StickyMicky

GRRRRRR

Playing the game FUEL earlier on, i started getting a "could not detect disc" error while in a race, strange i thought as i was playing the steam downloaded version, so i alt+tab`d out, hopped onto the steam forums and posted up a query, jumped back into the game but it seams to be running crap so i figured i should reboot.

Reboot the PC, start up the game again and i am still getting disc errors, quit to desktop and fire up firefox to have a search about on the net for some answers, i then heard a noise which sounded like a fan powering down, hey is that my new CPU cooler?

NOPE

Maybe its the HD powering down windows then crashed, and attempted to dump its error message, which it could not do, reboot again and now the bios can not find the HD drive

I take it this is now a paper weight (hitachi deskstar) IIRC i only bought it around 6 months ago so hopefully i can dig out the receipt tonight and take it back.

Called into PC world on the way into work and picked up a 1TB Western Digital HD and a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium, (was going to upgrade soon anyway, might as well do it now that i have lost most of my stuff)

I usually run with 2 hard drives and keep the slave as a backup for any important things, only i did not do this with the current build as it has only been running for about 6 months, although i did back up all my work files to a usb stick last week, and made the missus do the same with hers while i was being **** about things.

Scooby Soon!

you should still be able to salvage the hard drive I have had this happen several times recently. Search for "Knoppix hard drive recovery" to find details and instructions

StickyMicky

Even when the drive no longer powers up?

It is not detected at all in the system.

Scott W

I had something similar to this recently with my Maxtor drive. The firmware for the drive had an issue that after 232 reboots the counter got confused and therefore wouldn't allow the drive to do anything apart from power on. Thankfully for me i365 (part of Seagate who own Maxtor) arranged a very fast service where the drive was collected from me, sent to Holland, the firmware fix resolved and delivered back to me within a week.

Definitely speak to Hitachi to see what they offer as the drive should be covered under warranty and I would expect you to get something similar to the service I did. Try this Hitachi link to see what they can do for you.

Scooby Soon!

yes its possible, I have had drives recently that windows cant detect as if nothing is plugged in to the PC but rebooted with knoppix on another PC and it still can load the drive. It will tell you the drive has errors but will still let you get everything off apart from a few files where the hard drive is actually damaged. It took me an evening to figure out knoppix and get everything off but it was worth it

Scooby Soon!

Here you go:

from the link: Hard drive recovery utilities: when you can't afford to lose that data - [Geeks are Sexy] technology news

Edit: After writing this article, several readers wrote to me about the knoppix Linux distribution CD. This bootable CD has the ability to mount and read FAT, FAT32 and NTFS partitions, even damaged ones. So after your HD crashed, you can always use this to recover your data and back it up on a USB key or second HD.

Make sure you get the English version of knoppix (orginal is German)

StickyMicky

I will look into this later on tonight, cheers.

Need to get this new drive installed and boot up Win7 (32bit or 64 bit?)
Just I have lost about 40 gigs worth of mp3`s mainly Dj Mixes, actually i have just had a thought, i used a spare PATA drive to transfer the stuff over from my old pc to the new one, i reckon i probably did not wipe it after copying stuff over, hopefully it has my 15 year old MP3 collection on it
IIRC its sitting in the drawer in the office

Still a shame about the game saves

BlkKnight

sometimes shoving it in a USB caddy will bring it up.

dazdavies

iTrader: (22)

Micky,

Look for an application called spin rite.
You'll need a USB caddy which should cost you a tenner.
Spin Rite will then Scan the drive and repair it. This will allow you to at minimum to browse files and move them and it may even restore the drive for full use.

I've used it many times to good effect. The first machine I used it on was about 18months ago and that's still going strong since I used this software.

HHxx

Bugger!

It strike again... Back in the days of IBM, the deskstars earn't the name deathstars!

mart360

Take the hard drive out and give it a tap sometimes they get stuck lol

and it crashes the system..

I have a Maxtor that does it occasionally, i hear the drive power down and the system crashes,

Looking at the drive's smart system it says its ok,

dont know why it does it, but it happens


Mart

scoobymad555

iTrader: (1)

when you put it in a usb caddy, if it spins up for a few mins but then dies it may be over heating - take the pc next to the fridge and put the drive in it while you're working on it - done that 3 times now with good results

StickyMicky

All good info, the plan is to attempt some kind of ghetto bodge/repair tomorrow.

Win7 64bit installed super smooth on the new hard drive, infact it was far to easy, everything just seamed to work, until i tried to print.

It apears the Dell 720 printers a lot of us bought years ago are not compatible, no biggy as i was using mine as a stand in while i ran out of ink on my trusty old epson.
Scanned online for some Epson C44 64bit drivers, and found some XP ones, and after a LOT of pissing about, it is now printing.

Old IDE hard drive i had used to transfer stuff was chocka with goodies, how excited i was when i saw a folder called "Music" RESULT!!!
Nope, its full of the wifeys crappy music
The rest of it was all crap i dont really care about that much, damn!

GC8

This wont help, but when IBM released the Deskstar it quickly gained the nickname the Deathstar.

StickyMicky

Never got around to playing with the dead drive, still messing about installing software and patches.

Hopefully tonight.
Not had any trouble with win7 64bit yet, bar the printer troubles.

StickyMicky

Knoppix detected my new HD, my connected android phone over USB, but will not detect the broken HD at all.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Thats the old IBM Deskstar drives; I still have a functioning one of the affected models lying around somewhere (had three in total - the other two died ) Its SMART status is not too healthy and every once in a while it had a habit of spinning up and down for no reason, but it still works

Current Hitachi Deskstars are fine, no better or worse than other brands. Have one in the one works computer, which proved to be more reliable than a Western Digital that was of the same age that failed. Bloody noisy when accesing though.

StickyMicky

Looking at the spinrite webpage now, it appears you have to buy it, i am not convinced that it is worth doing so, this HD appears totally dead, is not detected by BIOS or Knoppix.

Besides my old USB caddy broke last year and i threw it out (the spare IDE drive i have kicking about actually came from the usb backup drive lol)

StickyMicky

Had another go last night, using more desperate measures, after been given the advice to try hitting it with a hammer (cheers jack ) i tried dropping it on the floor, then tried whacking it with a heavy object, still no joy.

So i wrapped it in cling film and chucked it in the freezer for a few hours, still no effect, its buggered

GC8

My first 40GB DeathStar failed immediately (within a couple of hours); although its replacement is sat here connected to my Mac via USB. When IBM sold the DeathStar to Hitachi they only changed the makers name; everything else stayed the same. Im not sure that Id buy anything branded 'DeskStar' now.

Markus

Stupid question, for disk recovery would the CD version be adequate or is the DVD version required?