livendive 8 #1 January 2, 2007 So I bought a nice Sony desktop off of Ebay last year. It was sold as "unused", and that appeared to be the case when I fired it up (had to jump through hoops each time I fired up a program for the first time). Unfortunately though, I don't think it's eligible for warranty repairs though, because I don't have the original sales receipt. I also didn't get CDs of the software that came installed on the machine. Last Friday the harddrive died. After working fine for 13 months, it suddenly got really sluggish, then wouldn't shut off. One hard boot later, Windows will no longer fire up. I took it to the computer repair shop and they told me the drive failed diagnostics and they're unable to read it with other machines (he said he can't see a single file). Losing the "personal stuff", pictures, videos, resumes, taxes, letters, etc sucks great big donkey dicks. But adding insult to injury, it appears that losing the software makes this a total loss. A new hard-drive is only like $100, but by the time I pay for the absolute minimum software I want (Windows, Photoshop, and Adobe Premiere), I might as well pay for a whole new tower. A couple friends think there's still a slight chance of scavenging off the dead drive, but it looks pretty bleak. Any of the geeky sorts on here have any ideas for the most cost effective recovery from this mishap? Yes, I'll be backing up my hard drive on some routine basis from now on. Blues, Dave"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
labrys 0 #2 January 2, 2007 I've had limited luck finding an identical HD and swapping the external circuit cards / power supply. If the failure is internal it's harder without special facilities. Does the drive spin up at all? Is it making any interesting noises like chirps or clicking sounds? Does BIOS detect it? Edit to add: I work in Data Forensics and have limited (I have to have a work-related reason to go) access to facilities for advanced data recovery. If you decide to give up on the HD you'd be welcome to send it and I'll take a look at it the next time I go.Owned by Remi #? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
guppie01 0 #3 January 2, 2007 QuoteLosing the "personal stuff", pictures That sucks!!!! g"Let's do something romantic this Saturday... how bout we bust out the restraints?" Raddest Ho this side of Jersey #1 - MISS YOU OMG, is she okay? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhreeZone 20 #4 January 2, 2007 Just since the drive failed dia's does not mean its all gone. If you can put the drive in as a second drive into a system with recovery software loaded onto the first drive there is a chance you can recover the personal files. The programs are gone, but the personal stuff might be saved at least. I like a piece of software called Handy Recovery. Its saved data off 2 drives for me in the last 5 months.Yesterday is history And tomorrow is a mystery Parachutemanuals.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
normiss 851 #5 January 2, 2007 http://www.carbonite.com/ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites hookitt 1 #6 January 2, 2007 Does the hard drive at least spin? Take the cover off, turn on the computer and listen to the drive. You can put your hand on the back of the drive to feel it as well. What noises does it make? Is there any grinding, scuffing or chirping sounds? Depending on a few factors, it's possible to change the logic board on the drive with an identical logic board from another drive. Additionally, slaving the drive and using some recovery software may be possible as well. I happen to have some I've used successfully on "failed" drives used in a business environment.. So ... begin with seeing if it spins up Edit: Spell check is your friend.My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites skiskyrock 0 #7 January 2, 2007 Quote Last Friday the harddrive died. After working fine for 13 months, it suddenly got really sluggish, then wouldn't shut off. One hard boot later, Windows will no longer fire up. I took it to the computer repair shop and they told me the drive failed diagnostics and they're unable to read it with other machines (he said he can't see a single file). Losing the "personal stuff", pictures, videos, resumes, taxes, letters, etc sucks great big donkey dicks. But adding insult to injury, it appears that losing the software makes this a total loss. A new hard-drive is only like $100, but by the time I pay for the absolute minimum software I want (Windows, Photoshop, and Adobe Premiere), I might as well pay for a whole new tower. A couple friends think there's still a slight chance of scavenging off the dead drive, but it looks pretty bleak. Any of the geeky sorts on here have any ideas for the most cost effective recovery from this mishap? Yes, I'll be backing up my hard drive on some routine basis from now on. Blues, Dave Sorry to hear that... nothing quite matches that feeling of dread when you realize that your collection of nude photos of Ernet Borgnine are ...just... gone. Does not boot is not quite the same thing as unreadable. One thing that might work is to create a linux boot CD or the like (damn small linux fits on a thumb drive). You can download these already configured google knoppix or damn small linux. Once you have linux running you may be able to mount the drive and copy the files you need. IF you are lucky, the old drive may have recovery disk images on it somewhere that you can burn these onto a cd/dvd and re-install. Two things that may help a drive that won't spin up is to take the drive out and stick it in the freezer for an hour or two, then let it warm back up to room temp and try it. Sometime taking the drive out of the frame and holding it vertically can help free up a stuck head, also. