Can you plug in sata 2.5 hardrive while computer is running?

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Dutt1113

[H]ard|Gawd
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I was wondering if you can plug in a seagate momentus 2.5" 120gb 7200.2 sata harddrive while the computer is running?

I have windows vista ultimate and my motherboard is evga 780i sli.

I tried plugging it in like normal. Bios detects the drive but when I try to get into windows, the bars go across the screen and then hangs at a black screen and doesn't go the into windows. I was able to get into safe mode with the drive connected, but even that went really slow and wouldn't respond to trying to acces the drive from "My Computer."

The harddrive was in my laptop and the dog ran across the cord and yanked the computer out of my lap and onto the ground (carpet) and windows wouldn't boot anymore, said a file was missing/corrupt. The computer was running like crap before this. Was this a coincedence?

I thought this drive was suppose to have a free fall sensor or soemthing
 
So you want to see if you can backup your laptop HD onto your desktop by plugging it in while its running?

Sorry, but your post isn't very clear at all.
 
Should be able to, SATA specs indicate hotswap capability, but check your controller's ability for it.

To fix your laptop, see if you can get the laptop to boot from the OS's CD/DVD (with the harddrive in there) , and load the repair console, after booting from the disc.
 
xenotype said:
Should be able to, SATA specs indicate hotswap capability, but check your controller's ability for it.

To fix your laptop, see if you can get the laptop to boot from the OS's CD/DVD (with the harddrive in there) , and load the repair console, after booting from the disc.
Click to expand...

I tried to repair windows, but in the box to select which OS to repair, there is nothing there. I tried to let it fix errors on the repair tool on the vista cd.

I'm trying to salvage the files off of it, but i'm not sure if windows is corrupt or the whole drive is bad. I'm thinking the whole drive is bad since it make the computer hang trying to access it, i'm not sure.
 
Dutt1113 said:
I tried to repair windows, but in the box to select which OS to repair, there is nothing there. I tried to let it fix errors on the repair tool on the vista cd.

I'm trying to salvage the files off of it, but i'm not sure if windows is corrupt or the whole drive is bad. I'm thinking the whole drive is bad since it make the computer hang trying to access it, i'm not sure.
Click to expand...

If you can't slave it (run it as a non boot drive) in your system, as in it gives you massive BIOS errors, RMA the drive, its fried. If you can boot, hotswap and drop in the drive, does it show under device manager at all?
 
xenotype said:
Should be able to, SATA specs indicate hotswap capability, but check your controller's ability for it.

To fix your laptop, see if you can get the laptop to boot from the OS's CD/DVD (with the harddrive in there) , and load the repair console, after booting from the disc.
Click to expand...


sata specs say you can but not every motherboard supports hotswapping.. some will just hard lock when its plugged in.. or just wont power up the hdd..
 
NO!!!!!! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!!!!
Unless the board supports hot swapping, all your going to do is fry the motherboard. And yes it can be done, but why take that chance? I had a client who tried to add a 500gb WD to a dell system while it was still on, and Im still cleaning up the mess. I imagine the board is a little easier to replace, but if you don't want to have to spend the money I wouldn't. If you really want to spend the money, just buy a new hard drive and install that. THe data may be lost, but at least the system will run.
 
I do it all the time never had an issue but theres a first time for everything :)
 
I bought a 2.5" sata to USB converter so I can give that a shot. If the drive still doesn't respond after trying this, then i guess the drive is probably screwed which I don't understand because I thought this drive was suppose to have a free fall sensor.
 
Free fall sensor means the drive will park it's heads if the laptop it is in is dropped from 3' or more.

If it was yanked suddenly and then hit the floor it might have been too quick for the sensor to respond, or the wrong kind of movement.

The drive may have been mid-write when it impacted and caused a head to contact the platter, which causes damage either to the head or platter or both.

If another PC won't boot with the drive attached, it's probably hosed. "hotswap" connecting in in windows will most likely just cause the PC to hang at best, and at worst cause damage to your PC.

Best option would be to get an external sata to usb case for the drive ($20) and use that to try to connect it. At least you won't be compounding the problems that way.
 
Why can't you just take 3-4 minutes and do it while the computer is off? I just don't why you would ever need to do this.
 
Logan321 said:
Free fall sensor means the drive will park it's heads if the laptop it is in is dropped from 3' or more.

If it was yanked suddenly and then hit the floor it might have been too quick for the sensor to respond, or the wrong kind of movement.

The drive may have been mid-write when it impacted and caused a head to contact the platter, which causes damage either to the head or platter or both.

If another PC won't boot with the drive attached, it's probably hosed. "hotswap" connecting in in windows will most likely just cause the PC to hang at best, and at worst cause damage to your PC.

Best option would be to get an external sata to usb case for the drive ($20) and use that to try to connect it. At least you won't be compounding the problems that way.
Click to expand...

QFT.

Alternatives...
  • You can disconnect all other drives and try booting your desktop with the laptop drive. You may also want to DL, burn, and boot to a HDD utility like Drive Fitness Test, or Ultimate Boot CD (has several HDD tools). If the drive passes the tests, you can try booting to it.
  • Hotswapping is only possible with AHCI enabled in the BIOS, and if the board supports it, which any newer controller should.
  • Again, USB enclosure is the best choice.
 
yes that is how esata works.
technically you can take a cable from the inside and run it to the outside and plug the hdd there.
you run a program and check if the hdd has any errors that can be fixed otherwise you might want to get a new one
 
Hotswapping is only possible with AHCI enabled in the BIOS, and if the board supports it, which any newer controller should.
Click to expand...

As long as the above are true, then you can :)
 
enginurd said:
Hotswapping is only possible with AHCI enabled in the BIOS, and if the board supports it, which any newer controller should.
Click to expand...

Has to be enabled in the bios AT THE TIME of OS install. If you enable it AFTER you install the OS, be prepared for chaos, mayhem and possibly fear and terror. If you installed the OS with the bios set to SATA, you're SOL.
 
Logan321 said:
Has to be enabled in the bios AT THE TIME of OS install. If you enable it AFTER you install the OS, be prepared for chaos, mayhem and possibly fear and terror. If you installed the OS with the bios set to SATA, you're SOL.
Click to expand...

Yes. However, some people got it to work on existing installations... dunno how well they worked, though.

mau108 said:
Figured it out

Had to upgrade to F13 bios first, booted with ahci disabled, updated intel controller drivers to modded ich8 ahci drivers, rebooted, enabled ahci in bios, and windows installed the drivers perfectly. ...
Click to expand...
 
MightyDiomed said:
Why can't you just take 3-4 minutes and do it while the computer is off? I just don't why you would ever need to do this.
Click to expand...

Because if you READ the original post, you'd realize that the OP can't get the system into Windows when the bad HDD is plugged in.
 
Sounds to me like the drive is physically broken. Even if you did hotswap it in windows, it'd probably just hang the system when the drive attempts to read the faulty sector.

If you had multiple partitions on that drive, you could try deleting the primary windows partition (most likely where the fault lies) and see if you can then boot and read data off the other partitions.

If you only had the one partition, then it's gameover really.
 
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