recover a dead hard drive?

T

The Null

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 24, 2007
Messages
500
hello

i just acquired a dead 80gbwestern digital WD800BB, when i plug it in ( i only have 1 ide port on the motherboard and its connected to my DVD RAM drive, so i used the other port on the cable) when i plug it in and boot it up the hard drive doesn't vibrate the platters inside it don't spin and when i manage to get into 'my computer' it wont display the dvd drive or the hard drive. when i open the bios menu it doesn't detect my dvd drive or the hard drive either.

i have about 3 years of uni stuff on that hard drive that i need to recover, is it possible to recover the data on the hard drive?
how long will it take of it is possible?
should i shove the hard drive in the freezer?

thanks
 
I guess the drive has power connected. If the computer does not see it and the cables are ok it sounds like a broken driver board on the HD. You could try to find a similar HD and swap the driver board. I've tried the "putting a broken HD in the freezer" trick without any result whatsoever. If it is important data I would swallow the bitter pill and contact a professional data recovery company...

I would try a different data and power cable first. With a working controller on the HD the computer should see the HD. No need to spend a lot of money before some easy checks.
 
Do you know for sure that the drive is dead? I mean since your DVD also doesn't get detected it could be something else. If you aren't sure try using another cable (and only connect the hard drive). Also try putting the drive into another computer.

If the drive is really dead try SpinRite. (it may take a month)

PS:don't put your hard drive into a freezer! ;)
 
zz2 said:
PS:don't put your hard drive into a freezer! ;)
Click to expand...

Actually in certain cases, sticking a failing drive in the freezer can aid in data recovery. In this case however it won't help, because it sounds like the drive isn't even powering on.
 
The Null said:
hello

i just acquired a dead 80gbwestern digital WD800BB, when i plug it in ( i only have 1 ide port on the motherboard and its connected to my DVD RAM drive, so i used the other port on the cable) when i plug it in and boot it up the hard drive doesn't vibrate the platters inside it don't spin and when i manage to get into 'my computer' it wont display the dvd drive or the hard drive. when i open the bios menu it doesn't detect my dvd drive or the hard drive either.

i have about 3 years of uni stuff on that hard drive that i need to recover, is it possible to recover the data on the hard drive?
how long will it take of it is possible?
should i shove the hard drive in the freezer?

thanks
Click to expand...


Hey Null, How 'bout an update?
 
oohh...sorry

uuhh, the cables are fine, i've tried it with 3 different cables, i've tried with and without my dvd drive connected, and have tried it after 3 days in the freezer, with no luck, each time the hdd refuses to power up. there is no vibration, it just get really hot and thats about it.
 
The Null said:
oohh...sorry

uuhh, the cables are fine, i've tried it with 3 different cables, i've tried with and without my dvd drive connected, and have tried it after 3 days in the freezer, with no luck, each time the hdd refuses to power up. there is no vibration, it just get really hot and thats about it.
Click to expand...

Bummer! It's toasted......well, frozen toast. I've heard good things about Daves Data Recovery.

Good Luck!
 
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