external hard drive problems!

kayevajo

my external hard drive started playing up , and when i eventually got it to show up on my laptop , it said that the drive was full , even though i knew it wasn`t even half full .
so i tried it in another laptop , it showed up on that but any time i went to open it , the my computer page it was displaying on , crashed.

is there any hope for this external hard drive! or is all lost ! i have some valuable stuff on it i need to access.

any advice would be great thanks

riclad

TRY loading pc from a live cd eg linux mint 6 cd version.
or you could install drive in a pc,as drive d,
use cables from dvd drive .
remove power cable from pc,first.as power Go thru pc even when its knocked off.
eg remove hardisk from external case.
its likely to be just a sata drive,
2.5inch or 3.5inch.
or put it in a caddy ,disk enclosure.

OR plug it into a pc in a netcafe .

http://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=31

or use dsl, damn small linux 50meg download.

boot from linux cdr ,plug in external drive
browse to computer filesystem,
it,ll probably show up as drive 1, or external drive.

the external drive could have a faulty pcb,
or a loose, power ,data cable inside the case.

does the drive activity light come on when its plugged in.

IT could be loose cable, or a damaged pcb,inside case,
THE drive hardisk could still be fine .
a drive over 250gig will need a powered caddy with its own power unit to work ,cost, 35 euro approx.

riclad

http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/download.html

its possible to boot up linux on a pc, using a 1 gig usb stick drive.
use imgburn free program to burn iso image file to cdr,
at 2x speed,
USE burn image file ,iso file ,in the menu.
to make a bootable live cd.

YOU may need to open the case ,
to find out is hardisk still working properly ,
and get a caddy,
or install it in a pc,
if its not detected by linux.

linux will detect ,acess any external drive,
with windows files on it.

beauf

Only as a last a resort after you've tried all the above.

Then you can try the Fridge trick. It worked for one person I know, but only for 30mins. Just enough to get the important data off only. But of course you risk damaging the drive further. http://www.thetechmentor.com/posts/put-your-hard-drive-in-the-freezer-to-recover-data/

kayevajo

thanks a million lads , i`ll try that

riclad

FRIDGE trick is safe ,if drive is sealed in a waterproof bag ,completely.
ie no moisture gets into drive.
leave it in for 1 hour at least.
maybe try f8,safe mode, on pc,
plug in the drive,

even if external,case pcb is dead,
hardisk may still be fine.
does drive just use usb cable to power it .
inside case ,theres, a pcb, circuitboard,
2 cables ,data,power ,
the hardisk itself.
most cases have 4 small screws ,
underneath,
remove screws ,to open the case.

kayevajo

riclad wrote: »

TRY loading pc from a live cd eg linux mint 6 cd version.
or you could install drive in a pc,as drive d,
use cables from dvd drive .
remove power cable from pc,first.as power Go thru pc even when its knocked off.
eg remove hardisk from external case.
its likely to be just a sata drive,
2.5inch or 3.5inch.
or put it in a caddy ,disk enclosure.

OR plug it into a pc in a netcafe .

http://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=31

or use dsl, damn small linux 50meg download.

boot from linux cdr ,plug in external drive
browse to computer filesystem,
it,ll probably show up as drive 1, or external drive.

the external drive could have a faulty pcb,
or a loose, power ,data cable inside the case.

does the drive activity light come on when its plugged in.

IT could be loose cable, or a damaged pcb,inside case,
THE drive hardisk could still be fine .
a drive over 250gig will need a powered caddy with its own power unit to work ,cost, 35 euro approx.

it does yes and has always done so

kayevajo

riclad wrote: »

FRIDGE trick is safe ,if drive is sealed in a waterproof bag ,completely.
ie no moisture gets into drive.
leave it in for 1 hour at least.
maybe try f8,safe mode, on pc,
plug in the drive,

even if external,case pcb is dead,
hardisk may still be fine.
does drive just use usb cable to power it .
inside case ,theres, a pcb, circuitboard,
2 cables ,data,power ,
the hardisk itself.
most cases have 4 small screws ,
underneath,
remove screws ,to open the case.

no , it is plugged into the mains

davo2001

beauf wrote: »

Only as a last a resort after you've tried all the above.

Then you can try the Fridge trick. It worked for one person I know, but only for 30mins. J[/url]

Always worked for someone else, but ever the person suggesting it! :P

beauf

davo2001 wrote: »

Always worked for someone else, but ever the person suggesting it! :P

Ye of little faith.

Thats the last time I remember seeing it working. It was a colleague in the office, stuck it in the office fridge, they got their data off it about two hours later. Then it died again. I may have done it myself years ago, but its so long ago I don't remember. I don't think I've had a drive fail on me in well over 10~15yrs.

riclad

RE fridge trick, it can work,
when the hard disk mechanism is stuck,
change of tempeture may free it,
as metal expands .
IF YOU are trying it ,it may work,
you need to have another external drive to backup the important data on to .

i watched a cnet video on this, its not a myth.
ANY important data should be copied to 2 or 3 places places ,
THIS PROblem is getting worse people are buying pcs with 500gig,
1 terabyte drives.
Assuming they,ll never break down .