USB hard drive docking station

[a.m. Lason]

Christmas day my PC crashed and I originally thought it was my primary
hard drive so I took it to the geek squad at Best Buy to have it
checked out and they told me yes it was bad so I bought a replacement.

After checking further I've found that my power supply had burned out.
Being that I had already purchased a new hard drive I reinstalled
Windows XP Home on it.

Since then I got to thinking that maybe the original hard drive was
not damaged because my secondary hard drive was okay.

What I would like to do is get a USB hard drive docking station in
order to check out the old hard drive. Although I had Norton Ghost
and a carbon copy on my secondary drive I was unable to access it and
it was useless.

I figure, by using the USB hard drive docking station I might be able
to boot to the old hard drive and possibly retrieve my data that I
lost in the crash.

Any and all comments would be appreciated.

..
Albert

 

[Anna]

Christmas day my PC crashed and I originally thought it was my primary
hard drive so I took it to the geek squad at Best Buy to have it
checked out and they told me yes it was bad so I bought a replacement.

After checking further I've found that my power supply had burned out.
Being that I had already purchased a new hard drive I reinstalled
Windows XP Home on it.

Since then I got to thinking that maybe the original hard drive was
not damaged because my secondary hard drive was okay.

What I would like to do is get a USB hard drive docking station in
order to check out the old hard drive. Although I had Norton Ghost
and a carbon copy on my secondary drive I was unable to access it and
it was useless.

I figure, by using the USB hard drive docking station I might be able
to boot to the old hard drive and possibly retrieve my data that I
lost in the crash.

Any and all comments would be appreciated.

.
Albert

Albert:
Can we assume that when you refer to a "USB hard drive docking station"
you're referring to a typical run-of-the-mill USB external enclosure?

Assuming that is the case...while it's probably desirable for you to have a
USB enclosure (they're cheap enough nowadays) so as to install a HDD in that
enclosure and use the device in a routine comprehensive backup system
together with your Ghost or other disk-cloning program...I don't think it
would be necessary merely to try to access the data on your problem HDD.
First of all it wouldn't be bootable in a USB external HDD even if the drive
contained a non-corrupted bootable version of the XP OS.

Why can't you simply install that HDD as a secondary HDD in your PC, boot to
your new HDD and see if you can access the data on the problem HDD that way?
Or, assuming the disk is non-defective and contains a non-corrupted bootable
XP OS, why not simply install it as your boot drive to determine if it is
bootable?

Of course, I'm assuming in all this that you have sufficient experience to
get inside your computer case to accomplish this. It's certainly not a
difficult process.
Anna

 

[smlunatick]

Christmas day my PC crashed and I originally thought it was my primary
hard drive so I took it to the geek squad at Best Buy to have it
checked out and they told me yes it was bad so I bought a replacement.

After checking further I've found that my power supply had burned out.
Being that I had already purchased a new hard drive I reinstalled
Windows XP Home on it.

Since then I got to thinking that maybe the original hard drive was
not damaged because my secondary hard drive was okay.

What I would like to do is get a USB hard drive docking station in
order to check out the old hard drive.  Although I had Norton Ghost
and a carbon copy on my secondary drive I was unable to access it and
it was useless.

I figure, by using  the USB hard drive docking station I might be able
to boot to the old hard drive and possibly retrieve my  data that I
lost in the crash.

Any and all comments would be appreciated.

.
Albert

Which power supply burnt out, PC or hard drive? If the PC, then Best
Buy would not have been able to see the PC booting.

If you are talking about a burnt out hard drive power supply, then no
matter what USB enclosure you will buy, you will never be able to
access the hard drive. USB enclosures still require the hard drive's
power supply access to work.

 

[Albert Lason]

Albert:
Can we assume that when you refer to a "USB hard drive docking station"
you're referring to a typical run-of-the-mill USB external enclosure?

Assuming that is the case...while it's probably desirable for you to have a
USB enclosure (they're cheap enough nowadays) so as to install a HDD in that
enclosure and use the device in a routine comprehensive backup system
together with your Ghost or other disk-cloning program...I don't think it
would be necessary merely to try to access the data on your problem HDD.
First of all it wouldn't be bootable in a USB external HDD even if the drive
contained a non-corrupted bootable version of the XP OS.

Why can't you simply install that HDD as a secondary HDD in your PC, boot to
your new HDD and see if you can access the data on the problem HDD that way?
Or, assuming the disk is non-defective and contains a non-corrupted bootable
XP OS, why not simply install it as your boot drive to determine if it is
bootable?

Of course, I'm assuming in all this that you have sufficient experience to
get inside your computer case to accomplish this. It's certainly not a
difficult process.
Anna

Anna,

Originally I thought about reinstalling the hard drive, unplugging the
secondary drive and trying to boot to the original hard drive to see
if that would work. I shied away from it thinking that if there was
something wrong with the hard drive I might cause more damage to the
system.