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites labrys 0 #8 January 2, 2007 QuoteTwo things that may help a drive that won't spin up is to take the drive out and stick it in the freezer for an hour or two, then let it warm back up to room temp and try it. The theory behind that it that it may cause problematic parts to contract because they're cold. There's a small chance it will work, but you wouldn't want to let the drive warm up first, you'd want to put it in cold. Edit to add: The expansion when the drive warms back up can damage the drive even further, so I'd only try that as a last, last resort.Owned by Remi #? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites livendive 8 #9 January 2, 2007 QuoteDoes the hard drive at least spin? Take the cover off, turn on the computer and listen to the drive. You can put your hand on the back of the drive to feel it as well. What noises does it make? Is there any grinding, scuffing or chirping sounds? Depending on a few factors, it's possible to change the logic board on the drive with an identical logic board from another drive. Additionally, slaving the drive and using some recovery software may be possible as well. I happen to have some I've used successfully on "failed" drives used in a business environment.. So ... begin with seeing if it spins up Edit: Spell check is your friend. 25 years ago I was pretty technically competent. 15 years ago I could hold my own in a 3.1, DOS, or basic environment. Today, I'm just an average user. I think I could probably find my hard-drive, but wouldn't guarantee it. Instead, I began with taking it to a local computer shop. The guy there ran Maxtor's PowerMax on it, which said the HD is failing and needs to be replaced. He then pull the HD out and try to read it in some of the other shop computers. All it did was stall them out and cause Windows errors. I just picked it up from and he told me "that hard drive is toast...I could hear it going all screwy and I couldn't read a single file on it." I can plug it in when I get home and report back tomorrow what kind of noises it makes (now have no way of getting online from home)...or I could just call you while I'm fiddling with it. Another user has graciously offered to send me an operating system and some video editing software, so I'll probably go buy a new HD at Circuit City or somewhere, have a functional computer within a week or so, and then see if there's anything I can do to recover anything from this one when I have online capability. Blues, Dave"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites wildblue 7 #10 January 2, 2007 QuoteEdit to add: The expansion when the drive warms back up can damage the drive even further, so I'd only try that as a last, last resort. It is a last-ditch hail-mary move. If you're lucky, you'll only get a few minutes to pull off the files you need, then it probably never will work again If it's really important, you can spend $1000 and send it off to ontrack - they can probably save it. it's like incest - you're substituting convenience for quality Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites labrys 0 #11 January 2, 2007 QuoteIf it's really important, you can spend $1000 and send it off to ontrack I have access to some of the same gear ontrack uses and I won't charge anything.Owned by Remi #? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites hookitt 1 #12 January 2, 2007 I have ontrack software. No I'm not sending to the world :) If it doesn't make noise, try to find an identical hard drive and steal the board off the back of it. "that hard drive is toast" could (possibly) mean a few things. A crash where parts touch and make nifty scrapy sounds is bad. No sound other than spinning might not be so bad. No spinning at all... who knows. Start with the logic board. I recently put a drive that could not be read into another computer because it was unreadable. I ran chdsk and "Allowed" it to fix errors and it worked again. Too many variables but simply put, the hard drive is toast is to general.My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites hookitt 1 #13 January 2, 2007 QuoteI have access to some of the same gear ontrack uses and I won't charge anything. Even better... remember there are boobie pictures on that hard drive so back them up accordingly.My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites labrys 0 #14 January 2, 2007 QuoteEven better... remember there are boobie pictures on that hard drive so back them up accordingly. I'm ummmm..... very discrete. I promise Owned by Remi #? