HDD Problem(s)

aSc1@3

aSc1@3

New Member
I have finally done the easy and try disconnecting my drives from my pc, and voila!, it's starts up! if you don't remeber, i have posted may a thread about my pc not starting up or restarting randomly. after process of elimination, and after discovering that if i disconnect my hdd, my pc starts up right away, i now know that my hdd is the problem. it's actually a maxtor refurbished 200gb 7200rpm hdd, and my guess to the problem is that the disks are not spinning up properly, causing my pc to turn-off halfway through the turning-on process, but i'm no preffesional. If anyone can help me find the problem, or better yet fix it, it would be greatly appreciated!:D
 
If you have removed a bad drive your option is to replace it with a new one. Apparently that one went doa and is likely seeing the system pulled down when plugged in.

The only real advice anyone can offer here would be going for a new drive and avoid further problems by dsicarding the problem drive. If that is your OS drive once a new drive is in and all set up copy anything off of it you want to save and then run a good magnet over it before dumping it in a trash can to wipe any personal data on it.
 
well i would do the magnet thng, but actualy, the plates inside the casing are magnetically protected, the only way to truly erase it is to break the air-tight seal, and if doing it with a drill, you might as well puncture a plate or 2 aswell.:D

i know i need a new drive, and i have an avalible 40gb and 30gb(such...little...memory...ughhhhh:()to put in, but i was hoping for a way to at least be able to boot up with it the hdd hooked-up so i could go into a gparted-live cd and attempt to use the copy partion feature to copy onto the other hdd(s), or boot into a (k)/(x)ubuntu-live-cd and manually copy files, or just be able to view them so i can remember what i need to download and such after a clean-install.
 
Besides GParted you can easily use a live distro like ubuntu for seeing entire folders copied from drive to drive even from a usb model. The screen shot here shows 7.10 at work copying from a usb onto a sata model.



You'll find that a live distro also sees the copy+paste option making life easier there. Copying an entire partition requires a good sized drive with plenty of free space available as well as the need for the lengthy period of time required.

I tried that here when first moving a Vista primary off of an ide drive onto a sata and still needed to delete that in order to see a new primary where Vista could be reinstalled. That's one thing about the new version out being fussy for seeing a fresh or just reformatted primary.

With a live distro or perhaps a disk imaging program you see files and folders saved in far less time. Just copying and pasting with a live cd goes a lot faster. That would also allow you to hand pick which individual folders as well as highlighting a window full for transfer.
 
i said everything you just said in my last post. my prblem is if i have the drive plugged in , the computer won't turn on. it simply won't finish booting. so i wanted to know if there is a way to repair the drive at least to the extent of being able to boot with the drive hooked-up so i can go into a live dist. and copy the files.

But what would be a lot easier is if i can know if it is safe to bott the pc without the hddin, as that is the only way it will boot, and then plug in the ide and molex connector while the computer is on. Would it short the pc, or would it act like i insereted a removable drive?
 
If you could plug the drive in that would simply would be one way there for seeing items transferred over as opposed to trying to use GParted for copying the entire partition. But with a drive pulling a system down when plugged in you are left with only two other options.

The first is not likely to succeed namely an external usb type drive cage. The second is the last option of bringing or sending the drive in to a professional data recover service since they are equipped to open the drive up and copying direct from the drive's platters. That is also a costly method.

To face the facts the drive would either have to be sent in to the manfacturer for refurbishing/repair or a professional sata service ro see actual results. It sounds like the controller card inside the drive's casing is seeing a short of some type pulling power to ground. Or there may a loose connection inside touching ground.

It sounds more likely that a component on the card went and you may as well assume the drive is lost unless you are prepared to pay out some money. One reason I run multiple drives here is for those occasions if a drive needs cleaning or fails.

For seeing any drive plugged while a system is powered up only usb and hot swapping is seen with sata drives. The plugging in of any ide especially one suspected of seeing a short of some type is ill advised since you can too easily cause damage.

For the most whenever working inside any case you at least have the breaker switch on the power supply off and preferrably have the ac cord unplugged to avoid damage or possible electrical shock. The options above seem the only available for you there in order to recover what can be saved from the drive.

If there's nothing too important like family photos on the drive it wouldn't be worth the risk of damaging anything else attempting something like that. But it's also a good object lesson of making regular backups to at least removable media in case of a mishap.
 
ok, thank you for clarifying the matter of it being safe to hot-swap an ide drive.

but knowing that proffesional data recovery is one of my options, i am wondering:
the drive in question is actually a refurb, do you think that there will be an extended warranty/data recovery or at least a refund/trade-in policie because it is a refurb?

also, do you know if i will be able to send it in to the manufacturer for repair/refund/recovery/whatever without a receipt? the hdd was a gift, and i don't have a receipt, original packaging, or even knowledge of where it was bought. i might be able to get that info from the gift-giver, but it would much more of a hassle, and probably spoil the giving of said gift
 
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It's "not" safe to hot swap an ide drive so there's misunderstanding. The only drives while they may temporary lose their logical drive designation when plugging in or unplugging while a system is running are the external usb drives now commonly seen. A sata or even eSata is a touch + go on those.

For seeing the drive repaired very, very few repair shops are set up for that type of repair. They would themselves send a drive out for repair for a price. Past the warranty and already having been refurbished a manufacturer will only provide a very limited warranty on the work they did when first returned.

Expect to be paying for a repair at this time and only seeing limits on time if there are any problems. It's far easier to rescue the data by a service and simply buy a new drive now that prices have come down then the hassles of trying to keep a problem drive running. You would pay a one time fee while pricey to see whatever they can retrieve copied to another drive or burned to one or more disks you provide followed by seeing a new drive with a good warranty plus 15-30day vendor return policy.
 
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