My choice of the USB hard drive enclosure was because I had read then
if I had one I could pull my hard drive and take it with me when I
visit the kids and still have my computer access.

When I originally installed the OS on the new hard drive the secondary
drive was still in place and had a mirror image generated by Norton
Ghost. The only problem was with a new hard drive I had to get a new
activation number to satisfy Microsoft. In doing so Norton Ghost did
not function properly. I still had all my data on the secondary drive
but as an example when I tried to open Microsoft's Address Book on the
secondary drive yet opened the address book on the primary drive
therefore I could not access my data (e-mail addresses).
The same thing happened when I tried to access Outlook's contacts on
the mirror image on the secondary drive it opened up Outlook on the
primary drive which was blank. Fortunately I had made a file with my
contact data that was able to recover. In the meantime I have
reformatted the secondary drive because I could not access anything
there anyway.

Would it be feasible to install only the old original hard drive if
there is no chance it would damage anything and just boot to it and
copy all data to a DVD or CD?

..
Albert

 

[Albert Lason]

Which power supply burnt out, PC or hard drive? If the PC, then Best
Buy would not have been able to see the PC booting.

If you are talking about a burnt out hard drive power supply, then no
matter what USB enclosure you will buy, you will never be able to
access the hard drive. USB enclosures still require the hard drive's
power supply access to work.

The PC power supply is what burnout that's why I think the original
primary drive might still work contrary to what Best Buy told me.
After that geek guy told me that it was bad and I told him that I was
going to buy a new one he grabbed the old one off the counter and
started to take off with it until I stopped him and told him I wanted
to keep it.

The tower that I have originally had a 235 W power supply and when I
added a DVD burner Christmas I'm pretty sure it overloaded the system
and burned out the power supply which was replaced which I replaced
with a 485 W unit.

 

[Anna]

Anna,
Originally I thought about reinstalling the hard drive, unplugging the
secondary drive and trying to boot to the original hard drive to see if that
would work. I shied away from it thinking that if there was something wrong
with the hard drive I might cause more damage to the system.
My choice of the USB hard drive enclosure was because I had read then if I
had one I could pull my hard drive and take it with me when I visit the kids
and still have my computer access.

When I originally installed the OS on the new hard drive the secondary drive
was still in place and had a mirror image generated by Norton Ghost. The
only problem was with a new hard drive I had to get a new activation number
to satisfy Microsoft. In doing so Norton Ghost did not function properly.
I still had all my data on the secondary drive but as an example when I
tried to open Microsoft's Address Book on the secondary drive yet opened the
address book on the primary drive therefore I could not access my data
(e-mail addresses). The same thing happened when I tried to access Outlook's
contacts on the mirror image on the secondary drive it opened up Outlook on
the primary drive which was blank. Fortunately I had made a file with my
contact data that was able to recover. In the meantime I have reformatted
the secondary drive because I could not access anything there anyway.

Would it be feasible to install only the old original hard drive if there is
no chance it would damage anything and just boot to it and copy all data to
a DVD or CD?
Albert


Albert:
Well you could do that and there should be no problem in doing so. I assume
you're working with PATA HDDs and that your current new boot HDD is
connected as Primary Master. So if you want to go that route just
(temporarily) disconnect your current new boot HDD from its IDE data cable
and connect it to your old
HDD to see if it boots.

But what would be the purpose of that if all you really want to do is access
the contents of that old HDD and copy whatever data you want onto other
media? Why not just simply connect that old HDD as a secondary HDD, boot
with your current new HDD and then access the data on that old HDD? Isn't
that the more straightforward way to achieve your objective?

On the other hand if you're also interested in determining whether that old
HDD will boot, then do what you suggest.

Ordinarily a USB external HDD enclosure is used for backup/storage purposes.
Used in conjunction with a disk cloning program it's a very effective way to
achieve a comprehensive backup system. I assume that when you say you want
to transport the USBEHD to another location to use on another computer you
would be doing so merely to access your user-created data and possibly
access some program or application that's on the contained HDD. I assume you
understand the USBEHD is not a bootable device.

It's impossible for me to tell what went wrong with your Ghost disk cloning
or disk imaging process. We used to be avid users of Symantec's Norton
Ghost, particularly the 2003 version but we were less than thrilled with
their subsequent versions 9 & 10 and pretty much gave up using that program.

Our disk-cloning program of choice now is the Casper 4 program. (It does not
have disk imaging capability). We find it very simple to use and quite
effective as a disk-cloning program.
Anna

 

[Albert Lason]

Albert:
Well you could do that and there should be no problem in doing so. I assume
you're working with PATA HDDs and that your current new boot HDD is
connected as Primary Master. So if you want to go that route just
(temporarily) disconnect your current new boot HDD from its IDE data cable
and connect it to your old
HDD to see if it boots.

