SATA spins now... but still doesnt detect :[

b4wxb4wx
edited May 2006 in Hardware
hey everyone. im new here to this forum, but it seems like you guys are very helpful. Maybe someone can help me figure this out.

okay lemme start. the problem i have having is not being able to boot up a Seagate baracuda 7200.8 250GB SATA harddrive.

it was being used as a secondary drive where i backed up all of my files. I was using the computer one day, and it suddenly started to freeze up on me. the computer would freeze for about 15 seconds at a time, then go back to normal, then go back to freezing. this happened for about a couple of minutes until finally it stopped freezing... but then i got a warning message from my system tray.

windows xp was telling me that it was having trouble writing data files to my D: drive (the 250gb baracuda.) I checked the drive out, and all of my folders were still intact. However, i noticed that some of the contents in certain folders were completely gone when i clicked into them. Other folders seemed to be fine.

So i decided to reboot... which turned out to be a horrible idea. Once i rebooted, the drive was completely unrecognized by windows. So i went to check it out in bios and it wasnt detected there either. That's when i noticed that the drive stopped spinning.

I contacted a friend of mine who knows more about computers than me and through some time, he thought that the controller board on the hd was probably bad. So i ended up gettin seagate to send me the same identical drive under warrenty.

After i recieved my drive, my friend replaced the controller board on the original, with the new one sent in from warrenty. I hooked the SATA drive up and powered the system on. IT SPUN! i was hopeful, but then it turns out that the drive is still undetectable in both windows and bios :[

is there anyway to boot the drive at all? i just wanna be able to get access to whatever files i can... because thats the drive i used to backup all of my personal work and music

any help or comments would be greatly appreciated!

thanks

Comments

  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited May 2006
    Before you do anything else you have to ask yourself what you would be willing to pay to get your data back. If what you have is so important that you'd be willing to pay big bucks to recover it, then your best move would be to turn off the computer and turn the drive over to a professional data recovery company. It won't be cheap, but like I said, it's the surest way of getting your stuff back. Only you can decided what it's worth to you.

    If you're not willing (or just plain unable) to pay for pro data recovery, there are several things you can try on your own. Keep in mind that the more you mess with the drive, the lower your chances of a happy outcome should you change your mind and go the professional route.

    Since the new logic board actually gets the drive to spin up, I'd say your friend is probably on the right track. What could have happened is that the on-again-off-again antics of the old logic board has scrambled your data and/or partition(s) to the point where they are unrecognizable by Windows or DOS. You could try using TestDisk and see what it finds. If the new logic board has taken care of the physical problem, TestDisk might be able to handle the rest.

    Finally, I'm sure that this has occurred to you many times since your current troubles began, but a comprehensive backup plan would be a good idea from here on out. It can mean the difference between the minor nuisance of having to restore your files from a backup, or a cross-your-fingers-and-pray full-blown data recovery effort.

    Good luck. :)
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