Computer help! (Hardware)

[ifell 0]

Anything I can do with a HardDrive that will not power up?

It's a regular Western Digital 120GB

[shropshire 0]

paper weight.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[ryoder 1,400]

http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/hard-drive-art

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[Mr.Bill 0]

They have some really awesome magnets in them. Drop one in your pocket and when you need a place to put your 12 crescent wrench you can just stick it to the outside of your pants.

[labrys 0]

Possibly. I've restored a few hard drives that wouldn't power up by finding another drive with the same external power circuits and swapping them. Does it look to you like the power board is removable?

ETA:

I shouldn't have limited my answer to the power circuits. Sometimes those are included in the external logic board on the drive, which can be easily replaced with an identical one without harming the drive. Just make sure it's the same firmware as the dead drive.

It's always worth trying if you have valuable stuff on the drive. It's also always a good reminder to back up your drives :-)

Owned by Remi #?

[ifell 0]

I have 4 WD drives and this is the one that is a Maxtor :(

thought for sure I only had WD so I guess I will try to find a cheap one somewhere and give that a go

[theonlyski 3]

I agree with labrys, if its something you absolutely must have, go on ebay, find a drive with the same model number and buy it.

I have saved data for a few customers that way.

On to the next point... backup early, backup often!

My NAS now has 2x2tb drives, with 2x750gb drives that still have most of the data, so even a complete RAID failure, I still have almost everything I need to get back to where I am now.

"I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly
DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890
I'm an asshole, and I approve this message

[ifell 0]

Yeah that was my backup drive, lost everything to water damage! Lucky two of my drives survived but they were empty lol

cept for an old windows 2000 installed hehe

[theonlyski 3]

Always have a backup of the backup

Preferably one off site, or atleast disconnected in some sort of protection (fire/water)


Hell, I got a medal for recovering some data once. CSM said 'Either you get this data back, and I'll give you an AAM and a CSM coin, or I chop off your balls.'

The fact that I was a satellite communications guy had nothing to do with it.

(Yes, I still have my balls)

"I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly
DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890
I'm an asshole, and I approve this message

[MakeItHappen 15]

Quote

Anything I can do with a HardDrive that will not power up?

It's a regular Western Digital 120GB

I had a WD in a computer that was turned off for about 3 weeks while I away.
When I got back from my trip it would not start up.
A WD tech person said to strike it when it tries to start with the handle of a #3 Phillps screwdriver.
It started up and I removed all the files, sent it back and got a new one.
This was about 15 years ago with an IDE drive.
Don't know if that technique would work with a SATA drive.

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Make It Happen
Parachute History
DiveMaker

[labrys 0]

Quote

A WD tech person said to strike it when it tries to start with the handle of a #3 Phillps screwdriver.

Bad idea in this case.

That's an old technique that used to work occasionally on HDDs with sticky spindles or motor problems. It's really bad idea on a modern drive, but has nothing to do with being SATA vs IDE so much as the fact that newer drives are much more delicate than older ones.

Owned by Remi #?