Recover HDD information WD300BB (30GB)

[mihai.dina]

Hi,

I have an older HDD WD300BB used for backup and I have problem with
it. I'm writting because I have important data on it and I wish to
recover them.
If I put jumper in master position, my system doesn't detect HDD in
bios or detects HDD very hard (it takes a lot of time). If I
configure it as slave then at first time of entering in bios (after
power on) it isn't detected, but after that, at the next entering in
bios, it is detected. After that I have started my OS WinXP.

In WinXP in "Computer Management/Device Manager/Disk drives" my HDD is
detected corectly as "WDC300BB-00AUA1" but in "Computer
Management/Disk Management" it isn't showed as "Unformated partition"
or other type of partition.

I have downloaded from WesternDigital site a "Data LifeGuard Tools"
software for this HDD. It seems to be a SMART problem because in
their software "SMART Status" is "Not available".

What could be defective? Is it possible to be only an electronic
problem? In my area there isn't any service center for this type of
problems.

Please do help me in this matter.

 

[Shep©]

On Wed, 11 May 2005 15:30:15 +0000 If I have seen farther it is
because I have stood on the shoulder of giants

Hi,

I have an older HDD WD300BB used for backup and I have problem with
it. I'm writting because I have important data on it and I wish to
recover them.
If I put jumper in master position, my system doesn't detect HDD in
bios or detects HDD very hard (it takes a lot of time). If I
configure it as slave then at first time of entering in bios (after
power on) it isn't detected, but after that, at the next entering in
bios, it is detected. After that I have started my OS WinXP.

In WinXP in "Computer Management/Device Manager/Disk drives" my HDD is
detected corectly as "WDC300BB-00AUA1" but in "Computer
Management/Disk Management" it isn't showed as "Unformated partition"
or other type of partition.

I have downloaded from WesternDigital site a "Data LifeGuard Tools"
software for this HDD. It seems to be a SMART problem because in
their software "SMART Status" is "Not available".

What could be defective? Is it possible to be only an electronic
problem? In my area there isn't any service center for this type of
problems.

Please do help me in this matter.

As it's an old drive it may not be S.M.A.R.T compatible.Disable
S.M.A.R.T in the BIOS of the mother board and see if it helps.It's not
that much of a function anyway IMHO.
HTH



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[old jon]

Hi Mihai, or is that Hai Mihai. there`s a possibility that the drive is
suffering a bit, if you can, in the bios check that the drive is set to
Auto.
That might help winXP to see it. Then transfer all you can off, and reformat
the drive. Then transfer your stuff back. best wishes..J

 

[Rus]

(e-mail address removed)-spam.invalid (mihai.dina) wrote in

Hi,

I have an older HDD WD300BB used for backup and I have problem with
it. I'm writting because I have important data on it and I wish to
recover them.
If I put jumper in master position, my system doesn't detect HDD in
bios or detects HDD very hard (it takes a lot of time). If I
configure it as slave then at first time of entering in bios (after
power on) it isn't detected, but after that, at the next entering in
bios, it is detected. After that I have started my OS WinXP.

In WinXP in "Computer Management/Device Manager/Disk drives" my HDD is
detected corectly as "WDC300BB-00AUA1" but in "Computer
Management/Disk Management" it isn't showed as "Unformated partition"
or other type of partition.

I have downloaded from WesternDigital site a "Data LifeGuard Tools"
software for this HDD. It seems to be a SMART problem because in
their software "SMART Status" is "Not available".

What could be defective? Is it possible to be only an electronic
problem? In my area there isn't any service center for this type of
problems.

Please do help me in this matter.

I would try a new cable. Strange things happen when a cable fails. I would
also try the drive in another computer.

Also, are you using removable drive bays? If so, I would connect straight to
the motherboard before condemning the drive.

Your model is WD300BB? Does that mean it's 3 GB? If so, I'll bet some
drives in those days didn't use SMART. It says SMART unavailable because the
circuitry isn't built into the drive. Your drive isn't defective because of
that message. It simply means that your drive was built before WD
incorporated SMART circuitry.

Using those LifeGuard tools, run the "extended" test on the drive and see
what results you get.

//rus//

 

[kony]

On Wed, 11 May 2005 15:30:15 +0000,

Hi,

I have an older HDD WD300BB used for backup and I have problem with
it. I'm writting because I have important data on it and I wish to
recover them.

It might be closely related (same as) to some IBM drives of
that era which didn't tend to hold up so well.

If I put jumper in master position, my system doesn't detect HDD in
bios or detects HDD very hard (it takes a lot of time). If I
configure it as slave then at first time of entering in bios (after
power on) it isn't detected, but after that, at the next entering in
bios, it is detected. After that I have started my OS WinXP.

Then try jumpering it as Single Drive and leave it alone on
the IDE cable, no slave attached.

In WinXP in "Computer Management/Device Manager/Disk drives" my HDD is
detected corectly as "WDC300BB-00AUA1" but in "Computer
Management/Disk Management" it isn't showed as "Unformated partition"
or other type of partition.

Run the manufacturer's diagnostics on it.
Check your motherboard bios to see if SMART is turned on.

I have downloaded from WesternDigital site a "Data LifeGuard Tools"
software for this HDD. It seems to be a SMART problem because in
their software "SMART Status" is "Not available".

No that's not a problem per se, you can check the board bios
setting but the drive would work without smart at all.

What could be defective? Is it possible to be only an electronic
problem? In my area there isn't any service center for this type of
problems.

I"m sure there is a data recovery center you can mail the
drive to. Regardless, you may be barking up the wrong tree.
If possible reconnect drive in exact same config in which it
was previously used and retry it. Run the OTHER diagnostics
from Data Lifeguard on it.