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites davedlg 0 #15 January 2, 2007 Quote If it doesn't make noise, try to find an identical hard drive and steal the board off the back of it. I had a drive once that went bad just as described. We happened to have an identical hard drive that we wern't using. We very carefully opened up the hard drive, removed the actual metallic discs from inside the drive and transplanted the discs into the other drive. It was a pain in the ass. There were many screws, springs and other moving pieces that we had to delicately reassemble. However, we were able to recover the entire contents of the hard drive that way. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites labrys 0 #16 January 2, 2007 QuoteI had a drive once that went bad just as described. We happened to have an identical hard drive that we wern't using. We very carefully opened up the hard drive, removed the actual metallic discs from inside the drive and transplanted the discs into the other drive. It was a pain in the ass. There were many screws, springs and other moving pieces that we had to delicately reassemble. However, we were able to recover the entire contents of the hard drive that way. You lucked out big time. That type of transfer should be done in a cleanroom with the proper calibration tools only. A speck of dust can waste a platter.Owned by Remi #? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites davedlg 0 #17 January 2, 2007 QuoteQuoteI had a drive once that went bad just as described. We happened to have an identical hard drive that we wern't using. We very carefully opened up the hard drive, removed the actual metallic discs from inside the drive and transplanted the discs into the other drive. It was a pain in the ass. There were many screws, springs and other moving pieces that we had to delicately reassemble. However, we were able to recover the entire contents of the hard drive that way. You lucked out big time. That type of transfer should be done in a cleanroom with the proper calibration tools only. A speck of dust can waste a platter. That's what I thought, I assumed there was no chance of it working. I was quite surprised when they got it working. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Gene03 0 #18 January 2, 2007 Try turning the hard drive upside down and remounting, works some times.“The only fool bigger than the person who knows it all is the person who argues with him. Stanislaw Jerzy Lec quotes (Polish writer, poet and satirist 1906-1966) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites turtlespeed 226 #19 January 2, 2007 Looks like HH has your problem almost all solved for you.I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites livendive 8 #20 January 3, 2007 QuoteLooks like HH has your problem almost all solved for you. So can one of the techie types tell me if that one will work? The machine came with a Maxtor 250 GB 7200 RPM SATA HDD. I don't see any other specs on the marketing stuff on Sony's website. Going to NewEgg.com, I see there are IDE Ultra ATA100, SATA-II, and (closest, I think) "Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250820AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM" (for $74.99) Does it matter which of these I buy? Stick with SATA? Blues, Dave"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites labrys 0 #21 January 3, 2007 Stick with SATA, but other than that look for a good buy. I like Seagate drives, but that's just me. Maxtor or Western Digital are good names.Owned by Remi #? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites labrys 0 #22 January 3, 2007 I think that this is a good deal: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144417Owned by Remi #? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Join the conversation You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible. Reply to this topic... × Pasted as rich text. Paste as plain text instead Only 75 emoji are allowed. × Your link has been automatically embedded. Display as a link instead × Your previous content has been restored. 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hookitt 1 #6 January 2, 2007 Does the hard drive at least spin? Take the cover off, turn on the computer and listen to the drive. You can put your hand on the back of the drive to feel it as well. What noises does it make? Is there any grinding, scuffing or chirping sounds? Depending on a few factors, it's possible to change the logic board on the drive with an identical logic board from another drive. Additionally, slaving the drive and using some recovery software may be possible as well. I happen to have some I've used successfully on "failed" drives used in a business environment.. So ... begin with seeing if it spins up Edit: Spell check is your friend.My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skiskyrock 0 #7 January 2, 2007 Quote Last Friday the harddrive