Hard Drive Failure - Cannot Access Anything At All

[Bmw]

Well first lemme start by saying if this issue is not resolved, I will be leaving tip it, due to my sister killing me!

 

 

 

She's always telling me to not touch her computer, I'm always saying dont worry sis, I wont break it or anything! I know what I'm doing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, seems as if that isn't the case. She went away this weekend, and my computer broke on me. I thought no big deal, dont panic, use her hd to back the files up, and reformat. So, I did this. Also bought a brand new 80gb hd in the process. So after countles hrs installing things back, my computer was up and running! However, upon starting her computer now, it says Primary Hard Drive Failure, and won't boot beyond the first screen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So here I am, staring at the very first boot up screen. I'm talking about the screen that comes up when you first turn on your computer, that usually says your processor, and checking nvram. After 5 mins, I can finally get it into the BIOS, where it identifies my hard drive, but incorrectly. It says its a 40gb hd, when its a 30gb hd. After that, I can't do much more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have tried setting it as primary master, primary slave, secondary master, secondary slave. I have tried connecting it to this computer, and accessing it thru my computer. The computer recognized it again, as a 40gb hd in the BIOS, and did not pick it up upon actual startup, as it did not appear in my computer ad a D drive, which it should have.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have tried the hard drive on several different computers, so I know for a fact it has nothing to do with any component besides the drive itself. I have taken it into the computer shop, and was told nothing can be done, it is a dead hard drive, and to access the files i'd have to send it into the pros to do it, which costs like $500.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have googled the problem, and cannot find much more beyond people that you can send it into, who charge a bunch of money, from said $500 and up. There has to be something I can do! I mainly want access to about 10mb (yeah, very small) of documents, and a ton of pictures, which can no longer be recovered. I cannot afford to lose these pics and docs!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So again, its a hard drive failure. I cannot access the hard drive whatsoever. It is a :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maxtor 3.5 Series, N256

 

 

 

Jan 04 2003

 

 

 

Fireball 3

 

 

 

ATA/133 HDD

 

 

 

30GB

 

 

 

+12V 601mA

 

 

 

+5V 559mA

 

 

 

LBA: 60058656

 

 

 

Code: VAM51JJ0

 

 

 

2F030L0710612 AAA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I dont know how much if that info you need/can use, but anything would be appriciated!

 

 

 

Thank you soooo much for looking at this, hopefully we can pull something together and not only save the precious files, but my life as well.

 

 

 

Thanks again,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bmw

[Sweex]

Only two things you can do yourself to help a dead drive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Find an identical drive and replace the controller board on the top of the HDD, that's the circuitry on top btw. :P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Phone a data recovery specialist. :cry:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first only applies if it is the controller that's away on it, if it's the actual drive then you're only left with number two. :?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PS. Have you tried switching off S.M.A.R.T status and seeing if it works without that on?

[Mercifull]

Mmm hard drive failure :-/

 

 

 

You've pretty much tried everything i can think of. If it cant be read as a secondary drive/slave then theres not much else you can do. Its very likely dead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One thing you could try is flashing the BIOS on your motherboard.

 

 

 

Check to see if theres any updated drivers for the hard drive you are trying to get to work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have you tried doing a repair installation? Booting from the Windows CD?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You could try a Data Recovery service as a last resort but like the people in the shop said, they aint cheap. :( Maybe this free software can work for you? http://www.ontrack.com/freesoftware/

[Bmw]

Well, I have tried the Windows Xp Cd yesterday, no luck. It will just freeze at the "Setup is loading Windows" screen, and not go any further. I've googled that, and everything says its an IDE driver problem, which is exactly what it is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It also says "Pri Master HDD Error" when starting up, dunno if I already mentioned that or what. I have also tried Knoppix as of this morning, but it does not recognize any hard drive. :cry:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As for your program merc, I have no idea what to do with it :?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Slowly losing hope...this really, really sucks. Thanks for helping guys, appriciated! Hopefully something will be figured out.

[Bmw]

Still, no luck. I've tried everything I can possibly try, and have started to look for cheap places to recover my data. So far, the cheapest I have found will cost $300 Canadian. I don't know what i'll do, its hard to place a value on pictures and memories... :x