IE7 install Broke My External Hard Drive - Page 2

~~Girderman~~ · 11-29-2006, 06:41 PM

Be prepared with the big freeze operation. Have your 2nd HD all set-up, configured, and the space "cleared-out" before you start so you are not wasting time while your bad HD is thawing.

Work in priorites; Get the most important data off first. Take large chunks rather than single files. It may be this HD's final dying gasp, so make sure it's a good one. Oh, don't move the files; copy them. That way you are not wasting the bad drives finite time in doing delete operations.

LeoxStryker · 11-29-2006, 11:56 PM

Ok got it out the freezer and connected it. For the first few minutes it keep doing a long warming upwhir, then disconnecting-reconnecting (because the windows sounds were playing). Now its back to the "click-click-click-click" every 3/4 seconds

~~Girderman~~ · 11-30-2006, 12:12 AM

Did you try to boot from the bad HD or have it installed a slave to another system ?

LeoxStryker · 11-30-2006, 12:17 AM

It's not the hard drive its booting from if thats what you mean. And it's external so it cant be a slave right?

**cjessee** · 11-30-2006, 05:53 AM

What they are asking you to do is remove the hard drive from the external casing and place in inside of the computer. This may give you a better chance at file recovery. Some of the dos based recovery tools may or may not detect the USB drive... but having it a slave would give you your best chances. Try these sites for how to:

http://tech.yahoo.com/gd/adding-a-se...o-your-pc/2988

http://www.basichardware.com/HowTo_I...ard_Drive.html

Make sure that when you open the external housing up that you take a look at what brand the drive is, this will help you select the correct diagnostic tools.

LeoxStryker · 11-30-2006, 11:26 AM

Is there anything else i can try before butchering it?

**cjessee** · 11-30-2006, 12:15 PM

Did you try the steps in the article that I posted earlier? Recovering a hard disk requires some self education. Read through the article and ask questions that arise... there are some helpful hints in that article.

LeoxStryker · 11-30-2006, 02:38 PM

I tried the TestDisk thing it mentioned but didn't really have a clue what i was doing

~~Girderman~~ · 11-30-2006, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Did you try the steps in the article that I posted earlier? Recovering a hard disk requires some self education. Read through the article and ask questions that arise... there are some helpful hints in that article.

So-

Do you have any questions ?

~~BuffaloChips~~ · 11-30-2006, 04:21 PM

Ummm ..... Dude, if it's going to die, what difference does it make if you take it apart? Or "butcher it" as you so eloquently put it. You will either have to get a new drive to put into that case or go get an entirely new external drive anyway. So, if you replace the drive, you will have to open it anyway. If you don't open it, you probably won't get the data off it before it dies completely. And every time you power it up increases the chances it will be its last.

LeoxStryker · 12-01-2006, 02:10 AM

Well a step by step guide of what to do once it's installed internally would be great (what tool to use, what to do with it etc), maybe with some alternatives if taht doesn't work. Thanks guys

LeoxStryker · 12-01-2006, 02:40 AM

i think i may have forgot to mention that when the drive is connected, windows UI freezes and doesnt respond for some time. you can still carry on doing stuff in open programs but nothing else. It also does the same on the windows in starting up screen.

Is it really a good idea to still install it internally where this will always happen? And also if its installed internally it will always be booting and die quicker (if its not moved on already)

~~BuffaloChips~~ · 12-02-2006, 02:41 AM

Well, you may be getting these particular issues because it is connected by USB and it's going bad. There is no guarantee it will cause the same issue connecting it internally. Also, it does seem to be the best chance to get your data off the drive. You aren't going to want to put it in the computer and continuously boot it up. If you try it and it doesn't work and you get some error messages, write them down, shut down, disconnect it, reboot, and post what you have so someone can try to help further.

LeoxStryker · 12-02-2006, 12:27 PM

well after much effort i've got it out the case, bodged an internal installation, got chkdsk to work, and now its running, though incredibly slow.

I'd just like to say thanks to everyone for all the useful advice you've given me.

~~Girderman~~ · 12-02-2006, 12:30 PM

Does "bodged" mean "botched" as is messed-up/failed/ruined or is the thing working ? If it's working, are you getting the data off as fast as possible before it might fail completely ?

LeoxStryker · 12-02-2006, 02:10 PM

yep, retrieving as fast as it will let me.
I meant that i had to improvise how i connected it (since loads of stuff is in the way of the drive bays, and the only remaining ide connector is in a crap position.

~~Girderman~~ · 12-02-2006, 02:45 PM

Good, looks like things have worked out to the best way they could, given the circumstances. Is there a warranty available for this external HD ?

~~BuffaloChips~~ · 12-02-2006, 11:34 PM

Great! glad to hear you are getting your data! hope you get everything off it.

LeoxStryker · 12-03-2006, 08:47 AM

Nah, the warranty expired a good while ago (i think the drive was approaching three years old).

It's still alive, and i've got most of the stuff of it. I have 15GB left, which is mainly music which wouldnt be a major loss. That said it looks happy to continue at it's slow pace for the forseeable future, so i should get the lot.

Thanks again for all the help

11-29-2006, 06:41 PM	#21 (permalink)
~~Girderman~~ Troubled Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 2,096 OS: XP Pro	Be prepared with the big freeze operation. Have your 2nd HD all set-up, configured, and the space "cleared-out" before you start so you are not wasting time while your bad HD is thawing. Work in priorites; Get the most important data off first. Take large chunks rather than single files. It may be this HD's final dying gasp, so make sure it's a good one. Oh, don't move the files; copy them. That way you are not wasting the bad drives finite time in doing delete operations.

