HOW DO I BUILD MY PC NOW IVE BOUGHT ALL THE BITS?

[benenhausen]

circs are that i came home and the windows screen was up and locked, normally i just push enter and im into my home screen and away i go.

neither the keyboard or mouse would respond which led me to turning it off and discovering this boot option message

 

[benenhausen]

Not got a USB stick plugged in have you?

i only have a phone charger and a ipod charger (both usbs) plugged in , but they are always plugged in.

 

[benenhausen]

Most likely that the contents of the drive aren't lost. If the information since your last backup is vital then you shouldn't use the drive until you have another hard drive installed with an OS on it, and then plug in the drive and take off as much information as you can. If a drive is failing then you won't want to use up the last of it's life by trying to get Windows to work on it.

When you say you have years of pictures videos everything on it, I really hope that's not you saying there's no backup.

i dont think i have a backup - if a backup means copying all files from the hard disc onto a cd or something then i dont have a backup?

please enlighten me, but i guess its going to be something that i always should have done but never did

 

[benenhausen]

for clarity... in bios sata 1 says simply 'not detected'

 

[welshdragon]

Adviseable to have a seocndary storage device for peirodic backups of stuff you wouldn't want to lose.

ie second internal hard drive/extrenal harddrive or online storage like dropbox

Have you tried a different sata port on the mobo?

 

[benenhausen]

Adviseable to have a seocndary storage device for peirodic backups of stuff you wouldn't want to lose.

ie second internal hard drive/extrenal harddrive or online storage like dropbox

Have you tried a different sata port on the mobo?

not tried that but ill do now if i can remember which bit is the mobo and where its ports are, etc

 

[welshdragon]

there should be a bank of plugs where the cable fomr the hard drive connects onto the mobo, move it to a different one and try, maybe the socket ahs failed...... bit of a long shot though mate.

Also, unplug any unnessary usb devices such as the ipod dock in the off chance they are causing an issue, again probably not

 

[The Halk]

i dont think i have a backup - if a backup means copying all files from the hard disc onto a cd or something then i dont have a backup?

please enlighten me, but i guess its going to be something that i always should have done but never did

You would know if you had a backup. You should have one, but you don't. It means you may have lost everything, and on top of that it'll be your own fault. This is pretty brutal, but true. The only consolation with pictures may be if you've uploaded them online to Picasa, or some other picture sharing website?

 

[benenhausen]

ok ive tried to put hdd into sata 3 leaving bluraydrive in sata 2 = sata 3 not detected and blu ray still detected.

but when i put hdd into sata 2 and bluray into sata 1 the bluray doesnt show in sata 1 either???

 

[benenhausen]

ok scrap my last - the bluray is recognised in sata port 1 so all things considered my hdd has failed, what this truly means and what i can do about it both short term and long term god only knows but i could sure appreciate you guys help and have done so far, the error on my part regards backup is something i will take a hard long look at myself about, we have memories of our son and honeymoon on there that WILL lead me to paying through the nose for if it means getting them back.
buying a new hdd - not an issue, buying an external hdd for back up purposes, not an issue, trying to save whats on this hdd - massive issue - please help!!!!!!!!

 

[The Halk]

It doesn't get any easier. I don't know how much it would cost, but I know it's expensive. Here is a link to a reputable company. They don't compete with OcUK so I think I'm ok to link them.

There is software that can recover data, but if the drive isn't recognised by the computer then the software cannot help.

 

[Plec]

I had totally forgotten about this epic thread until the ‘Reply to thread’ e-mail appeared in my inbox.

As you’ve tried an alternate SATA slot you could try the following:

• A different SATA cable
• Then try a different power connector to the HDD – preferably from a different lead if possible.If this isn’t possible then try the first connector, in the series, of the lead already in use.
• Then allow for sods law and try a combination of both along with different SATA ports

As suggested in previous posts check the BIOS to see if the HDD is recognised after each attempt.

If you don't get any joy from the above it's not looking very hopeful - there's always the freezer trick (google it) but this is risky and i wouldn't recommend it even though i've had success with it through other peoples desperation in the past - it's very hit and miss and you run the risk of damaging the hdd even more. If your pictures are important to you i recommend stumping up the funds and seeking a professional help...

 

[The Halk]

I thought about mentioning the freezer trick, but decided not to. From what you've said the pictures are priceless so it doesn't make sense to risk further damaging the drive to save on recovery costs.

If you try everything Plec has sugested... ,as well as leaving it for a day and seeing if it works after that then you really have tried everything you can, and its a mechanical or PCB failure, in which case sending it to a recovery place is the only option.

 

[Plec]

From what you've said the pictures are priceless so it doesn't make sense to risk further damaging the drive to save on recovery costs.

If this is the case then save your pennies and store the drive safely until you can afford to retrieve the data professionally.

However, if you do attempt a DIY method (such as the freezer trick) know that you'll need another fast device to back up the drive. Because if by some fluke it were to do a Lazarus the newly awakened drive would be on borrowed time and the data would need backing up using the quickest means possible before it fails again.

 

[benenhausen]

taken on board, and hi to plec, i have emailed the site i bought the hdd off to see if its still in warranty(18 months old, probably not but theres always hope)
ill try the power cables tomorrow, in the meantime does anyone have any idea what equivalent hdd i can buy to replace my seemingly unchristmassy seagate 500gb ST3500320AS?

 

[Plec]

The Seagate should still be under guarantee (3 to 5 years i think).

As for a replacement, my preference is a Western Digital Caviar (1 Tb or above)- either Black, Blue or Green - the colour dependent on whether speed or economy are your major preferences.

EDIT: I like to use the blacks as my main drives and the greens as backup.

 

[The Halk]

They 100% won't do data recovery. If you send it back to be replaced you can forget ever seeing the data again. I don't know if this is reduced in price to clear them, but it's a very good drive for the price . The RE2 means it's enterprise class, which means more reliable with jitter resistance, dual processor etc, and would be suitable to use in a RAID array, in short it's a better drive than a normal 500GB drive.

 

[FatRakoon]

I no longer rate Seagate highly anymore.

I have had to send back HDs to seagate 14 times in the last 2 years.

I know this because I document everything I have with my PCs - I have to as I have 13 of the buggers and the yare all multi HD & multi DVD etc )

But 14 Returns in 2 years is simply too much.

In fact, some have gone back more than once and guess what I have ready to ship out as suun as the xmas post is over? - Yup, another 2

The WDs & Samsungs are fine.

 

[SinaiSound]

Have you tried your disk in another PC?

If you do try it, leave the boot drive in the other PC, and add yours as an additional drive.

It's worth a try

If the above doesn't work, try this out - I've had some success with this software before

You would need to do it on another PC with your drive plugged in btw

http://www.runtime.org/data-recovery-software.htm

 

[unp|dissy]

Is the drive clicking when it's on or can you hear / feel it spinning as usual..?