[FrankenPengie]

E-SATA drive was working fine and then I clicked it in Windows Explorer and at almost the half-point of the status bar it bogged down real slow. When it finally got to the end Windows Explorer closed, like just disappeared. I opened it again and the drive was not there. It had two partitions. The computer would not boot after shutdown with the drive plugged in. I removed the drive from the case and plugged it into an available SATA slot and the BIOS couldn't see it.

I've looked around and found some possible fixes but want some professional thoughts on if I'd have a chance at getting my data off it.

 

[raptor_pa]

What is the model number of the actual HD?

 

[FrankenPengie]

DOH! I did forgot some details.

Drive WD5000AAVS
PCB: 2060-701537-000 REV A

 

[raptor_pa]

Can you feel the drive spin up when connected via sata?

 

[FrankenPengie]

I didn't check and the drive is not currently available to do so. I understand that if it does spin up then it's the drive and not the PCB.

 

[raptor_pa]

Not necesarilly on that drive...

 

[FrankenPengie]

Ah, I'll get back tomorrow eve.

 

[FrankenPengie]

Freezer trick FTW! :4-clap:

Thanks raptor_pa. From what I've seen this drive is a real POS. In your opinion what's the most trouble-free drive?

 

[raptor_pa]

Unfortunately the best answer is "the one that is still running" With drives being dirt chweap these days, and manufacturer's trying to squeeze every last bit of capacity from their platters, the failure rate is bound to go up on any drive. The one we see fewest in the lab for recovery would be Samsung, but that may well be that their market share in teh state's is pretty low too. Everyone has drives that fail, and a lot of them it's pretty easy to know which direction to start looking based on make and model.