11-29-2006, 11:56 PM	#22 (permalink)
LeoxStryker Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 18 OS: XP	Ok got it out the freezer and connected it. For the first few minutes it keep doing a long warming upwhir, then disconnecting-reconnecting (because the windows sounds were playing). Now its back to the "click-click-click-click" every 3/4 seconds

11-30-2006, 12:12 AM	#23 (permalink)
~~Girderman~~ Troubled Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 2,096 OS: XP Pro	Did you try to boot from the bad HD or have it installed a slave to another system ?

11-30-2006, 12:17 AM	#24 (permalink)
LeoxStryker Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 18 OS: XP	It's not the hard drive its booting from if thats what you mean. And it's external so it cant be a slave right?

11-30-2006, 05:53 AM	#25 (permalink)
cjessee Uh oh. Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 794 OS: Windows NT/2000/XP, Dictaphone, Windows 2003 Server	What they are asking you to do is remove the hard drive from the external casing and place in inside of the computer. This may give you a better chance at file recovery. Some of the dos based recovery tools may or may not detect the USB drive... but having it a slave would give you your best chances. Try these sites for how to: http://tech.yahoo.com/gd/adding-a-se...o-your-pc/2988 http://www.basichardware.com/HowTo_I...ard_Drive.html Make sure that when you open the external housing up that you take a look at what brand the drive is, this will help you select the correct diagnostic tools.

11-30-2006, 11:26 AM	#26 (permalink)
LeoxStryker Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 18 OS: XP	Is there anything else i can try before butchering it?

11-30-2006, 12:15 PM	#27 (permalink)
cjessee Uh oh. Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 794 OS: Windows NT/2000/XP, Dictaphone, Windows 2003 Server	Did you try the steps in the article that I posted earlier? Recovering a hard disk requires some self education. Read through the article and ask questions that arise... there are some helpful hints in that article.

11-30-2006, 02:38 PM	#28 (permalink)
LeoxStryker Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 18 OS: XP	I tried the TestDisk thing it mentioned but didn't really have a clue what i was doing

11-30-2006, 04:21 PM	#30 (permalink)
~~BuffaloChips~~ Register user Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: South East Posts: 82 OS: XP Pro sp.2	Ummm ..... Dude, if it's going to die, what difference does it make if you take it apart? Or "butcher it" as you so eloquently put it. You will either have to get a new drive to put into that case or go get an entirely new external drive anyway. So, if you replace the drive, you will have to open it anyway. If you don't open it, you probably won't get the data off it before it dies completely. And every time you power it up increases the chances it will be its last.

12-01-2006, 02:10 AM	#31 (permalink)
LeoxStryker Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 18 OS: XP	Well a step by step guide of what to do once it's installed internally would be great (what tool to use, what to do with it etc), maybe with some alternatives if taht doesn't work. Thanks guys

12-01-2006, 02:40 AM	#32 (permalink)
LeoxStryker Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 18 OS: XP	i think i may have forgot to mention that when the drive is connected, windows UI freezes and doesnt respond for some time. you can still carry on doing stuff in open programs but nothing else. It also does the same on the windows in starting up screen. Is it really a good idea to still install it internally where this will always happen? And also if its installed internally it will always be booting and die quicker (if its not moved on already)

12-02-2006, 02:41 AM	#33 (permalink)
~~BuffaloChips~~ Register user Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: South East Posts: 82 OS: XP Pro sp.2	Well, you may be getting these particular issues because it is connected by USB and it's going bad. There is no guarantee it will cause the same issue connecting it internally. Also, it does seem to be the best chance to get your data off the drive. You aren't going to want to put it in the computer and continuously boot it up. If you try it and it doesn't work and you get some error messages, write them down, shut down, disconnect it, reboot, and post what you have so someone can try to help further.

12-02-2006, 12:27 PM	#34 (permalink)
LeoxStryker Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 18 OS: XP	well after much effort i've got it out the case, bodged an internal installation, got chkdsk to work, and now its running, though incredibly slow. I'd just like to say thanks to everyone for all the useful advice you've given me.

12-02-2006, 12:30 PM	#35 (permalink)
~~Girderman~~ Troubled Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 2,096 OS: XP Pro	Does "bodged" mean "botched" as is messed-up/failed/ruined or is the thing working ? If it's working, are you getting the data off as fast as possible before it might fail completely ?

12-02-2006, 02:10 PM	#36 (permalink)
LeoxStryker Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 18 OS: XP	yep, retrieving as fast as it will let me. I meant that i had to improvise how i connected it (since loads of stuff is in the way of the drive bays, and the only remaining ide connector is in a crap position.

12-02-2006, 02:45 PM	#37 (permalink)
~~Girderman~~ Troubled Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 2,096 OS: XP Pro	Good, looks like things have worked out to the best way they could, given the circumstances. Is there a warranty available for this external HD ?

12-02-2006, 11:34 PM	#38 (permalink)
~~BuffaloChips~~ Register user Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: South East Posts: 82 OS: XP Pro sp.2	Great! glad to hear you are getting your data! hope you get everything off it.

12-03-2006, 08:47 AM	#39 (permalink)
LeoxStryker Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 18 OS: XP	Nah, the warranty expired a good while ago (i think the drive was approaching three years old). It's still alive, and i've got most of the stuff of it. I have 15GB left, which is mainly music which wouldnt be a major loss. That said it looks happy to continue at it's slow pace for the forseeable future, so i should get the lot. Thanks again for all the help