External Hard Drive.... TU

[Paraflier]

Hi there.

I was concerned about losing data on my laptop, so I went out and got a 500GB external hard drive. I was so excited. I managed to transfer all my music, and pictures of my children. Baby pictures mostly of my youngest. He is 3 now. The only pictures in existence of him.

I was happy because I knew if my laptop wet the bed, at least the pictures would be safe. I told my wife what a smart guy I was and she agreed. Life was good.

Then... One dark and rainy afternoon, I went to the external HD to add a couple little things. plugged in the HD to its little USB port, and power from a wall outlet. Just like I did before. But this time... Something happened. Something dark. A low, ominous, grinding sound came from the bowels of my external hard drive. Now... I am no expert... But I DO know that that stuff should remain fairly quiet. And not sound like the clutch is going out.

Time passes. And passes. The laptop doesn't find the external hard drive. Uh-oh. A thin layer of sweat breaks out on my brow. I reboot everything and try again. Maybe just a hiccup, I think. Same result. Grinding noise, and no recognition of an external HD.

I take my sickly hard drive to a computer and data recovery hole-in-the-wall. They took it out of its little shell, and tried to baby it back to the land of the living. No good. Same noise.... Same no working HD.

I am told my only option is 'data forensics' in a clean room for a couple thousand dollars.

Don't get me wrong... I love my little boy. And his pictures would be nice. But 2k? I also remember what he looks like as a baby.

However... The Wife doesn't quite see it that way. She wants the pictures. Immediately if not sooner. Thankyouverymuch.

Is there a less expensive option than taking this thing CSI style? Are there any tricks? Can I put it in the microwave for a little bit or something? Hold it upside down till all the little 0's and 1's line up again? Or am I not getting these pictures out unless I pay bail to the tune of a complete break down in a sterile environment to the tune of a couple thousand dollars?

 

[NCC]

Man, I'm really very sorry to hear of your misfortune! And, very sorry to say I don't have a better alternative to salvage the contents of the USB HD.

I take it you moved, rather than copied the important files. That is unfortunate. I'm a big fan of USB HDs and have many of them. But, ANY HD can crash, sometimes a slight bump will do it, or they can simply be defective. And the fact that it's under warranty is small consolation, since that will only replace the hardware. Really, really important stuff should be backed up on at least two storage devices, and preferably those devices won't be stored in the same location. Any chance you've still got the photos on your camera?



I feel for you. Sorry I don't have any good news to offer.

 

[jfdpl686]

I feel your pain. I’m sorry.
Well, in my experience, I can only say, there’s no real “safe” data storage. All, sooner or later fail. Many people will argue that one brand is better than other but in fact, you can find bad apples in all brands.
No manufacturer will provide guarantee of the disk content; so for the information, you’re on your own.

Knowing exactly what happened to your disk is very difficult. Yeah, noise, but it could be many things. It could be plates or head misalignment; or the moving arm.

So, first, try leaving the disk powered in different positions for a few minutes. On each position, connect it to the PC, let it run; say 15 min, then disconnect and try reconnect it. If nothing, then try a different position.
If different positions didn’t work, then the next step is to try VERY SOFT taps to the top of the hard drive. Then reconnect and check.

Be advised, IF anything works, you will pretty much have only one change to copy to another drive. If nothing works… then sorry, but yeah, only a clean room will recover your pictures.
Do not try to open it or trust anybody doing it unless is a reputable “clean room” place.

Now, the lesson is learned, backup, backup, backup. Yeah, three times. I do photography as a hobby; I have my pictures saved in a second HD in my PC; then in a network disk and in a third disk I keep in a different location.

For your case, I would suggest, get another external drive; then get a HD dock station and use it for the secondary backup, use a normal HD and keep it in a safe place.

I hope this help you.

 

[Paraflier]

Shoot. I was kinda hoping for a magic solution here, folks. Guess I'm kinda SOL here. Better start saving those duckets for a clean room.

Oh... And now I have multiple backups in place. On AND off site now. Sigh. This never happened when we got photos from the Fotomat.... The ones that are now all espresso stands.

 

[doots]

I had the same thing happen and thank God I had Carbonite and it saved all my data. Sorry to hear you lost all this!

 

[5cardstud]

I would take it apart and fix it if it was mine but if I were you I would take it in and get an estimate on repairs and tell them you don't want the data erased during the process. Sounds like its in the drive motor. But the disc would still be intact. You need to save all your really important things on dvd backup files or memory sticks.

