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Hard Drive I/O Error

  • 23-11-2011 1:51pm
    #1
    ShortyNolan
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11 ✭


    Hello all,
    I have a WD 320 Passport External Hard Drive and my friend dropped it accidentily yesterday. It was popped out on the bottom, so I popped it back in, hoping it would work. I put it in my PC and the light still comes on but I get a message box coming up saying There has been an I/O Device Error.
    My friends said I would have to pay about €100 in a hardware shop to get all the data back off it as I have my projects for college and videos/music on it.
    I know I didnt have much backed up. *Error* :). But I was wondering if anyone knows a way to retrieve the data yourself or anywhere cheap in Carlow I can get this done.

    Many Thanks


Comments

  • #2
    Odaise Gaelach
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,235 ✭✭✭Odaise Gaelach


    Is it making any strange noises? It's possible that the actual hard disk drive itself isn't damaged, but the connectors and electronics that connect it to the computer are.

    You could try dismantling the casing and connecting the hard disk drive itself to a computer. Most drives like that these days are 3.5" SATA drives. Taking apart the external casing will void the warranty, mind.

    Best of luck. :)


  • #3
    dilallio
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,728 ✭✭✭dilallio


    Your external drive comprises of an actual drive and associated electronics / power supply / housing / cables.

    If the actual drive is fine, you should be able to remove it from the housing, hook it up to a caddy and connect it to your USB port and retrieve the data. You can do this yourself - the caddy or cables cost around €20 - €30. You could ask someone else to do it - the fee you mentioned of €100 is a bit on the expensive side to do just this.

    If however, the drive itself is faulty, then it will cost a lot more to retrieve the data - I've seen quotes of over €1,300 from UK companies who specialise in this, and they don't guarantee the result.

    The only way I know to determine if it's the drive that's faulty is to remove it from the housing and try connecting it via a caddy or cable.


    Was the drive plugged in when it dropped? - they break a lot easier when they are plugged in during a fall, as the heads are not locked. Unfortunately, in the 8 cases that I've tried to retrieve data from faulty external drives, I was only able to grab the data from 1.


  • #4
    asif2011
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 185 ✭✭asif2011


    If the data is really important to you then you need to take a chance and open up the external casing, then put the drive in to a desktop computer and see if you can see the contents. Like Odaise has said it'll invalidate the warranty, but no warranty covers dropping the drive - and BTW they have diagnostics which can tell when a drive has been dropped too. I can tell you right now you could be looking at €500 to €1000 to recover data from your hard drive if it is knackered. Have your fingers crossed!


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