Laptop hd failure

[Vincenzo]

The SATA hard drive in my wife's laptop failed. There are two files that were created since the last backup that I'd like to recover. I've put the hard drive in an enclosure. When it is powered up, I can hear it spinning for about 10 seconds, then it stops. Occasionally it will run for a few seconds again, then it no longer runs again until I remove power and re-connect. It does not show up in My Computer during the time that it is running.

Any ideas how I can retrieve the files I need?

Thanks

 

[Hawkeye22]

Does the drive show up in disk management? How does it appear in there, unallocated?

Anyhow, recuva may be able to help you.

http://www.piriform.com/recuva

 

[John_VanKirk]

Hi there,

Connect it directly to your desktop computer with a SATA power connection, not thru a self powered USB port and see if it will spin up.
You need a folder or back up drive ready if you can get access to the drive temporarily.

If not try the freezer bag method. Recommend double zip loc bagging using a drying agent pack or drying cylinder like found in some medicines.
Can be cooled 2 hrs to overnight. Be ready to recover the data if it spins up

Here is a link to the 'freezer method'
http://www.datarecoverypros.com/hard-drive-recovery-freeze.html

 

[Vincenzo]

Thanks for the replies.

Hawkeye, it does not show up in Disk Management.

John,
If I am to try connecting it to the mobo, I need to go out and get a cable somewhere. It does spin up for a for a few seconds on the usb port. Do you think the SATA connection would improve on that?

I will give the freezer method a try today too.

Thanks

 

[John_VanKirk]

Thanks for the replies.

Hawkeye, it does not show up in Disk Management.

John,
If I am to try connecting it to the mobo, I need to go out and get a cable somewhere. It does spin up for a for a few seconds on the usb port. Do you think the SATA connection would improve on that?

I will give the freezer method a try today too.

Thanks

When a HDD first begins to spin up (like any motor) it requires much more current. With the USB 2 connectors, they are spec'd at 500 ma, which may not be enough initially. The SATA power connectors have 15 wires, three 5v leads each capable of 1500 ma, so there's much more starting current available. If the first method doesn't work, it's worth a try.

 

[RetiredChief]

john_VanKirk gave very good advice.

If the enclocure is a "powered" one (you did not mention) then it should provide enough current. So either use John's suggetion of plugging into a desktop, or if the enclosure allows for plugging a "brick" in and you did not- try that first - often the enclosures use the same AC adaptor that the powered USB hubs use. If enclosure does not allow an AC adaptor, but you have a powered usb hub - use that. The powered hubs normally provide up to 2 Amps.

On the freezer method - Unless you live in Az, or "Down-under" where it is winter time; recommend you leave in the bags that John mentioned for testing when you pull it out due to condensation. That may mean to place it in the frezzer, bagged, with the needed cables protruding.

 

[Vincenzo]

The enclosure is a powered one.

After freezing the hard drive, it is still essentially the same. I do notice that is seems to spin up a bit longer now possibly. It spins for about 15 seconds, then stops, then immediately spins up again for about 10 seconds, then stops.

Though I had said previously that it did not show up in disk management, I correct myself on that now. I have about 7 drives on this desktop, I may have missed it before. It does show up as "unknown" & "not initialized". When I right click and try to initialize, it gives options of MBR or GPT, but whichever one I choose it then says "Incorrect Function".

Thanks

 

[RetiredChief]

You can try to down load the manuf "tools" disk to see if you can get it up. Bear in mind that if you format - getting any files back will be very difficault. If you can restore the MBR without loosing the File alocation table you might stand a chance at recovering the files.

 

[Vincenzo]

Will a corrupted MBR cause the disk to show up as "not initialized" in Disk Management?

 

[RetiredChief]

Yes

 

[Vincenzo]

OK thanks.

It is a Western Digital Scorpio Blue, I'll see if there are any repair tools from WD.

What about FixMBR? Can I try that from a Win 7 repair disk, or somewhere else?

Thanks

 

[Vincenzo]

I ran the Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostic. It found "bad sectors that may be repairable" but when it tries it says "Fail - 08 - error was detected while repairing bad sectors" and closes without fixing it.

The program can detect the drive if I allow it to spin up before opening the program. But by the time it runs the scan the drive is no longer spinning. If I start the diagnostic then connect the drive, it does not detect it.

Anything else I can try?

Thanks

 

[Vincenzo]

On the freezer method - Unless you live in Az, or "Down-under" where it is winter time; recommend you leave in the bags

Interestingly enough, I do live in Az