Hard Drive Failure?

stev2604

About 6 months ago my Asus EEE PC stopped working, starts up but won't boot up windows, and makes a beeping noise.

I got bored today and took it apart to see if I could do anything. I know now that the problem is the hard drive- connect another one and the computer works fine. It's also what was making the beeping noise.

I'm guessing its a complete goner? Would there be any chance that I could recover the data held on it?

I'm not too hopeful but there is some stuff (not backed up) that I would really like to get back.

Any thoughts or info would be really appreciated!

CreepingDeath

stev2604 wrote: »

About 6 months ago my Asus EEE PC stopped working, starts up but won't boot up windows, and makes a beeping noise.

Beeping noises are usually Bios beep codes.

ianblyth

throw the hard drive into an external enclosure... kind of thing happened to me.. i used a program called get data back or something like that.. getdataback. or get a ide/mini ide or internal esata cable... if you got a spare tower unit around...

getdataback was able to mount the hd when the bios on my lappy couldn't read it..

Cork24

place it in the freezer over night take it out and plug it in right away, could work, it works for me once in a while. it could also its a bad file, and if you format the hard disk it will work again, which happen to me with a Seagate 2TB lost all my videos and College Work really :mad: off. 2 years of work gone.

but i should have knowing better..

stev2604

Thanks for the replies guys.

CreepingDeath wrote: »

Beeping noises are usually Bios beep codes.

Thanks for the link. It's like a beep that keeps going but I think it's coming from the hard drive. On that I think it means its to do with RAM. But when I connect a hard drive from a different laptop the computer boots perfectly?

ianblyth wrote: »

throw the hard drive into an external enclosure... kind of thing happened to me.. i used a program called get data back or something like that.. getdataback. or get a ide/mini ide or internal esata cable... if you got a spare tower unit around...

getdataback was able to mount the hd when the bios on my lappy couldn't read it..

Thanks, I'll see if I can get my hands on one for cheapish. Is it possible to get one that would connect via USB?

Cork24 wrote: »

place it in the freezer over night take it out and plug it in right away, could work, it works for me once in a while. it could also its a bad file, and if you format the hard disk it will work again, which happen to me with a Seagate 2TB lost all my videos and College Work really :mad: off. 2 years of work gone.

but i should have knowing better..

Again, thanks. Could placing it in the freezer possibly cause damage though?

Cork24

stev2604 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies guys.

CreepingDeath wrote: »

Beeping noises are usually Bios beep codes.

Thanks for the link. It's like a beep that keeps going but I think it's coming from the hard drive. On that I think it means its to do with RAM. But when I connect a hard drive from a different laptop the computer boots perfectly?

ianblyth wrote: »

throw the hard drive into an external enclosure... kind of thing happened to me.. i used a program called get data back or something like that.. getdataback. or get a ide/mini ide or internal esata cable... if you got a spare tower unit around...

getdataback was able to mount the hd when the bios on my lappy couldn't read it..

Thanks, I'll see if I can get my hands on one for cheapish. Is it possible to get one that would connect via USB?

Cork24 wrote: »

place it in the freezer over night take it out and plug it in right away, could work, it works for me once in a while. it could also its a bad file, and if you format the hard disk it will work again, which happen to me with a Seagate 2TB lost all my videos and College Work really :mad: off. 2 years of work gone.

but i should have knowing better..

Again, thanks. Could placing it in the freezer possibly cause damage though?

A guy why was teaching us years ago told us gave it a old.try worked once didn't the next its a last thing to try

yoyo

Cork24 wrote: »

A guy why was teaching us years ago told us gave it a old.try worked once didn't the next its a last thing to try

Be careful with putting hard drives in the freezer, sometimes moisture will build up in them and they'll be even more damaged then! If the data is important and you can't recover it the conventional ways then send it off to a recovery company. It will be an expensive lesson.
Also the laptop hard drive is more than likely a SATA one, no need to waste money on an enclosure, just hook it up to a working computer and see if you can recover the data that way, I have found in the past the Total Commander trial was useful, quicker than using explorer to copy stuff over.

Nick

Dey were Sooted

I have no experience myself of doing it ,tho I can say the advice is good here ....I just did a search and this is what comes up about freezing a hard drive http://www.datarecoverypros.com/hard-drive-recovery-freeze.html .... but like anyone ... you should know.... not to believe everything you read .....

Bought one of these a while back and have found if very handy http://www.amazon.co.uk/IOMAX-SATA-Adapter-Power-Drive/dp/B001A5SK56/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319333142&sr=8-1

But if you think you will find yourself in the furture (like myself) wanting to swap out an old drive at your will, for the convenience I would spend that little bit extra on a docking station ... It's one of the next things on my list .....

BostonB

I didn't believe the Freezer trick. But I know two people for who it did work for. Drive came back for approx 30 mins, just long enough to get their data off. You have to seal the drive in a bag though.

Its obviously not going to work for everyone. I've never heard it damaging the drive further. That doesn't mean it can't, I've just not heard it. Any moisture would only be on the outside which can be wiped off. Putting it in a sealed bag will avoid most of that. The inside of a drive a sealed unit. No moisture can get in.

Dey were Sooted

did a bit of shopping since and i'm going to invest in one of these .... http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B00327HTD4/ref=cm_cr_pr_btm_link_2?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&pageNumber=2 and the super saver delivery is available at the moment

If you take the freeze route, it would be best to wrap well for sure.... and to work in a room with a low temperature after you take it out . The bigger the change in temp from the freezer to the outside world, the more condensation will occur.

BostonB

Have you experienced condensation actually causing a problem?

yoyo

BostonB wrote: »

Have you experienced condensation actually causing a problem?

Many hard drives have small air holes for I think cooling purposes (may be wrong here) on them. They are very small but I think this would highten the chance of condensation, even if in a freezer bag or sealed container. Is there any ammount of hours that a HD should be frozen for? It seems to be a leave it in the freezer overnight thing that may or may not work.
Another interesting thing is that opening a hard drive outside a clean room will not automatically mean the dust will ruin it. I read before that the drives spin at such fast a rate that any dust will likely blow off to the side, but obviously this will not always happen and you do risk chance of more damage opening it up.
Freezing in my view is a gamble, it seems it has worked for some, but I wouldn'ty trust it if important data was on the drive,

Nick

BostonB

Wouldn't be much good building them in a clean room then leaving holes in the casing.

yoyo

BostonB wrote: »

Wouldn't be much good building them in a clean room then leaving holes in the casing.

The holes are tiny though, but if you look at a common desktop hard drive like this you'll see what I mean,

Nick

BostonB

Those holes have dust filters on them. But if you seal it in a airtight bag, I think you are over stating the risk of condensation. You only need the drive to work for long enough to get the data off. Its not going to fix the drive. So I would expect it not to work after it heats up. The 2 or 3 people I know who tried it, got 20~30 mins out of it.

If you are willing to pay a few hundred euro maybe more for data recovery, then it would be pointless trying the freezer trick. If thats not an option then, theres nothing to lose by trying it. I suspect that if theres no backup in place then the data probably not worth a few hundred euro to recover either.

The freezer trick only works (I assume) for specific types of problems. So if something is completely fried, freezing it isn't going to change that in anyway.

Cork24

is the hard drive spinning ?

if it is then its more to do with damage Data on it which is stoping the HD reading...

if thats the cause try fixing that Data with software. i had that issue once and to reformat the bloody HD lost every thing