External hard drive packed up

[Paul Whiffin]

My Maxtor external hard drive packed up yesterday, plug it in and it now beeps for about 5 minutes which then stops followed by the computer beeping to say its connected but you cant access it.

 

Does anyone know if they can be fixed or the data extracted from it?

[ManwithSupra]

Yep you can get the data off it but it will need to be done by a company to do it such as http://www.dataclinic.co.uk/data-recovery-external-disk.htm

May be worth thinking about running a Raid level next time, or doing regular backups of your data on a Tape, Optical device or USB flash drive.

[AlexM]

Is the drive spinning up? You should be able to feel it if it is.

 

I'd take the hard drive out of the caddy and plug it straight into your computer, bypassing the usb converter, and see whether you can access it that way (easier if it's a 3.5" drive due to the standard connectors).

[Paul Whiffin]

Yeah I do back it up all the time but I haven't got everything off it unfortunately. I presume this costs a lot of money from what I've been told so far!

[Paul Whiffin]

Is the drive spinning up? You should be able to feel it if it is.

 

I'd take the hard drive out of the caddy and plug it straight into your computer, bypassing the usb converter, and see whether you can access it that way (easier if it's a 3.5" drive due to the standard connectors).

 

I cant feel anything when I plug it in no. Its being powered up as the light is coming on so I presume its not a USB problem? I've tried a different lead as well.

[stevie_b]

Data recovery can indeed cost a lot of money.

 

Is it detected by the BIOS when you connect it straight into the computer?

[Swampy442]

Ive got the same thing with an external, it spins up but doesnt read.

[Paul Whiffin]

Data recovery can indeed cost a lot of money.

 

Is it detected by the BIOS when you connect it straight into the computer?

 

Haven't tried that, I'm just using the USB to connect it. Worth a go is it?

[Chris Wilson]

I had a similar issue ages ago, someone suggested warming it up, so I put it in the airing cupboard overnight, next to the hot water cylinder. Next morning it worked and got all the data off it "Proper" hot water systems have their advantages over these new fangled, last 5 minutes, combi-boilers

[mawby]

The opposite can also work, I've known data to be recovered off failing drives by placing them in a freezer for a short bit.

[Wez]

The opposite can also work, I've known data to be recovered off failing drives by placing them in a freezer for a short bit.

 

In a freezer bag

 

First thing to try is plugging it into a different computer, then if it still fails remove the drive and try it direct, if that still doesnt work then you have a few options. You could send it away for recovery which will cost, if you are not too worried and have most of the data you can try either heating up or cooling down, these can work but only give a one shot chance so can be risky

[caseys]

The Freezing or cooking method is a *one time* method I would say, if it doesn't work do not try it again.

 

The other possibility is that some corruption has occurred but the disk and your data could be intact.

 

Paul, so no vibration (however small) from the unit when it's on if you clamp both your hands around it? Just want to establish if the spindle is even spinning. If it is you/others can do reasonably easy data recovery.

 

You can dismantle the unit and put the drive in a drive dock and use numerous programs to see what you can recover - Daman on here may do that, I can also do that or possibly get you some programs to do that if you buy a disk dock (£10-15 odd). Programs basically skipping the file allocation table/structure of the disk and just reads the data raw looking for file header/footer information and then pieces the data inbetween together.

 

Otherwise for a thorough recovery expect north of £300 and not a 100% guarantee.

 

If this is business data next time buy a drobo box or some sort of NAS box which has RAID protection built in. Drives are cheap and can be considered a commodity item now, and also far less inconvenience to replace than losing your data.

 

Edit : By the way if the drive does appear to not work when plugged in internally do not format it and try to write to it again as that drastically reduces the chance of recovering data.

[Paul Whiffin]

In a freezer bag

 

First thing to try is plugging it into a different computer, then if it still fails remove the drive and try it direct, if that still doesnt work then you have a few options. You could send it away for recovery which will cost, if you are not too worried and have most of the data you can try either heating up or cooling down, these can work but only give a one shot chance so can be risky

 

So freezing could mess it up completely?

[Paul Whiffin]

The Freezing or cooking method is a *one time* method I would say, if it doesn't work do not try it again.

 

The other possibility is that some corruption has occurred but the disk and your data could be intact.

 

Paul, so no vibration (however small) from the unit when it's on if you clamp both your hands around it? Just want to establish if the spindle is even spinning. If it is you/others can do reasonably easy data recovery.

 

You can dismantle the unit and put the drive in a drive dock and use numerous programs to see what you can recover - Daman on here may do that, I can also do that or possibly get you some programs to do that if you buy a disk dock (£10-15 odd). Programs basically skipping the file allocation table/structure of the disk and just reads the data raw looking for file header/footer information and then pieces the data inbetween together.

 

Otherwise for a thorough recovery expect north of £300 and not a 100% guarantee.

 

If this is business data next time buy a drobo box or some sort of NAS box which has RAID protection built in. Drives are cheap and can be considered a commodity item now, and also far less inconvenience to replace than losing your data.

 

Edit : By the way if the drive does appear to not work when plugged in internally do not format it and try to write to it again as that drastically reduces the chance of recovering data.

