HDD power cable caught on fire

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nom16

Commendable
Oct 16, 2016
5
0
1,510
I came to work everyday like usual. I started the pc as normal, then looked away for a few seconds and look back to find the case interior was covered with smoke.

Before i could do anything, something was on fire. I immediately pulled out the power cable, removed the side panel and check inside. Turns out it was the HDD power cable was burned, and a few pins on the power adapter of the HDD turned black.

I havent tried to test if the HDD still works or replaced the cable to prevent further damage.

What should i do? Im worried as only around 60% of the important data is saved on cloud.

Thanks in advance
 
Solution
Luminary
1) Replacing the HDD cable is in no way a solution to that kind of fire. You'll need to check with your IT department for a full system diagnostic. There was potentially motherboard damage, PSU malfunction...that system needs to be considered unreliable as a whole until a full diagnostic can be run.

2) There is a very good chance the HDD is destroyed. Depending on HOW critical the data is on the drive you could try sending it off to data recovery professionals, but that can be QUITE expensive (and still might not result in data recovery), so you'll need to weigh how much the data is worth to you vs. cost. If you have an IT department then not having backups is in their lap, not yours. If responsibility for backups was yours, then this...
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Luminary

Luminary

Admirable
Nov 29, 2015
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6,960
1) Replacing the HDD cable is in no way a solution to that kind of fire. You'll need to check with your IT department for a full system diagnostic. There was potentially motherboard damage, PSU malfunction...that system needs to be considered unreliable as a whole until a full diagnostic can be run.

2) There is a very good chance the HDD is destroyed. Depending on HOW critical the data is on the drive you could try sending it off to data recovery professionals, but that can be QUITE expensive (and still might not result in data recovery), so you'll need to weigh how much the data is worth to you vs. cost. If you have an IT department then not having backups is in their lap, not yours. If responsibility for backups was yours, then this could just be a painful lesson in trying to ensure you work is always protected by adequate backup procedures.

If you wanted to try and boot the drive up yourself, an external HDD enclosure or docking station like this would be all you need to see if the drive had any life left in it.

Best of luck, I hope you're able to get your data back.
 
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Solution
N

nom16

Commendable
Oct 16, 2016
5
0
1,510
@Luminary thanks, i'll have the whole system sent to the IT department. I was just about to replace the cable to see if it works then i remembered tomshareware. THanks again
 
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nom16

Commendable
Oct 16, 2016
5
0
1,510
We dont actually have an IT department, they are separate from us. So basically it's on my lap. However, luckily i have all current and recent works on cloud. Only those archives of old complete work may lost. Well, from now on, i'll make sure everything has backups, pricey lesson tho.
 
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