HDD Dead

[Gamer2k1]

Greetings all

I just had a WD Black 1TB drive die on me, is there anyway I can retrieve its data without spending alot of funds if all possible? I thought about purchasing one of them external docks in hopes to retrieve its data but are they worth it or should I look at retrieval service?

Thanks...Gamer2k1

[Deleted]

dead how? MFT gone (what does chkdsk /f /r say when run on it? not really self fixable) or partition table bad (could try to use testdisk to find partitions), then there is some paid programs for sector recovery... that might help; unless totally dead (not visible in BIOS).

[Vash The Stampede]

Depends on how the drive died. If it's physical damage to the platters then you would have to send it in. Otherwise you could try swapping the PCB on the drive, cause usually those are the ones that end up going bad. If you look on Ebay you could probably find working circuit boards but they'll be expensive. Not as expensive as the service but maybe worth it if you're desperate for the data and don't want to spend $800.

Here's a good site to order PCB's.

http://onepcbsolution.com/

[Gamer2k1]

Depends on how the drive died. If it's physical damage to the platters then you would have to send it in. Otherwise you could try swapping the PCB on the drive, cause usually those are the ones that end up going bad. If you look on Ebay you could probably find working circuit boards but they'll be expensive. Not as expensive as the service but maybe worth it if you're desperate for the data and don't want to spend $800.

Here's a good site to order PCB's.

http://onepcbsolution.com/

Its been out of warranty for 2 years. The data it has on it lets just say its something you can't get again, not against any ToS or anything.

[Vash The Stampede]

Its been out of warranty for 2 years. The data it has on it lets just say its something you can't get again, not against any ToS or anything.

Describe what the drive does that makes it dead?

[Gamer2k1]

Describe what the drive does that makes it dead?

When booting up the system freezes, also once in awhile the drive does not detect in the bios and also BSOD's, and grinding noises from the HDD itself. When it does boot into windows and I run that chkdsk on it that drive does freeze & I keep hearing grinding noises from it.

How do I know its not another HDD in the system? Its the only drive I have atm.

[Remilia]

When booting up the system freezes, also once in awhile the drive does not detect in the bios and also BSOD's, and grinding noises from the HDD itself. When it does boot into windows and I run that chkdsk on it that drive does freeze & I keep hearing grinding noises from it.

How do I know its not another HDD in the system? Its the only drive I have atm.

Probably best to send it to a specialist at that point now. That sounds like a mechanical problem than a circuit/electrical problem. Something that you do not want to repair on your own.

[Gamer2k1]

Probably best to send it to a specialist at that point now. That sounds like a mechanical problem than a circuit/electrical problem. Something that you do not want to repair on your own.

What's the avg cost for a specialist? If I could even pull the data off the drive & toss the drive I would be more than happy to.

[Remilia]

What's the avg cost for a specialist? If I could even pull the data off the drive & toss the drive I would be more than happy to.

The lowest I've seen is $300, (forgot the site sorry D: ) but $500+ is the expected, case dependent.
Part of the reason is because the required clean room environment is expensive and sometimes require special parts. HDD disks can't have dust or any foreign particles in them which is why it's required.
Some services toss in an HDD or use an HDD that you send them.

It really depends on how much you value the stuff on your HDD though.

[Gamer2k1]

Ouch, the data on the drive is 300 pictures family related. If its roughly $300+ I think I might just toss the drive but try to snag some of the pictures off the drive. Not worth to me to spend $300 or so for it.

[Evildeffy]

When booting up the system freezes, also once in awhile the drive does not detect in the bios and also BSOD's, and grinding noises from the HDD itself. When it does boot into windows and I run that chkdsk on it that drive does freeze & I keep hearing grinding noises from it.

How do I know its not another HDD in the system? Its the only drive I have atm.

There is a software option to try.
It requires you to have another internal HDD connected (not USB)..

It's not a guaranteed recipe of success but I've had it help a lot in retrieving most data on dying HDDs.

Basically if you have another internal HDD and it's hooked up do note down (on paper or w/e) what the exact model is of drive 1 and drive 2 with their S/Ns.
Then you get Hiren's Boot CD, run the ancient Norton Ghost off of it (this module has to be re-added, online at a quick google is all it takes to know how).

In Norton Ghost you clone the drive from old to new with a couple of settings enabled:
Force cloning even if source has bad sectors
CRC ignore on errors

The reason for this is that Norton Ghost (old version and extremely reliable even vs. newer cloning software) is renowned that it can force data off even broken HDDs where others cannot, it may take a while... but it'll do it.

Next is having patience ... it may take a long time depending on how badly the drive is damaged and how it'll react.
I've had cloning data take over a month f.ex. when a lady had no back-ups of her deceased daughter's pictures and her hard drive was failing hard.
(Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 - 1TB model, absolutely notorious)

But she got everything back with the pictures being intact whilst most of the drive had busted sectors or simply non-functional ones at all.

As far as links go... Hiren's Boot CD is a controversial tool on many fora etc. thus I will not link it, I think you're smart enough to find it yourself.

[Gamer2k1]

Can I just copy the data myself & paste it ie on a thumb drive? Don't have a spare backup hdd around to attempt cloning with.

[Evildeffy]

Can I just copy the data myself & paste it ie on a thumb drive? Don't have a spare backup hdd around to attempt cloning with.

Of course you can try, the question is if the OS gives up on trying at all or not upon read errors.

[Remilia]

Can I just copy the data myself & paste it ie on a thumb drive? Don't have a spare backup hdd around to attempt cloning with.

You can try but careful since it is physically failing that it may not read it properly. If you can get the important stuff out then you could just toss the drive and get a new one.

[Vash The Stampede]

Probably best to send it to a specialist at that point now. That sounds like a mechanical problem than a circuit/electrical problem. Something that you do not want to repair on your own.

I would say software. Clicking noises don't mean the drive is mechanically broken, but the circuit board is just broke. Since the drive dissapears from the bios I would say the PCB is gone and maybe worth spending the $50 to get a replacement PCB.

[Remilia]

I would say software. Clicking noises don't mean the drive is mechanically broken, but the circuit board is just broke. Since the drive dissapears from the bios I would say the PCB is gone and maybe worth spending the $50 to get a replacement PCB.

Circuit boards don't make grinding noise. They don't make any mechanical sounds at all. If it's not making a sound and not detected in bios, sure, but it's making a sound...

[Vash The Stampede]

Circuit boards don't make grinding noise. They don't make any mechanical sounds at all. If it's not making a sound and not detected in bios, sure, but it's making a sound...

If the board is bad it could be speeding up the platters randomly and the clicking could be the PCB constantly activating the actuators. Its been known to happen. If you're desperate for the data and can't afford the $800 to get the data off it then it could be a last resort.

[Remilia]

Going by the OP's description it's a grinding noise, not clicking...

Regardless, if he can get the drive to read for long enough to get the information he wants off the drive, then he should do that first.

[Gamer2k1]

I would say software. Clicking noises don't mean the drive is mechanically broken, but the circuit board is just broke. Since the drive dissapears from the bios I would say the PCB is gone and maybe worth spending the $50 to get a replacement PCB.

Never mentioned clicking noises. It's a grinding noise.

- - - Updated - - -

I did manage to pull the data from the HDD