Need help with second hard drive problem, possibly dead?

[luv2kruz]

I have a second hard drive, a Seagate 300GB, on my system. I had one
partition set up and used it as a bulk storage drive. I decided to
format the other partition on the drive so that I could copy some
large video files onto the drive.

When I did so, I got an error message stating that the format did not
complete successfully. Regardless, I moved the video files to the
partition that was formatted and everything was fine.

I then start up my computer a couple of days later and it took forever
to boot up. When it finally did, the system was so slow it was
unbearable. Long story short, I disconnected the second hard drive
and the system boots up like normal. Attach the second hard drive,
and the system gets hung up.

I can see the second hard drive in the BIOS, but the system won't boot
up. It sometimes then reboots automatically and then I do not see the
second hard drive in the BIOS. It looks liek the system is trying to
access the drive but can't get to it and it hangs.

I can't run any diagnostics on the drive since the operating system
never sees the drive. I've tried booting up in safe mode and it still
does not see the drive. Not sure how to use any of the other utilities
for this sort of thing.

I don't know if the drive is dead or not. I have most of the drive
backed up on an external drive, however as is usually the case, I
missed one particular file in a directory that I did not back up for
some reason. Can anyone help me get access to the drive and recover
the file. Not life altering, however, this is a microsoft money file
that I have all my finances for the last ten years on and I really
want to get it.

Thanks.



Thanks.

 

[David A. Flory]

Hi,


You might want to try using a external USB/firewire enclosure. That
will let you attach the drive after booting.

If it is an SATA drive, you can try leaving the data cable unplugged,
and then plug it in once you have booted to windows.

If you can get the OS to at least detect the physical drive (even if the
partitions are toast), QueTek makes an excellent data recovery program
that will get any readable files off of it.

There is always a chance that this is a bad SATA
controller/connector/cable. Be sure to check that first.

Best of luck,

Dave

 

[Rod Speed]

I have a second hard drive, a Seagate 300GB, on my system.
I had one partition set up and used it as a bulk storage drive.
I decided to format the other partition on the drive so that
I could copy some large video files onto the drive.

When I did so, I got an error message stating that the format
did not complete successfully. Regardless, I moved the video
files to the partition that was formatted and everything was fine.

I then start up my computer a couple of days later and it took
forever to boot up. When it finally did, the system was so slow
it was unbearable. Long story short, I disconnected the second
hard drive and the system boots up like normal. Attach the
second hard drive, and the system gets hung up.

One obvious possibility is that you didnt have 48 bit LBA enabled
and when you wrote the video files to the second drive, that
wrapped around and stomped on the data at the front of the drive.

I can see the second hard drive in the BIOS, but the system won't
boot up. It sometimes then reboots automatically and then I do not
see the second hard drive in the BIOS. It looks liek the system is
trying to access the drive but can't get to it and it hangs.

I can't run any diagnostics on the drive since
the operating system never sees the drive.

Diags dont need the OS to see the drive,
particularly those that run from a floppy.

I've tried booting up in safe mode and it still does not see the drive.
Not sure how to use any of the other utilities for this sort of thing.

You may be able to get the drive usable again by using clearhdd to
wipe the drive and start over. That will lose all the data on the drive tho.

I'd try booting a knoppix CD and see if it can see the drive.

I don't know if the drive is dead or not.

The hard drive manufacturer's diagnostic will tell you that.

I have most of the drive backed up on an external drive,
however as is usually the case, I missed one particular
file in a directory that I did not back up for some reason. Can
anyone help me get access to the drive and recover the file.

See if knoppix can see that file.

Not life altering, however, this is a microsoft money file that I have
all my finances for the last ten years on and I really want to get it.

You need to use a safer backup proceedure once you get it fixed too.

 

[David Flory]

One obvious possibility is that you didnt have 48 bit LBA enabled
and when you wrote the video files to the second drive, that
wrapped around and stomped on the data at the front of the drive.



Diags dont need the OS to see the drive,
particularly those that run from a floppy.


You may be able to get the drive usable again by using clearhdd to
wipe the drive and start over. That will lose all the data on the drive tho.

I'd try booting a knoppix CD and see if it can see the drive.


The hard drive manufacturer's diagnostic will tell you that.


See if knoppix can see that file.


You need to use a safer backup proceedure once you get it fixed too.

Good points.
Since it's a Seagate drive, get an ISO image of Seatools off the Seagate
website. It will let you make a bootable CD-ROM.