died. After working fine for 13 months, it suddenly got really sluggish, then wouldn't shut off. One hard boot later, Windows will no longer fire up. I took it to the computer repair shop and they told me the drive failed diagnostics and they're unable to read it with other machines (he said he can't see a single file). Losing the "personal stuff", pictures, videos, resumes, taxes, letters, etc sucks great big donkey dicks. But adding insult to injury, it appears that losing the software makes this a total loss. A new hard-drive is only like $100, but by the time I pay for the absolute minimum software I want (Windows, Photoshop, and Adobe Premiere), I might as well pay for a whole new tower. A couple friends think there's still a slight chance of scavenging off the dead drive, but it looks pretty bleak. Any of the geeky sorts on here have any ideas for the most cost effective recovery from this mishap? Yes, I'll be backing up my hard drive on some routine basis from now on. Blues, Dave Sorry to hear that... nothing quite matches that feeling of dread when you realize that your collection of nude photos of Ernet Borgnine are ...just... gone. Does not boot is not quite the same thing as unreadable. One thing that might work is to create a linux boot CD or the like (damn small linux fits on a thumb drive). You can download these already configured google knoppix or damn small linux. Once you have linux running you may be able to mount the drive and copy the files you need. IF you are lucky, the old drive may have recovery disk images on it somewhere that you can burn these onto a cd/dvd and re-install. Two things that may help a drive that won't spin up is to take the drive out and stick it in the freezer for an hour or two, then let it warm back up to room temp and try it. Sometime taking the drive out of the frame and holding it vertically can help free up a stuck head, also. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
labrys 0 #8 January 2, 2007 QuoteTwo things that may help a drive that won't spin up is to take the drive out and stick it in the freezer for an hour or two, then let it warm back up to room temp and try it. The theory behind that it that it may cause problematic parts to contract because they're cold. There's a small chance it will work, but you wouldn't want to let the drive warm up first, you'd want to put it in cold. Edit to add: The expansion when the drive warms back up can damage the drive even further, so I'd only try that as a last, last resort.Owned by Remi #? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
livendive 8 #9 January 2, 2007 QuoteDoes the hard drive at least spin? Take the cover off, turn on the computer and listen to the drive. You can put your hand on the back of the drive to feel it as well. What noises does it make? Is there any grinding, scuffing or chirping sounds? Depending on a few factors, it's possible to change the logic board on the drive with an identical logic board from another drive. Additionally, slaving the drive and using some recovery software may be possible as well. I happen to have some I've used successfully on "failed" drives used in a business environment.. So ... begin with seeing if it spins up Edit: Spell check is your friend. 25 years ago I was pretty technically competent. 15 years ago I could hold my own in a 3.1, DOS, or basic environment. Today, I'm just an average user. I think I could probably find my hard-drive, but wouldn't guarantee it. Instead, I began with taking it to a local computer shop. The guy there ran Maxtor's PowerMax on it, which said the HD is failing and needs to be replaced. He then pull the HD out and try to read it in some of the other shop computers. All it did was stall them out and cause Windows errors. I just picked it up from and he told me "that hard drive is toast...I could hear it going all screwy and I couldn't read a single file on it." I can plug it in when I get home and report back tomorrow what kind of noises it makes (now have no way of getting online from home)...or I could just call you while I'm fiddling with it. Another user has graciously offered to send me an operating system and some video editing software, so I'll probably go buy a new HD at Circuit City or somewhere, have a functional computer within a week or so, and then see if there's anything I can do to recover anything from this one when I have online capability. Blues, Dave"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wildblue 7 #10 January 2, 2007 QuoteEdit to add: The expansion when the drive warms back up can damage the drive even further, so I'd only try that as a last, last resort. It is a last-ditch hail-mary move. If you're lucky, you'll only get a few minutes to pull off the files you need, then it probably never will work again If it's really important, you can spend $1000 and send it off to ontrack - they can probably save it. it's like incest - you're substituting convenience for quality Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
