EMERGENCY ISSUE. Please Help! Regarding External HDD.

I

ipodlover77

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Hello!

My XPS 720 recently crapped out. I got the dreaded amber blinking light so its either a mother board or power supply issue. Instead of replacing them, I decided to purchase another desktop. I had some pretty confidential things on the XPS hard drive so i went ahead and bought a 3.5 enclosure. when i took out the HDD from the computer, it says its a seagate barracuda, 250gb 7200 RPM. They were dual HDD's so 500 gig total (i know, low by todays standards).

When i got the enclosures and set it up, i connected it to my dell xps laptop. It searched and installed the drivers perfectly fine. The message popped up saying that it was installed successfully but when i went to my computer, there was nothing there.

i bought only one enclosure so i had to swap out the HD for the second one. after installing the second one, i hook it up to the laptop. i get the drivers message again (completed installing) and than go to my computer. it comes up as "f." so i double click the icon and get the "please format to use the drive." I click cancel because i don't plan on using this as a exernal HD. I just need those important files. So i click cancel and than i get a error message saying something about invalid format, corrupt files, not the right structure.

so im freaking out and im googling on what to do. one person recommended i download this recover info from damaged or formatted partitions application. after i installed the program, it said that my HDD was a 500 seagate, when it was only 250. is there a chance that the HD is seen as one 500 instead of 2 250's?

but anyways, any advice guys? i REALLY need those files but im slowly losing hope right now... :(
 
A quick google says that the 720 uses raid 0 on the two disks to make up the 500gb.

This would be why they are showing up as empty when you plug them into your external controller.

I would hazard a guess they will need to be plugged into another xps720 or another motherboard with the same onboard raid controller if you wanted to get your data off.

Paul
 
barbz said:
A quick google says that the 720 uses raid 0 on the two disks to make up the 500gb.

This would be why they are showing up as empty when you plug them into your external controller.

I would hazard a guess they will need to be plugged into another xps720 or another motherboard with the same onboard raid controller if you wanted to get your data off.

Paul
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ahhhh, im not very familiar with HDD so i didnt know that bit of information of the raid 0.

thanks! :D

but AHHH. this totally blows. is there ANY way to get the data off? i dont think i'll be able to find another 720 to just extract some data :/
 
but AHHH. this totally blows. is there ANY way to get the data off? i dont think i'll be able to find another 720 to just extract some data :/
Click to expand...

A linux livecd could possibly read the raid if you plug the drives into a PC and boot off a recent livecd. For beginners I would recommend picking up the latest ubuntu cd and run it in the live mode (or similar).
 
drescherjm said:
A linux livecd could possibly read the raid if you plug the drives into a PC and boot off a recent livecd. For beginners I would recommend picking up the latest ubuntu cd and run it in the live mode (or similar).
Click to expand...

thanks for the tip. i wont lie, im a TOTAL noob when it comes to things like that. is there any guide for dummies on how to do it?

is there anything that i can buy that will allow me to get the data off. am i wrong to assume that i'll need an enclosure that will fit both drives at the same time?

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-Backplane-Removable-3-5-Inches-RC2300101A/dp/B004G8QERU"]Amazon.com: Thermaltake MAX-2533 Backplane Hot Swap Removable Hard Drive Kits 3.5-Inches SAS/SATA RAID Ready RC2300101A: Electronics@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/211TRYKyH-L.@@AMEPARAM@@211TRYKyH-L[/ame]

or am i grasping for straws here?
 
You do not need any kind of enclosure. Just plug the drives directly into your PC. An enclosure will not help or hurt this process.
 
Yeah, plug them in the computer (you might need SATA cables if don't have any). Alternatively, buy a second enclosure for the other drive.
 
drescherjm said:
You do not need any kind of enclosure. Just plug the drives directly into your PC. An enclosure will not help or hurt this process.
Click to expand...

hm, not understanding what you mrean "by just plug the drives directly into your pc"

Do you mean open up a PC and than replace the HD with this? If so, that would mean i would have had to decided to buy a replacement HD instead of a beefed up laptop.
 
