| Author |
Message |
    
Joe R.
Citizen
Username: Ragnatela
Post Number: 510
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Friday, August 4, 2006 - 9:56 am: | 
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I think this is what happened. Who is there locally who I can have take a look at it. I have pictures on there I never had a chance to back up. |
Monster©
Supporter
Username: Monster
Post Number: 4354
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Friday, August 4, 2006 - 11:44 am: |
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What exactly happens with the drive?
does it try to spin up at all?
Is it chattering away like a mad monkey?
If it does try to spin up but just doesn't quite make it, try this...
...put the hard drive in the freezer for a few hours (overnight maybe), then remove it and imnmediatly hook it up to the computer or into an external case, it may spin up long enough to copy what you need to another drive (which would be quicker than trying to burn a CD, and it's not as strenuous to the drive.
If you have an external drive you can put the drive in it, and possibly keep it in the freezer or fridge while trying to recover data, of course this is if you have a working computer to connect it to.
I occasionally perform data rescue on working drives (or drives I can get to work long enough), feel free to private line me if you would like to discuss. |
TomD
Citizen
Username: Tomd
Post Number: 606
Registered: 5-2005
| | Posted on Friday, August 4, 2006 - 12:09 pm: |
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I'm not sure how you keep the drive connected while it's in the freezer (I guess if you have a USB enclosure?), but this trick can work...for a very short time, hopefully long enough to get the stuff you want off the drive. Don't try and power up the drive if you aren't ready to the material off it immediately.
If it doesn't work, you are left to decide how valuable the not backed up material is. There are places that will do data recovery, but it is not cheap--you can buy a nice new computer for the amount of money it will cost you. And even at that, there's no guarantee they can get any/all of the data off.
 |
Case
Citizen
Username: Case
Post Number: 1871
Registered: 2-2005
| | Posted on Friday, August 4, 2006 - 12:41 pm: |
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I've got a USB enclosure that you could borrow; I have to say I'm not overly optimistic about this... but anything is possible!
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Joe R.
Citizen
Username: Ragnatela
Post Number: 515
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Monday, August 7, 2006 - 5:29 pm: |
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Here was the solution suggested by a distant relative who is an IT guy upstate. He suggested I had a bad memory card. He told me to remove one card and try to start up and if it would not start, replace it and remove the other and try again, to identify the bad card. I pulled the first card and Windows started up, albeit slowly and of course I didn't have enough memory to do anything. Before I ran out to buy new RAM, I noticed the card was filthy. I blew it off and put it back in and now I'm good as gold. Amazing, huh? |
Case
Citizen
Username: Case
Post Number: 1888
Registered: 2-2005
| | Posted on Monday, August 7, 2006 - 6:11 pm: |
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Sounds odd for a failing hard drive, but don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
I am assuming that you are currently backing up your hard drive? Preferably to two different locations? |
Monster©
Supporter
Username: Monster
Post Number: 4384
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Monday, August 7, 2006 - 6:38 pm: |
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now see, we just didn't have enough info to go on, and what all the symptoms were. |
TarPit Coder
Citizen
Username: Tarpitcoder
Post Number: 113
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Monday, August 7, 2006 - 6:53 pm: |
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Probably XP using spare RAM for filesystem caching. Although the error should have been a BSOD or an application dying. Is there any chance that during the memory removal you removed the drive / power cables and then reinserted them?
If the motherboard is loaded up with dust then the chipset could have been gunked up and then the IDE could go wacko.
--Tarp |
daylaborer
Citizen
Username: Upondaroof
Post Number: 869
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Monday, August 7, 2006 - 7:04 pm: |
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An IT friend always advises checking the RAM first. Pull the stick and run an eraser over the contacts. Its worked for me. |
Eponymous
Citizen
Username: Eponymous
Post Number: 217
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Monday, August 7, 2006 - 10:17 pm: |
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If it is the harddrive, there is also the hammer solution. Give the drive a good whack when it's off and then try it. Sometimes the spindle can get stuck.
This should follow the freezer approach, and obviously cannot be expected to yield a drive that will last much longer than the time it takes to copy everything off it.
(Why did you think it had overheated anyway?) |
Joe R.
Citizen
Username: Ragnatela
Post Number: 518
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 8, 2006 - 1:37 pm: |
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I thought it had overheated because it was 110 in that room for 4 days solid. What I didn't know was whether or not it was really the hard drive or something more benign. I feared the worst. Thankfully it was not. There was a tremendous amount of dust in there but I did not disconnect the hard drive in the process. I only removed one stick of memory, dusted it off and put it back in. |
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