 

[BradSmith]

I'm very sorry to hear that. I learned the hard way too. I lost a ton of pictures that I will never be able to replace and a bunch of recording of my band that I will also never get back.

 

[maureengill]

Sorry to hear of your misfortune....but on the upside....my external 250gb usb hard drive was stolen by a family member and sold for drugs....ugh I hope I didn't have my tax stuff on there.

Maureen

 

[Lab]

I would take it apart and fix it if it was mine but if I were you I would take it in and get an estimate on repairs and tell them you don't want the data erased during the process. Sounds like its in the drive motor. But the disc would still be intact. You need to save all your really important things on dvd backup files or memory sticks.

this is your best bet.. all the data is still on the drive.. it just needs the motor replaced.. or there is bearings shot in it.. look around online it might cost a bit more than buying a new external drive but it will save the data..

if you are using a free online data storage log in on it atleast once a week to be sure that they do not delete your account and it is best to use 2 of these sites incase one gets deleted on you

 

[pianoguy]

I have been successful twice using this method - put the drive in a plastic bag and then put it in the freezer for a couple of hours. You may then find that it will come to life long enough to retrieve your files (it may take a few tries after removing it from the freezer). The cold shrinks the bearings down just enough for it to spin freely for a while.

Best of luck!

 

[5cardstud]

I have been successful twice using this method - put the drive in a plastic bag and then put it in the freezer for a couple of hours. You may then find that it will come to life long enough to retrieve your files (it may take a few tries after removing it from the freezer). The cold shrinks the bearings down just enough for it to spin freely for a while.

Best of luck!

Good idea, I'll have to try that next time. I keep my entire pc (all of them) backed up in 2 locations. Learded that by losing one once.

 

[Fire N Ice]

Yes definately try the trick that piano suggested. Getting online storage is also a very good idea for keeping your most important files on. Dropbox.com is one of the better known services, and is free storage up to 2GB. If you need more, their rates are pretty reasonable for the premium services.

 

[D. Waterhouse]

My advice, do a homemade cloud based storage system. Get 5 to 10 cheap usb stick drives, put your important pictures on ALL of them, put one on your keychain, one at work, one at gram's, one in the car, where ever. If one event takes them all out, you've got bigger promlems than a few lost pictures.

 

[g33k]

I second Piano's idea as well (or is it third now), I've done it TON's of times for ppl. If all else fails you can search somewhere like eBay for a match on production types and dates of your hard drive. If you can find a match (and trust me, on eBay they post the actual model numbers of hard drives) you can disassemble it and move your platters (the disks that actually hold the info) to the good drive. Do this in a clean area with a wrist strap or something else to ground you as those platters are charged. Data is stored in either a "charged" or "not charged" fashion: binary.

Also if you attempt this you might want to be sure you have time and patience as it can be tricky! This is not your average take something apart and put it back together again type of deal so be careful. BTW, also voids your warranty, but it seems that it's not really going to do you any good anyway.

Sorry for you loss and good luck!!

 

[shorty70]

If it is a Western Digital...you must lick it while standing on one foot.....good luck.

 

[tribalmasters]

Try twisting the drive really quick!! Sometimes the drive platters get stuck and just need freeing.

 

[Rhetoric Camel]

I've been holding onto my HDD that I dropped and killed. I meant to put it in a bag and put it out in the middle of winter when it's like 5 degrees outside and that way I can run it while it's still in the cold so I don't have to rush as much to save what data was lost. I forgot over the winter though... oh well there will be another one.

 

[Sgood1971]

I have been successful twice using this method - put the drive in a plastic bag and then put it in the freezer for a couple of hours. You may then find that it will come to life long enough to retrieve your files (it may take a few tries after removing it from the freezer). The cold shrinks the bearings down just enough for it to spin freely for a while.

Best of luck!

This is actually a working trick that I have tried with much skepticism after reading about it on some tech forum or another. I was able to salvage more than 1/2 of my music before the offending drive died for good.

 

[tribalmasters]

Great job on the freezing trick!! I knew it kinda worked if batteries and vape juice were put in the cold but not hard drives!! I will have to give it a try the next time a clicky clunky comes my way

 

[bestthingever]

Boy, do I feel your pain ! This has happened to me too; it's dreadful when important photos are in that metal box and you can't get 'em out. Made me wish for the good ol' days of pictures in a photo album.