But what would be the purpose of that if all you really want to do is access
the contents of that old HDD and copy whatever data you want onto other
media? Why not just simply connect that old HDD as a secondary HDD, boot
with your current new HDD and then access the data on that old HDD? Isn't
that the more straightforward way to achieve your objective?

On the other hand if you're also interested in determining whether that old
HDD will boot, then do what you suggest.

Ordinarily a USB external HDD enclosure is used for backup/storage purposes.
Used in conjunction with a disk cloning program it's a very effective way to
achieve a comprehensive backup system. I assume that when you say you want
to transport the USBEHD to another location to use on another computer you
would be doing so merely to access your user-created data and possibly
access some program or application that's on the contained HDD. I assume you
understand the USBEHD is not a bootable device.

It's impossible for me to tell what went wrong with your Ghost disk cloning
or disk imaging process. We used to be avid users of Symantec's Norton
Ghost, particularly the 2003 version but we were less than thrilled with
their subsequent versions 9 & 10 and pretty much gave up using that program.

Our disk-cloning program of choice now is the Casper 4 program. (It does not
have disk imaging capability). We find it very simple to use and quite
effective as a disk-cloning program.
Anna

Anna,

I think I have a great deal of information that I'm going to have to
sift through and decide which course I will take. I have an awful lot
to ponder and thank you.
..
Albert

 

[smlunatick]

The PC power supply is what burnout that's why I think the original
primary drive might still work contrary to what Best Buy told me.
After that geek guy told me that it was bad and I told him that I was
going to buy a new one he grabbed the old one off the counter and
started to take off with it until I stopped him and told him I wanted
to keep it.

The tower that I have originally had a 235 W power supply and when I
added a DVD burner Christmas I'm pretty sure it overloaded the system
and burned out the power supply which was replaced which I replaced
with a 485 W unit.

If you just boot this PC with only this hard drive and one CD/DVD
drive then there would little worry of "screwing" up your PC. Only
this hard drive would be screwed up.

 

[Albert]

On Wed, 13 Feb 2008 12:51:03 -0800 (PST), smlunatick

snipped

If you just boot this PC with only this hard drive and one CD/DVD
drive then there would little worry of "screwing" up your PC. Only
this hard drive would be screwed up.

Bottom line;

I replace the new primary hard drive with the old one and put
everything back the way it was before the power supply burnt out. The
computer would not even boot up into the bios the start button was
useless. So apparently the old primary hard drive is gone, now the
question is is economically feasible and or possible to get the data
that I would like to have. Before I do that I'm going to wait until I
receive the new hard drive enclosure that I'm going to order and
doublecheck the old hard drive.

I do want to say that I appreciate all the help. I found out what I
needed to know and learned a lot from everyone's suggestions.

Thank you all
..
Albert

 

[smlunatick]

On Wed, 13 Feb 2008 12:51:03 -0800 (PST), smlunatick


snipped




Bottom line;

I replace the new primary hard drive with the old one and put
everything back the way it was before the power supply burnt out.  The
computer would not even boot up into the bios the start button was
useless.  So apparently the old primary hard drive is gone, now the
question is is economically feasible and or possible to get the data
that I would like to have.  Before I do that I'm going to wait until I
receive the new hard drive enclosure that I'm going to order and
doublecheck the old hard drive.

I do want to say that I appreciate all the help.  I found out what I
needed to know and learned a lot from everyone's suggestions.

Thank you all
.
Albert

If the PC did not boot with the "old" drive, then it may not work in
the USB case. It is a :safe bet" that the drive is gone. You can
look for data recover systems / companies but it would be expensive
and depending how important the data, it may not be worth while.

 

[GMAN]

Albert:
Can we assume that when you refer to a "USB hard drive docking station"
you're referring to a typical run-of-the-mill USB external enclosure?

Assuming that is the case...while it's probably desirable for you to have a
USB enclosure (they're cheap enough nowadays) so as to install a HDD in that
enclosure and use the device in a routine comprehensive backup system
together with your Ghost or other disk-cloning program...I don't think it
would be necessary merely to try to access the data on your problem HDD.
First of all it wouldn't be bootable in a USB external HDD even if the drive
contained a non-corrupted bootable version of the XP OS.

What are you talking about anna? I have a bootable USB hard drive enclosure
that i regularly boot a copy of XP on for testing purposes. If the Bios
supports booting from a USB device, you can most certainly do it. I also have
Ubuntu linux on a second HD in another enclosure.

I also have XP fully installed on a 4GB flash drive

 

[GMAN]

The PC power supply is what burnout that's why I think the original
primary drive might still work contrary to what Best Buy told me.
After that geek guy told me that it was bad and I told him that I was
going to buy a new one he grabbed the old one off the counter and
started to take off with it until I stopped him and told him I wanted
to keep it.