labrys 0 #11 January 2, 2007 QuoteIf it's really important, you can spend $1000 and send it off to ontrack I have access to some of the same gear ontrack uses and I won't charge anything.Owned by Remi #? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hookitt 1 #12 January 2, 2007 I have ontrack software. No I'm not sending to the world :) If it doesn't make noise, try to find an identical hard drive and steal the board off the back of it. "that hard drive is toast" could (possibly) mean a few things. A crash where parts touch and make nifty scrapy sounds is bad. No sound other than spinning might not be so bad. No spinning at all... who knows. Start with the logic board. I recently put a drive that could not be read into another computer because it was unreadable. I ran chdsk and "Allowed" it to fix errors and it worked again. Too many variables but simply put, the hard drive is toast is to general.My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hookitt 1 #13 January 2, 2007 QuoteI have access to some of the same gear ontrack uses and I won't charge anything. Even better... remember there are boobie pictures on that hard drive so back them up accordingly.My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
labrys 0 #14 January 2, 2007 QuoteEven better... remember there are boobie pictures on that hard drive so back them up accordingly. I'm ummmm..... very discrete. I promise Owned by Remi #? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davedlg 0 #15 January 2, 2007 Quote If it doesn't make noise, try to find an identical hard drive and steal the board off the back of it. I had a drive once that went bad just as described. We happened to have an identical hard drive that we wern't using. We very carefully opened up the hard drive, removed the actual metallic discs from inside the drive and transplanted the discs into the other drive. It was a pain in the ass. There were many screws, springs and other moving pieces that we had to delicately reassemble. However, we were able to recover the entire contents of the hard drive that way. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
labrys 0 #16 January 2, 2007 QuoteI had a drive once that went bad just as described. We happened to have an identical hard drive that we wern't using. We very carefully opened up the hard drive, removed the actual metallic discs from inside the drive and transplanted the discs into the other drive. It was a pain in the ass. There were many screws, springs and other moving pieces that we had to delicately reassemble. However, we were able to recover the entire contents of the hard drive that way. You lucked out big time. That type of transfer should be done in a cleanroom with the proper calibration tools only. A speck of dust can waste a platter.Owned by Remi #? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davedlg 0 #17 January 2, 2007 QuoteQuoteI had a drive once that went bad just as described. We happened to have an identical hard drive that we wern't using. We very carefully opened up the hard drive, removed the actual metallic discs from inside the drive and transplanted the discs into the other drive. It was a pain in the ass. There were many screws, springs and other moving pieces that we had to delicately reassemble. However, we were able to recover the entire contents of the hard drive that way. You lucked out big time. That type of transfer should be done in a cleanroom with the proper calibration tools only. A speck of dust can waste a platter. That's what I thought, I assumed there was no chance of it working. I was quite surprised when they got it working. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gene03 0 #18 January 2, 2007 Try turning the hard drive upside down and remounting, works some times.“The only fool bigger than the person who knows it all is the person who argues with him. Stanislaw Jerzy Lec quotes (Polish writer, poet and satirist 1906-1966) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
turtlespeed 226 #19 January 2, 2007 Looks like HH has your problem almost all solved for you.I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
livendive 8 #20 January 3, 2007 QuoteLooks like HH has your problem almost all solved for you. So can one of the techie types tell me if that one will work? The machine came with a Maxtor 250 GB 7200 RPM SATA HDD. I don't see any other specs on the marketing stuff on Sony's website. Going to NewEgg.com, I see there are IDE Ultra ATA100, SATA-II, and (closest, I think) "Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250820AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM" (for $74.99) Does it matter which of these I buy? Stick with SATA? Blues, Dave"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
labrys 0 #21 January 3, 2007 Stick with SATA, but other than that look for a good buy. I like Seagate drives, but that's just me. Maxtor or Western Digital are good names.Owned by Remi #? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
labrys 0 #22 January 3, 2007 I think that this is a good deal: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144417Owned by Remi #? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
