to power up the board, fans, or components.

If you get to this point with still no beeps or no life, it is a pretty good chance that the PSU is dead, and I would hold off on worrying about the CPU. Chances are it is good. The options you have at this point would be to try another PSU, or try this one in a similar computer and see if you can power up. But, I am willing to bet you won't have a similar computer to test out.

Look at the PSU (big silverish box at the top of the case, where all the multi-colored cords are coming from), on the side facing out, there should be a sticker with some pertinent info, it should look similar to this one There should be something to indicate the size (in Watts) of the PSU - in the picture above, it is a 430W PSU. This is most crittical. You will need another PSU of at least this size to replace your current one. In the link above, if you check some of the other pictures, you will see there is a long rectangular white plug, that has 20 connectors. It is possible to short one or two of these connectors together, and determine if the PSU will come on, and if it is working. Someone else will have to post specifics on that, and you will have to tell us first off if indeed you have an ATX type power supply (which is the kind with 20 pins) the other style (AT) will look similar to this one.

If it turns out the PSU is dead, you have a few options. Depending on what you find out about your PSU (what type, what power, etc) it may be worthwhile to invest in a new one ($14 - $50 USD - before shipping). Some used electronics stores, or other types of PC repair places may have one localy for less. Depending on how old this really is, that may be a good alternative. A few phone calls will provide some pretty quick results.

The other choice is if the PC is too old to bother with, you can always salvage the data off your hard drive. I assume you have access to another computer, as you are posting on this forum. If this is not at home or a friends, you may not have a convenient way to salvage the data.

In either case, report back with your findings, and we will help you with the next step. Salvaging the data from the HDD is a pretty easy option, if you have another PC (or a working one) to plug it into.

If you get something working with the post beeps, and it turns out something was loose, reassembly is just the opposite of disassembly. The plugs from the drives must be aligned as stated above, and the cards must go back in their original slots. The side of the case will slide on from the back, or from being inserted into some holes before sliding forward. In either case, the final action is the side slides forward. Then the screws are reinstalled in the back, and all plugs hooked back up. Someone had posted a step by step link, that I believe had pictures, I will try to post it here for you to reference as well.

I hope this helps and doesn't confuse you. It really is a pretty asy procedure, and may sound more daunting then it really is. It is like anything, once you get into it, the steps make more sense when you see it all first hand,then they do when you read about it without ever having seen it.

If something is unclear or neds more explanation, let me know. Good thing you caught me on "wordy" day - lol...

Here is a picture for reference (although not very good)

http://www.neilvandyke.org/pc-building/guts.jpg

 

[attrofy]

Here is a link for flow charting a Power Supply:

http://www.fonerbooks.com/power.htm

This is how to replace a motherboard, but worht a read to orient you with some pictures, and the final steps of connecting the components would be good info for reassembly, and to know what to look for when you disassemble.

http://www.fonerbooks.com/r_board.htm

Hope these help

 

[AussieSean]

attrofy (IS/IT--Management)


G'day,

I am at the point I need help/guidance to salvage data from the harddrive. I am so depressed over this. The problem I have is the only other computer I have is Win 98, with 384 MB RAM, I have so much important data pertaining to my combat injuries, letters, you name it, it's on their, and the day before this started I began the processof backing uo data to CD's, sadly, I didn't get to the critical information folders.

 

[attrofy]

Well, there are a few options for you. The first is to find a suitable place to store all the data. If you know roughly what size the data files are, you could always use your Win 98 drive if it will all fit. If not, you are going to have to figure out where the data will go first.

Once that is determined, there are a few free utilities out there that can probably help you - but chances are you will need to invest the price of a partition recovery software (about $30 USD). It is quite easy to recover the data you have, assuming the drive is in good shape (which it sounds like it is if nothing will power up or turn on. It sounds like you have a fried PSU, CPU or Motherboard. By the sounds of things, if you are getting no results from the above, it is most likely the PSU. These can be purchased for about the same price as the recovery software, so something for you to consider.

Anyway, I will walk you through a quick overview, and you can post back with specifics as needed.

You will need to remove the HDD from your XP machine, change the jumper on the back to "Slave" (one plug to move to a different set of pins)find the "extra" plug on your Win98 HDD ribbon cable, plug the XP drive into that plug, then make sure the system boots ok. You should enter BIOS (F1 or Delete most times) and go to the Basic configuration screen. There should be an auto-detect feature in the BIOS - usualy Enter does the trick. Once the BIOS sees the drive, save your settings and exit. Boot into Windows.

Get Partition Magic, or some other utility that will read NTFS and FAT partitions. Chances are there is a free utility out there, but if not, I have heard good things about GetDataBack and others.

Depending on the utility of your choice, the options will differe, but each utility has their own way of exploring/copying data out of the XP partition and putting it into the Win98 hard drive.

Then you can burn your backups to CD again.

However, for about the same $30, you could get a PSU and probably have the computer fully restored (assuming that is the problem).

 

[ReData]

http://www.pc-datarecovery.co.uk/