is my hard drive dead?

[word2urmom]

I have a 160GB Maxtor hard drive. When I try to boot it up the BIOS doesn't recognize it, but it sounds like it is running fine. I'm not sure what to do with it now. Is it worth it to take it to somewhere to have it looked at? I was thinking of just throwing it up on ebay, but I can't remember if I have any personal data on it.

 

[ski]

If it's not recognized in BIOS and it's an IDE drive, then make sure the IDE 1 channel is enabled in BIOS.
If that's ok, then make sure all of its connections are secure.
If they're ok, then connect a different power lead to the drive.
If no luck, then install a different known working IDE cable.
If still no good, then connect it to the IDE 2 channel.
If that does not work, then install it as a Slave drive on another system, and run the diagnostics at the Maxtor site on the drive. If they show that the drive has failed, then I do not think that anyone will be interested in buying it.

 

[G0AOZ]

Also make sure that the drive is jumpered correctly (Master, Slave, etc.) for whatever configuration you're using it in...

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[Amos43]

Lol you were planning to sell a dead drive on e-bay? It's a good thing I never buy anything there, what with all the scams and all...

I'm sorry I couldn't resist but post this... lol

 

[LizzyK]

I have a hard drive that stopped working. When I turn on the computer the BIOS no longer recognizes it and shows no hard drive. I have tried the basics, checking power and cables, etc. I took the hard drive and tried to slave it on another system, however that system won't recognize it either, even as a slave. Is there any way to retrieve the information off of the drive?

 

[cdogg]

The drive is toast for the most part, sorry. However, there is a neat little trick you can try that works sometimes (or has for me anyway):

Put the hard drive into your freezer for 2-3 hours wrapped air-tight in a ziplock bag. Hook it up to the PC as soon as you remove it from the freezer. Be careful that the condensation on the drive (which you'll notice several minutes later) doesn't drip onto the motherboard or other components while their powered on.

I know it sounds crazy, but something about the temperature brings the hard drive back to life for a short time. Believe it or not, this works a lot of the time. Whether or not it does for you depends really on what kind of damage your hard drive has.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[wahnula]

I have a hard drive that stopped working. When I turn on the computer the BIOS no longer recognizes it and shows no hard drive. I have tried the basics, checking power and cables, etc. I took the hard drive and tried to slave it on another system, however that system won't recognize it either, even as a slave. Is there any way to retrieve the information off of the drive?

LizzyK, welcome, it is best to start a new thread with your question.

Go to forum751

Enter your question at the bottom of the page with an appropriate title to start a new thread. This way you get email notifications when someone responds to your question.

Tony

 

[Nilgni]

In my experience, if it doesn't sound like it is clicking, then more than likely something else is going on. First thing that I would try is hooking it up to another ide cable or even another machine if possible.

When I run out of options and give up on a hard drive, the last thing I do before trashing it is load a dos floppy and format it. If you cannot get that to work then the drive is most likely bad.

 

[firewolfrl]

These are great posts and Ideas....there is not much I can add to do much more....But....
I really question word2urmom on his Ebay scam.....That is so shady I would not offer the help and think that he can go stuff himself

if he did have personal data on the drive and someone used against him

I do believe they call it KARMA

other than that rant I think this thread should be done....

 

[thomas30]

DO YOU DOWNLOAD A SOFTWARE LIKE COYOTE OR LIMEWIRE TO YOUR COMPUTER SO YOU CAN BURN CD'S? I AM TRYING TO BURN SOME MUSIC ON BLANK CD'S AND I WAS TOLD YOU HAVE TO DOWNLOAD A SOFTWARE FIRST.

 

[wolluf]

thomas30 - please start a new thread for your question. Also, try to find an appropriate forum - hard drive issues isn't really the place to ask about CD burning software. You might try the forum for your operating system, eg forum779 for XP.

Quick answer is yes, you do need CD burning software to burn CDs, but if you have XP, it has CD burning feature built in, and Windows Media Player will burn music CDs for you. Otherwise, you could download something like Nero Burning ROM - they have trial versions which you can try for free, then buy if you like.

 

[Einheri]

As long as I can remind me, I never had a HDD that wasn't recognized by the Bios, even the most damaged I got, that made a noise like a fork scratching the bottom of a pan.
So I suggest to check carefully the Bios and set the correct settings. If the disk is not readable, then, if it contains important datas, remains the solution to call the staff of "ontrack - easy recovery". They are able to do miracles, even if the HDD experienced a landing fo head.
Think of some HDD's formats are not readable by a different OS that formatted it. (Windows, Mac, FAT, or NTFS)