I f****d my HDD

I've a 80 GB HDD and I f****d it My system was powered on and I put the power cable (of the HDD) in the HDD while the system was running

I can't believe it myself that I did such a stupid thing. Now if I plug the HDD, the system won't run. I had a lot of data in that HDD. I'm not concerned about the stuff that I downloaded but I had some personal stuff such as pics...and I had made no backup of those

So what I want to ask is that, is there any way/method/procedure or anything which I can do to get the data back from the HDD?


Regards

This post has been edited by SinnerSaint: Sep 23 2008, 04:23 AM

A longshot m8, but if you reinstall on another drive then put the 80gb either in an external bay or in as a second drive. It MAY read it.
I have done this before and it has worked a couple times.

Failing that (and if the data really is irreplaceable and can't be got at) then there are companies like this one (as just one example) that offer a commercial data recovery service for knackered drives etc.

Googling "data recovery" will give you bus-loads more companies that do the same.

as stated ,there are company's that can recover data no matter what the damage to an HD ,but it comes at a cost.. a high 1

is up to u to decide how irreplaceable that stuff is.

Did you try to repair it with the boot cd?

If it can't repair then you'll need to put you HD in another PC and use a software like http://www.recuva.com/ or http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Download
recuva did'nt work for mine but TestDisk partially repaired the boot and then recovered all the JPG's.
(I'm still sifting the photos through )

First step should be checking whether or not the hd spins up and shows up in bios. If both happen you might be able to recover all undamaged data.
You can try forcing the drive in PIO mode in bios if it does show up in bios, but not in the above mentioned programs.
As Snookered said, if you have an external device where you can put the device in, try it. That sometimes works when it doesn't from an internal connector.

Good luck.

The 80 GB HDD is a Secondary one. My primary HDD with windows is just working fine.

The Problem is that if I plug in my 80 GB hdd, the PC won't start and if I unplug it, it starts.

As for the data recovery option, I'll check if there are any in my city but that will be my last option.


BTW, I came across this site http://www.deadharddrive.com. But the method mentioned there is quite risky. Does anyone think that it will actually work?

Try it in a usb/firewire external enclosure device. Remember to put the hd in either cable select or master mode when you do.

Sometimes cable select f*cks up. I recommend you always set the jumper in the correct slot.
Check the cables. Switch cables.
Switch IDEs on motherboard.

Normally you can find utilities on the manufacturer site that can diagnose the status of your disk. Wipe the bootsector and the drive. That would prolly be better than some 3rd party app.

See if the system detects the drive with just the one drive installed. Maybe there is physical damage?

I'd do the repairs with the one drive only installed in a dos environment. Boot from a floppy or cd. Keep to the one drive only. Drives can act real strange sometimes.

Try see if you can recover the data first like already suggested.

Good luck.

Sorry I didn't realise that it was a secondary and stops your PC boot sequence.

I agree, stick it in an external box after you have booted and then connect.
Does it spin up?
- If it does then you just do the file recovery software.
- If not then that's really bad. Before you bin it I'd go with the replacing the board, but that's very risky(see below), and not the freezer as quoted on that website.
(Wow I can't believe that dead hard drive dot com story...It could be real... but for that story woruld you do your own website???)

I'll tell you a little story of my own:
Not so long ago I had a colleague who had a dinted HD, when spinning up it clicked. Upon opening it we found that the dint was right on the read arm. My colleague was there with his pen knife straitening it while I googled. Basically the arm sits on a VERY THIN cushion of air, once damaged it can not be repaired. One dust particle can screw up your HDD!!! And it's impossible to put the disk into another HD because the precision is soooo precise. So opening them is the very very very last thing before putting it in the bin.