Dead Harddrives

Well I have to external Hard drives that look like they are done.

First off...how do I know for sure its the hard drives and not the power source feeding the hard drives?

Second...Can I recover the drives myself? There really isn't anything vital on the hard drives so paying a lot of money isn't an option BUT it would save time to recover some of the data so I don't have to rebuild it as I need it.

Any ideas

 

No noise...I mean I am used to hearing the drive making a loud clicking sound when its about to die.

Ok I will tear it apart and connect to it manually.

If it still doesn't work what would be my next step.

 

A good investment might be a hot-swap "toaster" style drive bay - they hold either 2.5" or 3.5" bare SATA drives.

If you have a desktop PC with an open SATA port on the motherboard, spend a few bucks more and get one that comes with an eSATA backplane and cable - It'll put your data transfer speed on steriods. :strong

Hope this helps.

 

When I first googled "toaster" drive...I get this.

I thought you were making a joke.

Then I did further research and thank you.

 

I need to edit my email to Santa!

 

LOL - no problem. Perhaps I should have used the technical term of Hard Drive Docking Station.

 

OK...everyone I recovered three two hard drives data.

The other hard drive does not do anything.

I think the board on the drive it bad because when I put power on the drive I get burning smell.

What should I do now?

 

Just curious what to do if the drive is good but the board on the drive is bad.

 

David,

On the topic of destroying old hard drives, what do you feel are the best (and least messy) ways of doing so?

Although wrapping a dead drive in a trash bag and whacking it with a hammer does have a bit of therapeutic value :-D, it's not always practical.

My method is a 300# lift capacity magnet (about $8 at Harbor Freight tools or other hardware stores). By placing it on a few spots on the HDD case for a few seconds each, I figure it corrupts whatever is stored on the platters to the point of being unreadable or unrecoverable (it goes without saying I store the magnet in the garage, away from my tech room or any other area it could cause accidental damage to a "good" drive).

Is this sufficient or are there any other steps I should be taking?

 

Ok well that is very disappointing that it is best to destroy the hard drive.

Thank you for your help...