Do you mean open up a PC and than replace the HD with this? If so, that would mean i would have had to decided to buy a replacement HD instead of a beefed up laptop.
Click to expand...

I did not mean to replace whatever harddrive a current PC has but to add additional harddrives to a PC so that you can get your data. Remember that desktop computers have more than 1 port for harddrives.

I thought you had a just purchased a desktop PC available that you could plug the drives into directly to the hard drive connectors on the motherboard. If you only have a laptop that thermaltake hot swap bay can not work since it's a desktop part and it will plug into a desktop motherboard just as the drives will. For a laptop you most likely need enclosures with USB. However this is not guaranteed to make your raid 0 work. The linux livecd method is worth a shot.

At this point from the questions you are asking I would take the drives to Best Buy and pay them $200 (or whatever the fee is) to get your data off of the raid 0 array.
 
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The 720 used Intel RAID, so you should be able to hook up the two drives to any computer with an Intel chipset and has RAID functionality enabled to pull the data.

I wouldn't go to Best Buy; stupid idiots that will probably hit the 'reformat' button instead of the 'recover' button just to get you to spend more money on their 'services.' Rather put that $200 into a backup plan so that you don't have to go through this again if something bad happens.

If you've got another desktop now and you bought one with an Intel CPU, what model or make? Can you enable RAID from within BIOS (or have an option too at least; changing it without preparing the OS can cause it to not boot).
 
drescherjm said:
I did not mean to replace whatever harddrive a current PC has but to add additional harddrives to a PC so that you can get your data. Remember that desktop computers have more than 1 port for harddrives.

I thought you had a just purchased a desktop PC available that you could plug the drives into directly to the hard drive connectors on the motherboard. If you only have a laptop that thermaltake hot swap bay can not work since it's a desktop part and it will plug into a desktop motherboard just as the drives will. For a laptop you most likely need enclosures with USB. However this is not guaranteed to make your raid 0 work. The linux livecd method is worth a shot.

At this point from the questions you are asking I would take the drives to Best Buy and pay them $200 (or whatever the fee is) to get your data off of the raid 0 array.
Click to expand...

yeah.. if worst comes to worst. that probably will have to be my option. just paranoid that they may take some documents off my hard drive. i have alot of confidential documents on the hard drive.

but to the people that advised to go the linux route. i used this as a tutorial
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erQGso9lqF4"]YouTube - ‪How To Use Linux - Live CD - Tutorial‬‏[/ame]
im booted into linux but when i attach the hard drive, nothing shows up. when i attached a USB drive, that showed up, but when i attached the rocketfish, nothing. do i have to install certain drivers or something for it to work?
 
drescherjm said:
IAt this point from the questions you are asking I would take the drives to Best Buy and pay them $200 (or whatever the fee is) to get your data off of the raid 0 array.
Click to expand...

While I agree with the sentiment, I would not under any circumstances bring those disks into Best Buy. Go with a reputable local PC repair place instead.
 
http://www.icare-recovery.com/

just bought that but this whole thing may be too complex for me.

i scanned one of the smaller drives on the harddrive and came with with MULTIPLE partitions. most of them ranging for 5-7 gigs. There were more than 50 of them.

man this is giving me a headache.
 
thefreeaccount said:
While I agree with the sentiment, I would not under any circumstances bring those disks into Best Buy. Go with a reputable local PC repair place instead.
Click to expand...
I'll second that. If your data is as important to you as you say it is, Best Buy is the last place you should go. There are also some data recovery places where you can send your drives to and they will recover the data. They can be expensive so I would call around and get some different price quotes.
 
ipodlover77 said:
http://www.icare-recovery.com/

just bought that but this whole thing may be too complex for me.

i scanned one of the smaller drives on the harddrive and came with with MULTIPLE partitions. most of them ranging for 5-7 gigs. There were more than 50 of them.

man this is giving me a headache.
Click to expand...

