Hello

Hello!
I am new here. I have a Dell Inspiron and it is giving me the following message:
http://www.memoriesbyrene.com/photos/i-3cdsMWj/0/XL/i-3cdsMWj-XL.jpg

When I move the hard drive to another computer, I get the same error. I need to salvage the information on the hard drive. Can someone help me?

Thanks in advance!

 

Can not boot in windows....

This is the message that I get...

http://http://www.memoriesbyrene.com/photos/i-3cdsMWj/0/L/i-3cdsMWj-L.jpg


I took the hard drive out and tried it in another computer and I got the very same message.

I really need to get the data off of the drive. Any assistance will be greatly appreciated!

Rene`

 

Thanks! That is what I was thinking. But I wasn't sure!

 

Ok. I got the adapter. I have it hooked up to the HD of the Laptop and I have the USB plug plugged into the back of my desktop. The power is on. What is supposed to happen?

 

If you now open Windows Explorer, there should be an E: or F: drive that will be the external (Dell) drive, yes?

If no, enter the disk management (right-click the (My) Computer icon and select Manage then click on Disk Management in the left pane) and attach a screenshot of what you see then in the right pane?

 

Thanks for responding!

I already have a C drive in my computer and an E and F drive.

 

Ah, that's too small for me to study, could you crop it (zoom in)?

So you are saying there are no 'extra' drives showing?

Is the USB drive connected to the front to the rear of the PC?

Sorry but I'm in dire need of sleep right now, perhaps someone else will step in and help work out what's happening here.

 

Yes, I am not seeing any extra drives. I have it plugged into the back of the computer.
Thanks for responding!
http://www.memoriesbyrene.com/photos/i-g8VkgzQ/0/XL/i-g8VkgzQ-XL.jpg

 

I don't see the USB drive in Disk Management.

It looks like there are two HD already in the computer. When you attach the USB you should get a popup about found new Hardware or some recognition that the USB was plugged in.

Try as Satrow said, attaching the USB to a rear USB port. Have you attached a power connector from the USB kit to the HD to help power it?

Try going to Control Panel and Add New Hardware and let it do a scan for new hardware. See if it finds the USB device.

 

I do have power to the USB adapter. It scanned but didn't find any new hardware.
I have it pugged into the back and I have restarted the computer! I just am lost!

 

It still is not working. I have plugged it in to 3 computers. I have also plugged it into every usb port in the back of my desk top. I am very frustrated and I do not know what to do!

 

I hope someone can give you more suggestions on troubleshooting the USB issue.

You said you put the HD into another computer and got the same message. Did that computer have a second HD or was the laptop HD the only HD in the computer? I'm thinking about eliminating the USB connection and trying to transfer the data from one HD to another in the same computer. The computer you are using in that Disk Management shot would be a possibility. By removing the HD that contains F: and plugging in the laptop HD. (The only thing I see that is odd is that in that computer you have the F: drive which looks like a nearly empty data drive in the SATA 0 position where it should be in SATA 1 and the HD containing C: and E: should be in SATA 0, but that would just be a matter of swapping cable position on the motherboard.

The other thought would be to use a small Linux distro that would boot from CD or USB flash drive. Then you could boot the laptop from that with the HD connected and copy data to the USB flash and move it over to the desktop. (Many Linux distros like Puppy Linux give a fairly simple desktop that you can navigate to copy your files. They don't have to be installed but run directly off CD or thumb drive.)

Or try booting the desktop from the Linux distro with the USB adapter/HD connected and see if it reads it and then copy the data from the USB HD to the PC HD.

Do you have a blank CD or an empty USB flash drive? I'm just throwing out backup plans to get your data if you can't find a solution to the USB adapter problem.

 

Oh, one thought just came to me. Not to say you can't read instructions but just to make sure since it isn't being read by three computers. You have to have both a power and a data cable connected to the HD. You have the power cable and I just want to rule out that you haven't omitted the SATA data cable somewhere in the process.

 

I have it all hooked up correctly. I watched a video a few times and everything. I just don't know why it will not recognize it. But now I think that I have really scewed up. The little brass or copper pins - I don't know what they are but when I plugged in the SATA cable the 29th time.. a few of them broke! Is that fixable??? Now

 

OK. I am trying to digest what you are telling me in the next to the last message. The computer that I showed in the screen shot has Programs on the C drive and F and E are both 640 GB drives that I use for storage. E has more on it that F does. But, I don't know anything about the motherboard. I had someone build it for me.

I am thinking tho... as for the flash drive idea.. I don't have one big enough.

When I said that I put the HD into another computer and got the same message I meant that I just traded the one that would not work and the one that did. SO, at the time that was on a computer that only had one HD.

 

Could the USB adapter be faulty? I just bought it today! I tried it on two different laptop HDs! (I had the same results!)

 

It is possible the adapter is bad but the broken pin problem is major. Broken pins really can't be fixed and probably lost all possibility of data recovery.

Is this HD SATA or PATA? Are the pins really broken/missing? SATA doesn't exactly have pins that are easily breakable. If the pins are broken/missing on a PATA drive you don't have any options I can think of for data recovery.

http://www.laptopparts101.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/sata-ide-laptop-hard-drive.jpg