Hard disk recovery?

[Jim T.]

I had an IDE 120G disk in a USB case that had its own power and a fan.
I think that the fan failed, and the disk overheated - at any rate it
seemed dead.
Like a fool I put it in my desktop as a second drive and it worked!
Sadly I didn't copy the data I needed, and in a couple of days it quit
completely. Not seen by the OS (XP SP2).
Pulled it out and got one of those usb2.0 to IDE converters (no case.)
The OS saw it for an instant, said it found it, and then said there
was a problem with installing.
While I'd like to have that data, it isn't worth a large expenditure
to get it. Most of the Google responses seem to offer software that
will recover from disks (at a cost) but seem to assume that at least
the OS can see it.
Will welcome any suggestions or references.

 

[kony]

I had an IDE 120G disk in a USB case that had its own power and a fan.
I think that the fan failed, and the disk overheated - at any rate it
seemed dead.

If it's a sleeve bearing fan, you might be able to relube it
and regain use. Liberally add lube with it turned upright,
then seal with the plug and put a sticker over plug to
ensure an air-tight seal. Otherwise the less cheap and
better long term option is to just replace the fan.

Like a fool I put it in my desktop as a second drive and it worked!

Yeah, some drives will just temporarily be locked up due to
excessive heat. For example some old Maxtors I had lying
out on a desk upside down, would overheat within 20 minutes
or so but did fine in a case with typical passive air intake
past the drive to cool it. Stuffed in an enclosure would be
even worse.

Sadly I didn't copy the data I needed, and in a couple of days it quit
completely. Not seen by the OS (XP SP2).
Pulled it out and got one of those usb2.0 to IDE converters (no case.)
The OS saw it for an instant, said it found it, and then said there
was a problem with installing.
While I'd like to have that data, it isn't worth a large expenditure
to get it. Most of the Google responses seem to offer software that
will recover from disks (at a cost) but seem to assume that at least
the OS can see it.
Will welcome any suggestions or references.

True, the drive has to be working. I suggest you cool it
some, nothing extreme like in the freezer for hours, just
put in an air-tight baggie (evacuating all excess air by
sucking it out with a straw just before cinching shut the
ziplock) in the refrigerator, then having the host system
ready to copy off the data. Hook drive up to the PATA/IDE
connector, not USB, to decrease one layer of complexity in
it being viable and copy off that data as fast as you can
(if it works at all).

If the drive isn't working to do that, it's not so likely a
software will help, unless the only remaining problem was
that an intermittently working USB connection (for whatever
the reason) had corrupted the contents, but such recovery
also tends to take quite a while (hours) so it is always
better to try the simple direct copy first... since "if" it
is dying, it could be beyond salvage at any moment if it
isn't already. Beyond that, the remaining option is a data
recovery center which is a substantial expense.

I woudn't expect you can get anything off at this point, but
just cooling it a bit and retrying is easy and free.

 

[Trimble Bracegirdle]

Re: the 120 HD ...Seems odd to me that will not be recognized by the system
at all.
If you go into the BIOS setup is it shown there ? under the disc detect
section.
Check out the cable / plug / socket connections very carefully .
Mouse
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