My HD died :(

tsj · 25 Mar 2007 at 04:19

Can I retrieve the contents any how?

I can't even boot into Windows... it just keeps making that annoying clicking noise. I've got some files that I would have liked to of kept. I've a 120GB external drive which can back them onto but I need a way to gain access to this drive... even if its for a short time.

Thanks

Arghhhhh........

postmanfw · 25 Mar 2007 at 04:48

Read once that if you seal it up in a plastic back totally air tight and leave in freezer overnight it might run just long enough to get data of it. Just make sure it totally airtight!! Worth a shot.

tsj · 25 Mar 2007 at 04:50

postmanfw said:
Read once that if you seal it up in a plastic back totally air tight and leave in freezer overnight it might run just long enough to get data of it. Just make sure it totally airtight!! Worth a shot.

I read this too... anyone can confirm that this is true?

firewallblocked · 26 Mar 2007 at 03:20

I wouldn't recommend the freezer until last as once tried it may die fast!
I normally connect a drive thats on its way out as a slave drive or as an external usb drive. When my IBM drive used to start doing this I connected it with the drive stood vertically not horizontal, for some bizzare reason this did work but only for a short while.

silversurfer · 26 Mar 2007 at 04:17

Change the cables connected to it and vary the channel its on too. Dont put it in the freezer right away, just leave in a cold stone room or something first.

Use speedfan to check for early signs of this coming on in future

tsj · 26 Mar 2007 at 04:28

Will try this in the morning... thanks for this guys. I've left the drive by my window now and left it wide open so hopefully that will cool it for a while

Behemoth · 27 Mar 2007 at 11:44

tsj said:
Will try this in the morning... thanks for this guys. I've left the drive by my window now and left it wide open so hopefully that will cool it for a while

Lets just hope it doesn't rain

/seriously though i suspect this drive may already be too far gone for any data to be taken off but all the above suggestions are worth a try.

I had a similar problem with one of my WD drives before it failed totally and found that gently tapping the top with the plastic end of a screw driver got it going just long enough to pull off what I wanted

GFX707 · 27 Mar 2007 at 12:39

There are a few programs you can get that will do this too (i.e you can connect up the drive as a slave and recover the data even if the hard drive wouldn't normally work) the names escape me but there are a few free ones out there, a few minutes on google should do the trick