The tower that I have originally had a 235 W power supply and when I
added a DVD burner Christmas I'm pretty sure it overloaded the system
and burned out the power supply which was replaced which I replaced
with a 485 W unit.

If it was the power supply and "not" HD that was bad, why did you let them
talk you into buying a new HD for your system? They took you for a ride in
their geekmobile!!!!!

 

[GMAN]

On Wed, 13 Feb 2008 12:51:03 -0800 (PST), smlunatick

snipped

Bottom line;

I replace the new primary hard drive with the old one and put
everything back the way it was before the power supply burnt out. The
computer would not even boot up into the bios the start button was
useless. So apparently the old primary hard drive is gone, now the
question is is economically feasible and or possible to get the data
that I would like to have. Before I do that I'm going to wait until I
receive the new hard drive enclosure that I'm going to order and
doublecheck the old hard drive.

I do want to say that I appreciate all the help. I found out what I
needed to know and learned a lot from everyone's suggestions.

Thank you all
..
Albert

I have recoverd the data off of an old drive by buying a very cheap exact
replacement of the drive i had off Ebay and then performing surgery by
removing the burnt out circuit board off of the bad drive and putting the good
board from the ebay drive onto it. Not for the weak of heart.

 

[Anna]

I also have XP fully installed on a 4GB flash drive

What are you talking about anna? I have a bootable USB hard drive
enclosure
that i regularly boot a copy of XP on for testing purposes. If the Bios
supports booting from a USB device, you can most certainly do it. I also
have
Ubuntu linux on a second HD in another enclosure.

GMAN:
I am glad to hear that you're able to boot to an XP OS while such is
contained in a USB external HDD enclosure. We have never been able to do so
(except in a very few cases that turned out to be unreliable). And we have
worked with a large number of motherboards that presumably supported USB
boot capability.

I am aware of a number of reports, similar to yours, where the user reported
an ability to boot XP from a USB external device, but by & large that
capability has eluded us.

Would you be good enough to inform me of the make & model of the motherboard
you're working with together with the make & model of your USB external
enclosure? And any other details that you may care to include? Thanks much.
Anna

 

[GMAN]

GMAN:
I am glad to hear that you're able to boot to an XP OS while such is
contained in a USB external HDD enclosure. We have never been able to do so
(except in a very few cases that turned out to be unreliable). And we have
worked with a large number of motherboards that presumably supported USB
boot capability.

I am aware of a number of reports, similar to yours, where the user reported
an ability to boot XP from a USB external device, but by & large that
capability has eluded us.

Would you be good enough to inform me of the make & model of the motherboard
you're working with together with the make & model of your USB external
enclosure? And any other details that you may care to include? Thanks much.
Anna

Yes, its the ASUS Commando motherboard (Socket 775)


The external HD enclosure is an ME-340 USB2/IEEE1394 capable enclosure
www.anywarus.com seems to be the manufacturer of the case

http://www.anywareus.com/products/enclosures/me340.html



But are sold under many different brands, just a few of them below.

http://www.computercareus.com/product-desc.asp?modelcode=2703
http://shopping.msn.com/Reviews/shp/?itemId=56387776

 

[Anna]

(GMAN responding to my comment that in our experience a USB external HDD is
not bootable in an XP environment)...

Yes, its the ASUS Commando motherboard (Socket 775)
The external HD enclosure is an ME-340 USB2/IEEE1394 capable enclosure
www.anywarus.com seems to be the manufacturer of the case

http://www.anywareus.com/products/enclosures/me340.html

But are sold under many different brands, just a few of them below.

http://www.computercareus.com/product-desc.asp?modelcode=2703
http://shopping.msn.com/Reviews/shp/?itemId=56387776

GMAN:
Thanks for the info. While we've worked with a fairly wide variety of ASUS
motherboards, we haven't worked with that particular one. I note it uses the
Intel P965 Express ICH8DH chipset so possibly that's a factor in achieving
boot capability with a USBEHD. I'll certainly look into it. Thanks again.
Anna

 

[GMAN]

(GMAN responding to my comment that in our experience a USB external HDD is
not bootable in an XP environment)...






GMAN:
Thanks for the info. While we've worked with a fairly wide variety of ASUS
motherboards, we haven't worked with that particular one. I note it uses the
Intel P965 Express ICH8DH chipset so possibly that's a factor in achieving
boot capability with a USBEHD. I'll certainly look into it. Thanks again.
Anna

I have been able to boot with a USB hard drive ever since the ICH6 chipset

 

[luizsu6y7]

If you are planning to buy a hard drive docking station, then make sure the read the important factors that are required for the smooth functioning of your external hard drive.