Again did you hook up both 250GB drives at the same time when you did this? You can not use 1 hard drive at a time that has no chance of working.
 
drescherjm said:
Again did you hook up both 250GB drives at the same time when you did this? You can not use 1 hard drive at a time that has no chance of working.
Click to expand...

nope, just used one. i bought only one rocket fish enclosure. i planned on switching in for the other during data extraction.

by your advice, should i buy 2 single enclosures or buy a dual enclosure?

its just that one of the posters say that an enclosure wouldn't help in this situation.
 
My advice is if you have a running desktop machine open it up and connect the 2 drives to the motherboard (assuming it has 2 free sata ports). For this test you do not need to attach the drives to the case. Just sit them on a box or something. Hopefully you have enough cables from the old broken PC.


Buying a second external that you can plug the second drive in may also work but this is not guaranteed. The software you purchased may support this. I do not know I have never used that.

by your advice, should i buy 2 single enclosures or buy a dual enclosure?
Click to expand...

Does not really make any difference. With either of these options you need special software that understands the raid (which you may have already purchased).
 
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okay, well i decide to go balls out and install the DELL XPS hard drives into a HP P6000 i have laying around. Hopefull this will work. My question is, do i just buy a second sata cable or do i also have to buy a power cable. thats the part i seemed to be stuck on. When i opened up the computer originally (it has only one 500gb hd), it was connected with a power cable and a sata cable. the casing does have space for a second one and i see the 4 sata ports on the mother board. is it as easy as buying a sata cable and clipping it on to the second HD, or do i also have to buy a second power plug.

210n0jp.jpg

those were the two plugs that came were attached to the HD

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the bottom plug was to the HD. top to the cd drive

4jlzed.jpg

the power plug. not sure if i need another one for the second hd

3480ih1.jpg

hd comparison. the bototm is the one from the dell, the top from the HP. i want to put BOTH dell HD's in and remove the HP. will the dual swap work or is the dell HD different and incompatible? (some of the slots look different. thats why i ask)

could i just go to microcenter with the sata cable and ask them for one. or is there a certain type?
 
Yes, you must provide a power connection to both drives. You either need another 4-pin-molex-to-SATA-power cable, or a 4-pin-molex-to-dual-SATA-power cable.
 
john4200 said:
Yes, you must provide a power connection to both drives. You either need another 4-pin-molex-to-SATA-power cable, or a 4-pin-molex-to-dual-SATA-power cable.
Click to expand...

thanks. i bought the two cords and just installed both XPS hard drives and removed the OG one in the HP. Its at the "access operating system" so lets cross our fingers :/
 
five minutes later, still the "accessing operating system" message. does the order of the hard drive matter? (for example, can the placement of the hard drive on either the top or bottom of the bay make a difference)
 
The actual physical placement of the HDD's themselves does not matter. You could have them plugged in and sitting on your desk side by side if you wanted.
 
Joe S said:
The actual physical placement of the HDD's themselves does not matter. You could have them plugged in and sitting on your desk side by side if you wanted.
Click to expand...

yeah..i figured. i was just hoping that it was a problem i could fix.

any other suggestion guys?

this is the bios screen if it matter

142brjt.jpg
 
Well first off since it looks like you only have your drives from the other PC's RAID 0 installed and this PC either doesn't support RAID or isn't set up you're not going to have an OS available.

If you're trying to boot off the live CD then you need to change you boot order in the boot menu to put the CD prior to the HDDs, also I'm not sure what good it will do to boot the Live CD in the current state even if it can recover the RAID volume you don't any place to restore you files to.
 
In all fairness if the documents on the drives are that important to you it would be easier just to buy a replacement motherboard from Dell and be done with it.

Paul
 
well just wanted to give you guys an update.

it worked!!!!!!! the solution was actually a combination of all of your suggestions.

first i had to buy the molex and sata cables.
i was greeted with that accessing operating system message
than one of you guys reminded me that i made a live cd a few hours back
changed the boot order to cd first
and to my surprise, the two hard drives were detected (thank u for suggesting that it might have been formatted in raid) as one and i was abel to access it in ubuntu.

THANK YOU!!!

the question is, do i sell the XPS 720 or just trash it? its either the motherboard or the power supply. is there a point in trying to sell it?
 
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