My brother's computer had been working fine consistently day in and day out. Suddenly the hard drive is not recognized by the bios. I tried the drive in another computer and still not recognized by the bios. Other drives work with the same cables or motherboards that this one does not. He has photos and videos that he would like to get off the drive but I am stumped.
recover hard drive not recognized by bios
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Sounds like the drive may(!) have died.
I had REALLY good luck with these guys last summer when my Wife's drive croaked.
We Make Professional Data Recovery Affordable! - Crucial Data Recovery
Tell them I sent you (Larry Rosenman)
I had REALLY good luck with these guys last summer when my Wife's drive croaked.
We Make Professional Data Recovery Affordable! - Crucial Data Recovery
Tell them I sent you (Larry Rosenman)
This isn't a Seagate 7200.11 drive by any chance, is it?
Seagate cops to widespread HD problems, vows full support
Some of them can be fixed with a firmware update...
Diogen.
Thanks for the link Diogen. I'll file that info away for when I run into one of those drives.
This drive is an old Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 120gb ide. I have a few tools I can use for recovery but not when the bios doesn't recognize the drive. I'm wondering if swapping the pcb is worth trying. I've never swapped a pcb and don't know too much about it. There is a code on the drive and it seems important to match that code. I saw a board which appears compatible for $26 on ebay. I don't think my brother wants to spend $370 or more for the pros to do it.
This drive is an old Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 120gb ide. I have a few tools I can use for recovery but not when the bios doesn't recognize the drive. I'm wondering if swapping the pcb is worth trying. I've never swapped a pcb and don't know too much about it. There is a code on the drive and it seems important to match that code. I saw a board which appears compatible for $26 on ebay. I don't think my brother wants to spend $370 or more for the pros to do it.
The one thing to try - if you are not ready to use commercial recovery services yet - is Linux.
By definition, Linux doesn't use the BIOS information to address any IDE/SATA devices.
This is a good introduction
Recover Data Like a Forensics Expert Using an Ubuntu Live CD - How-To Geek
Keep in mind, you don't need a full scale Linux PC to try this.
You can just run it off a bootable USB. I prefer Puppy Linux for these tasks.
Puppy Linux Community - Home
Diogen.
By definition, Linux doesn't use the BIOS information to address any IDE/SATA devices.
This is a good introduction
Recover Data Like a Forensics Expert Using an Ubuntu Live CD - How-To Geek
Keep in mind, you don't need a full scale Linux PC to try this.
You can just run it off a bootable USB. I prefer Puppy Linux for these tasks.
Puppy Linux Community - Home
Diogen.
Diogen:
It is unlikely the linux disk will help. The drive has to respond across the sata bus to be enumerated within the bios and it isn't; across multiple machines. Another option would be to shove it in an external enclosure. This would at least indicate whether the spindle powers up or not.
Given what the OP has done already, it is unlikely that using linux on a stick will solve this.
[soapbox]
Drives are cheap. Buy an external drive at least the same size as your os disk and use the included backup software or a backup utility. I like acronis true image for windows. If it's mac, time machine does the job handily.
It protects from both hardware failure and that "oh crap" moment when you realize your brain was lagging behind your fingers.
[/soapbox]
Swyped on my CM'D Evo using tapatalk!
It is unlikely the linux disk will help. The drive has to respond across the sata bus to be enumerated within the bios and it isn't; across multiple machines. Another option would be to shove it in an external enclosure. This would at least indicate whether the spindle powers up or not.
Given what the OP has done already, it is unlikely that using linux on a stick will solve this.
[soapbox]
Drives are cheap. Buy an external drive at least the same size as your os disk and use the included backup software or a backup utility. I like acronis true image for windows. If it's mac, time machine does the job handily.
It protects from both hardware failure and that "oh crap" moment when you realize your brain was lagging behind your fingers.
[/soapbox]
Swyped on my CM'D Evo using tapatalk!
This is not my experience.
Yes, an external USB enclosure should be used.
I had luck twice with a 250GB and 500GB WD Caviar drives over the last 6 months with this approach...
Diogen.
I have a few linux disks that I use for troubleshooting hardware. I tried puppy retro 3, lucid puppy, and ubuntu 8 live cds. None of them recognized the drive was there. It did not show up in the "mount" screen and none of the partition programs picked it up. I tried installing testdrive but wasn't able to install it. Do I need to be connected to the net to do that or is it on the install cd? Do I need a working hard drive to add it or will it load into memory like the rest of the live cd?
Is there some advantage to running the drive via a usb adapter instead of being installed internally? Everything I've tried so far has been with the drive installed internally.
Is there some advantage to running the drive via a usb adapter instead of being installed internally? Everything I've tried so far has been with the drive installed internally.
I haven't seen it on any install CDs (haven't used many).
Being connected to the internet simplifies things dramatically. But isn't a prerequisite.
Yes, it can just run from memory. Would have to be re-installed if you shut down.
I use USB enclosure mostly for simplicity: no need to reboot when (re)connecting IDE/SATA devices.
Sometimes the motherboard BIOS will try forever to recognize a failing (internal) drive...
Have you noticed change in sound? Clicking, hissing, powering up and down? Any sound at all?
Exotic sounds more often than not mean internal hardware failure (motor, bearings, head, etc.) that can't be worked around with software tools.
Have you tried freezing it?
Diogen.
Being connected to the internet simplifies things dramatically. But isn't a prerequisite.
Yes, it can just run from memory. Would have to be re-installed if you shut down.
I use USB enclosure mostly for simplicity: no need to reboot when (re)connecting IDE/SATA devices.
Sometimes the motherboard BIOS will try forever to recognize a failing (internal) drive...
Have you noticed change in sound? Clicking, hissing, powering up and down? Any sound at all?
Exotic sounds more often than not mean internal hardware failure (motor, bearings, head, etc.) that can't be worked around with software tools.
Have you tried freezing it?
Diogen.
Linux probably won't help, but you'll certainly never find out if you try to plug a IDE drive into a SATA bus.
In the immortal words of the great Dr. Leonard McCoy, "It's dead Jim".
In this case, it is probably the electronics that are dead and you would need a relatively adjacent serial numbered drive board to fix it (assuming it didn't soil itself when the electronics went away).
Apparently the drive made lots of noise before stopping. My brother just mentioned this today. I tried freezing it a few days ago.
That sounds like the bearings are toast.
If true, no chance to fix that in software.
Diogen.
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