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external hard drive murdered

youknowyouknowyouknowyouknow 264 Posts
edited March 2008 in Strut Central
50 gigs of cool edit pro sessions and vinyl rips, gone. woke up the other night to my hard drive wheezing and beeping. a computer friend of mine said, "when you hear any sounds coming from your hard drive, that's not a good thing, you really can't do anything about it" has anyone been in this type of situation before, did you save any the content on the drive?

  Comments

  • ZekeZeke 221 Posts
    Most likely your local mega-computer store/repair place won't be of much help, but you might want to talk to them just in case it is something simple. If you know any starving CS Ph.D. candidates, ask them for help in exchange for a warm meal and a few bills. Most CS college departments will have the equipment necessary to attempt to recover the data, but it time consuming and a pain in the ass.

    What kind of external were you using?
  • JuniorJunior 4,853 Posts
    The search tool is your friend
  • DJ_ZestDJ_Zest 252 Posts
    Have you tried the freezer trick? It is a long shot, but sometimes you can put the drive in the freezer overnight and try to access it when it is still cold. Something to do with the cold contracting the metal, it is a total hail mary, but worth a shot... Drive Savers are excellent, but way expensive...
    Good luck...

    Zeb
  • youknowyouknowyouknowyouknow 264 Posts
    Have you tried the freezer trick? It is a long shot, but sometimes you can put the drive in the freezer overnight and try to access it when it is still cold. Something to do with the cold contracting the metal, it is a total hail mary, but worth a shot... Drive Savers are excellent, but way expensive...
    Good luck...

    Zeb

    yes, i did. and unfortunately my drive still sounds like a Rosie O'Donnell speech.

    as far as this: http://www.soulstrut.com/ubbthreads/show...rue#Post1023093

    how can partition doctor and other retrieval software retrieve files on a hard drive if you can't even access the hard drive?
  • youknowyouknowyouknowyouknow 264 Posts
    Most likely your local mega-computer store/repair place won't be of much help, but you might want to talk to them just in case it is something simple. If you know any starving CS Ph.D. candidates, ask them for help in exchange for a warm meal and a few bills. Most CS college departments will have the equipment necessary to attempt to recover the data, but it time consuming and a pain in the ass.

    What kind of external were you using?

    that's a good idea. but dropping a lot of dollars isn't something i feel like doing right now...i assume waiting longer to retrieve the files won't make any difference if i get them or not. i'm not at home, and can't remember, but it's rather old, 2-3 yrs.
  • DjArcadianDjArcadian 3,632 Posts
    It's too late to be of any help now but I use https://secure.logmein.com/products/backup/ to backup all my data.

    All my office stuff backs up onto an external drive in the office and an external drive connected to my home computer. I back-up twice a day. It may be excessive but I do a lot of work during the first part of the day.
  • jaysusjaysus 787 Posts
    how can partition doctor and other retrieval software retrieve files on a hard drive if you can't even access the hard drive?

    Because it may just be a damaged Master Boot record, so all the other information is okay, but the MBR can't point it to the right spot.
  • RAJRAJ tenacious local 7,782 Posts
    time capsule
  • ZekeZeke 221 Posts
    Most likely your local mega-computer store/repair place won't be of much help, but you might want to talk to them just in case it is something simple. If you know any starving CS Ph.D. candidates, ask them for help in exchange for a warm meal and a few bills. Most CS college departments will have the equipment necessary to attempt to recover the data, but it time consuming and a pain in the ass.

    What kind of external were you using?

    that's a good idea. but dropping a lot of dollars isn't something i feel like doing right now...i assume waiting longer to retrieve the files won't make any difference if i get them or not. i'm not at home, and can't remember, but it's rather old, 2-3 yrs.
    Externals become less reliable far faster than internals with age. The noises are a really bad sign. You may want to try switching cables and ports. If that doesn't work and you don't have the money, just unplug it and put it on a shelf until you do. The freezer "trick" should really only be considered a last ditch effort and if it is done, needs to be done fast. Basically the metal contracts in the cold and certain pieces of the drive may (occasionally, rarely) get temporarily pulled back into place. Generally, not a good idea.

    Good luck.
  • JimsterJimster Cruffiton.etsy.com 6,955 Posts
    I do a lot of work

    That's where you are going wrong
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