Hard Drive wont show

Closed
CG1990 Posts 5 Registration date Sunday May 3, 2015 Status Member Last seen May 3, 2015 - May 3, 2015 at 07:26 PM
R2D2_WD Posts 3606 Registration date Monday September 1, 2014 Status Member Last seen February 20, 2017   - May 4, 2015 at 02:46 AM
hiya, I have a WD 320GB Scorpio Black hard drive which originally came out of an old Laptop of mine, and i have had in an external case for some time. It has worked fine until recently... Its two patricians showed up in my computer but would ask to be formatted, I didnt want to do this as I wanted to retrieve some of the data on the hard drive before reformatting it. I was in the process of retrieving this data when the hard drive became unplugged (someone walking past and knocking it) now my computer will not read any hard drive at all. it does not show up in device manager, disk manager, diskpart, my computer etc etc... the hard drive is now also making noises like it is trying to load but failing. any ideas on how I could 1- get my computer to read my hard drive again and 2- how to recover any data from it, would be massively useful. I have some extremely important info on this HD and I am desperate not to lose it!

Thanks

Chris
Related:

3 responses

Blocked Profile
May 3, 2015 at 07:31 PM
Hello Chris,

it sounds like your hard drive has had a very significant "knock" for it to "sound like it's trying to load but failing".

Is this hard disk making a mechanical clicking noise?

like it's spinning up and then cutting out?

It could be one of two things.

a) the power cable is faulty or the power socket in the hard drive enclosure is broke.

b) the hard drive has suffered from physical damage and the bearings have gone/platters knocked out of line. Either way - Some hardware failure.

To eliminate point a - Have you tried taking it out of the external enclosure and putting back into your computer?
0
CG1990 Posts 5 Registration date Sunday May 3, 2015 Status Member Last seen May 3, 2015
May 3, 2015 at 07:34 PM
the knock was only enough for it to unplug from the computer.. no fall or anything like that. I have put the hard drive into a different enclosure and the same thing happens, as well as using different USB cables. I have also tried putting it directly into a laptop, and the laptop would not start up- i assume because it would not read the hard drive.

if the bearings have gone, is it still possibly to recover the data from it?
0
Blocked Profile > CG1990 Posts 5 Registration date Sunday May 3, 2015 Status Member Last seen May 3, 2015
May 3, 2015 at 07:44 PM
The information is stored on the platters (discs) in the drive. If they're physically in tact then yes, the data is recoverable. However, the recovery process by removing these platters from the drive and then reading them is usually done by professional companies who charge a massive fee. The process of removing the drives and reading the data is done in a very strict and controlled anti-static environment.

have you tried plugging the drive into another computer (directly to the motherboard) and trying to read it as a second disk?
0
CG1990 Posts 5 Registration date Sunday May 3, 2015 Status Member Last seen May 3, 2015 > Blocked Profile
May 3, 2015 at 07:47 PM
how would i go about plugging it directly into the motherboard without removing the hard drive that is currently in the computer? i tried to replace the usual HD in my computer with it and it wouldnt start up at all.. and obviously via a USB it wont read anything at all...
0
Blocked Profile
May 3, 2015 at 07:53 PM
Chris,

A desktop will work well.

do you know what type of connector the hard drive is? SATA? IDE?

You'll need a working, bootable desktop computer.

Power it off and plug in your hard drive with the data cable and power cable into the motherboard. The motherboard must support this type of connection.

Hopefully, your computer will boot to the working hard drive and from "My Computer" you should see your other hard disk there providing it works.

also check device manager to see if it's listed there.
0
CG1990 Posts 5 Registration date Sunday May 3, 2015 Status Member Last seen May 3, 2015
May 3, 2015 at 07:55 PM
ahh, unfortunately i do not have access to a desktop computer... I live on a very small island and so i suppose the next time i am on the mainland, i will have to take it in to a comp shop and get it looked at.

thanks for your help
0
Blocked Profile > CG1990 Posts 5 Registration date Sunday May 3, 2015 Status Member Last seen May 3, 2015
May 3, 2015 at 07:57 PM
When power is applied to the hard disk does it constantly spin?
0
R2D2_WD Posts 3606 Registration date Monday September 1, 2014 Status Member Last seen February 20, 2017   155
May 4, 2015 at 02:46 AM
Hi Chris,

Sadly, disconnecting the drive while spinning may cause trouble. Trying the device in a desktop is a really good idea. You should remove the drive from the enclosure and connect it directly to the desktop's motherboard as a secondary drive. You may have tried connecting it internally in your laptop, but it didn't work, because you have no OS installed and have nothing to boot from. Once connected in a desktop, try accessing the drive. You can also use the chkdsk /r command from the command prompt. Use the WD's diagnostic utility Data Lifeguard Diagnostic to check the drive's condition. I leave you a download link below.
http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=Qfk8F8

Hope this helps

0