Maxtor 6Y080L0 no longer recognized by Windows

[jlavery]

Hi all,
I've got a Maxtor 6Y080L0 (80GB) disk, which has been functioning find
for the last 2 years. It is installed as a second drive on the PC -
not the primary boot drive.

However, as of last night, Windows XP won't recognize it.

The disk spins up fine, and I've run the Maxtor POWERMAX utility on it,
and the disk passes the 'installation confirmation', 'basic quick test'
and 'advanced test'.

The BIOS recognize the disk - it comes up in the list drives at boot
time.

However, when Windows starts, the PC hangs for a long time, then an XP
message that the disk needs to be checked. When I take the option to
check it, it says that it does not seem to be a valid XP disk. It DOES
manage to retrieve the serial number, and the fact that it is FAT32.

If I don't take the option to check the disk, Windows XP eventually
boots up OK, but then hangs once my desktop has displayed.

I've got a load of data on the disk which I need to recover. Any
suggestions???

Thanks,

James

 

[Rod Speed]

I've got a Maxtor 6Y080L0 (80GB) disk, which has been
functioning find for the last 2 years. It is installed as a
second drive on the PC - not the primary boot drive.

However, as of last night, Windows XP won't recognize it.

The disk spins up fine, and I've run the Maxtor POWERMAX
utility on it, and the disk passes the 'installation confirmation',
'basic quick test' and 'advanced test'.

The BIOS recognize the disk - it comes
up in the list drives at boot time.

However, when Windows starts, the PC hangs for a long time, then an XP
message that the disk needs to be checked. When I take the option to
check it, it says that it does not seem to be a valid XP disk. It DOES
manage to retrieve the serial number, and the fact that it is FAT32.

If I don't take the option to check the disk, Windows XP eventually
boots up OK, but then hangs once my desktop has displayed.

I've got a load of data on the disk which I need to recover.
Any suggestions???

I like easy recovery pro, but it aint free.

 

[jlavery]

Hi Rod,
Thanks for the info.

I've had a look at Easy Recovery Pro as you suggested. However,
doesn't this need the disk to be visible to Windows?

James

 

[Rod Speed]

Hi Rod,
Thanks for the info.

I've had a look at Easy Recovery Pro as you suggested.
However, doesn't this need the disk to be visible to Windows?

Not for the most basic repair of the directory
structures. Thats likely the problem.

 

[jlavery]

Hi Rod,
Up and running again - thanks to a CD-base Linux boot of the PC. This
was able to read the disk, so we then put it on the work network and
copied all the data to another machine.

I'm now running with a mirrored RAID pair - nothing like paranoia after
nearly losing a load of data!

James

 

[jlavery]

Hi Rod,
Up and running again - thanks to a CD-base Linux boot of the PC. This
was able to read the disk, so we then put it on the work network and
copied all the data to another machine.

I'm now running with a mirrored RAID pair - nothing like paranoia after
nearly losing a load of data!

James

 

[Rod Speed]

Hi Rod,
Up and running again - thanks to a CD-base Linux boot of the PC.

Knoppix presumably ?

This was able to read the disk, so we then put it on the
work network and copied all the data to another machine.

Thanks for the feedback.

I'm now running with a mirrored RAID pair - nothing
like paranoia after nearly losing a load of data!

a mirrored RAID pair has some real downsides for backup,
it doesnt protect you against your own stupidity, or a virus,
or theft of the entire PC, or fire and flood either.