 

I've taken the plastic case off and cant feel any vibration at all when plugged in, I presume thats bad!?

[caseys]

So freezing could mess it up completely?

 

It can do. Basically if this data is critical, it's not advisory, if it's something you can live without, give it a try.

 

I've taken the plastic case off and cant feel any vibration at all when plugged in, I presume thats bad!?

 

Could just mean that the power to it's gone. If powered up the disk should spin internally, causing vibration. No spinning, no access.

 

If you've got a desktop to plug the drive into directly that'll rule out power supply (the board/ribbon cable etc) or if the board on the HDD has gone, which makes things a tad more complicated - basically having to find a 2nd hand drive of the same model, swap the boards out then put it back in.

[Paul Whiffin]

It can do. Basically if this data is critical, it's not advisory, if it's something you can live without, give it a try.

 

 

 

Could just mean that the power to it's gone. If powered up the disk should spin internally, causing vibration. No spinning, no access.

 

If you've got a desktop to plug the drive into directly that'll rule out power supply (the board/ribbon cable etc) or if the board on the HDD has gone, which makes things a tad more complicated - basically having to find a 2nd hand drive of the same model, swap the boards out then put it back in.

 

How can I plug it into a desktop, if I take off the adaptor for the USB the connectors on the hard drive seem a lot smaller than whats on my desktop? Or can you buy suitable connectors/cables to do that?

[caseys]

How can I plug it into a desktop, if I take off the adaptor for the USB the connectors on the hard drive seem a lot smaller than whats on my desktop? Or can you buy suitable connectors/cables to do that?

 

Is it a 2.5' or 3.5' drive? Length that is...

 

The interface look something like this? 3.5 sata

 

http://www.allcam.biz/catalog/images2/allcam/hard_drive_interface_sata.jpg

 

Or more like this? A 2.5 inch drive

 

http://hardwarelogic.com/images/siteimages/upload/2010/02/23/3724lgp.jpg

 

Both you can buy a cable for to plug into your desktop

[Paul Whiffin]

Is it a 2.5' or 3.5' drive? Length that is...

 

The interface look something like this?

 

http://www.coolgear.com/images/USBG-U2IDES1.jpg

 

Or more like this? A 2.5 inch drive

 

http://hardwarelogic.com/images/siteimages/upload/2010/02/23/3724lgp.jpg

 

Both you can buy a cable for to plug into your desktop

 

Same as the 2.5"

[caseys]

Same as the 2.5"

 

Grab something like this

 

http://www.usbnow.co.uk/p42/USB_2.0_to_SATA_Hard_Drive_Kit_+_Power_Adapter_%28VE250/385%29/product_info.html

 

Which is basically all which is in the enclosure, includes a power supply and you'd plug in what fits on the drive, the other end into a USB port on your computer. If it's not whirring up and you can't hear it/feel it making any noise at all then it's logic board is either dead or it's had a catastrophic failure (either way you're pretty unlucky unless it's been near a huge magnet).

 

If it's dead basically have to do the same make/model and try and swap out all parts possible inside the case and see if it comes to life, or send it off for data recovery and assume position on the cost front. If you want Paul PM me the make/model (or a photo of the sticker on it which it should have on the shiny side hopefully) and I'll see if I can source parts and bring up with me when I come see you in a couple of weeks and see if I can fix it for you if you can wait 2-3 weeks? Or can post them up to you if you want to give it a crack yourself I can send you a link to a good how-to guide.

 

Can then also be cheeky and send the cable/kit back if the drive's dead, it's only £13 tho and useful to have in situations like this.

[Paul Whiffin]

Grab something like this

 

http://www.usbnow.co.uk/p42/USB_2.0_to_SATA_Hard_Drive_Kit_+_Power_Adapter_%28VE250/385%29/product_info.html

 

Which is basically all which is in the enclosure, includes a power supply and you'd plug in what fits on the drive, the other end into a USB port on your computer. If it's not whirring up and you can't hear it/feel it making any noise at all then it's logic board is either dead or it's had a catastrophic failure (either way you're pretty unlucky unless it's been near a huge magnet).

 

If it's dead basically have to do the same make/model and try and swap out all parts possible inside the case and see if it comes to life, or send it off for data recovery and assume position on the cost front. If you want Paul PM me the make/model (or a photo of the sticker on it which it should have on the shiny side hopefully) and I'll see if I can source parts and bring up with me when I come see you in a couple of weeks and see if I can fix it for you if you can wait 2-3 weeks? Or can post them up to you if you want to give it a crack yourself I can send you a link to a good how-to guide.

 

Can then also be cheeky and send the cable/kit back if the drive's dead, it's only £13 tho and useful to have in situations like this.

 

Isn't that adaptor basically what I've got now though?

 

I can email you some pics of it if you like, whats your email address?

[caseys]

Isn't that adaptor basically what I've got now though?

 

I can email you some pics of it if you like, whats your email address?

 

Yep, but unless you can strip down the enclosure and check that the power is truly getting from the adapter right to the drive you can't rule that out as being the faulty component, rather than the drive itself.

 

I'll PM you my email address in a minute