Laptop won't recognize hard drive
 

My daughter tried to boot up her laptop today and it made a clicking noise
and gave a "media test failure" message. That sounded to me like the hard
drive was going bad or already shot. I tried to boot the computer using a
Windows XP disc and use the "repair" option, hoping it was just corrupted
software, but it gave a message that there was no hard drive present. The
computer turns on okay and will let you go into the bios, but the bios does
not see the hard drive at all. The computer had been working fine up to
this time and not given her any problems. It's a Compaq 2311 and it's
around 4 years old.

My question is this. I would think that if the drive were going bad, the
bios would still be be able to see the drive, but just wouldn't be able to
read from it. The fact that the bios doesn't see the drive at all makes me
wonder (hope) if it is just a loose cable. Does this make sense or am I just
being overly optimistic? My daughter is a college senior expecting to
graduate in a few weeks and there are several files on the computer she
desperately needs in order to graduate.

There is not much we can do this weekend, but on Monday we will take the
computer to a laptop repair shop and hope they can somehow get the data she
needs off the drive. Is there anything else I can do in the meantime?

Re: Laptop won't recognize hard drive
 

Rick wrote:
> My daughter tried to boot up her laptop today and it made a clicking
> noise and gave a "media test failure" message. That sounded to me like
> the hard drive was going bad or already shot. I tried to boot the
> computer using a Windows XP disc and use the "repair" option, hoping it
> was just corrupted software, but it gave a message that there was no
> hard drive present. The computer turns on okay and will let you go into
> the bios, but the bios does not see the hard drive at all. The computer
> had been working fine up to this time and not given her any problems.
> It's a Compaq 2311 and it's around 4 years old.
>
> My question is this. I would think that if the drive were going bad,
> the bios would still be be able to see the drive, but just wouldn't be
> able to read from it. The fact that the bios doesn't see the drive at
> all makes me wonder (hope) if it is just a loose cable. Does this make
> sense or am I just being overly optimistic? My daughter is a college
> senior expecting to graduate in a few weeks and there are several files
> on the computer she desperately needs in order to graduate.
>
> There is not much we can do this weekend, but on Monday we will take the
> computer to a laptop repair shop and hope they can somehow get the data
> she needs off the drive. Is there anything else I can do in the meantime?

Since the data on the drive is important, and is time sensitive,
then it's time for "data recovery". There are firms which
are capable of opening the HDA and doing things like
replacing the head assembly or installing a new motor.
The price they charge is variable, because in some cases,
they can achieve data recovery from the outside of the
drive (by doing stuff to the controller board). Some
of these firms will offer no cost analysis (no charge to
you, unless they recover the data). The price could be
$500 to $1000, depending on the work done, or the amount
of data recovered.

The drive will not respond to outside queries, until
some amount of internal housekeeping has been completed.
That means spinning up the platter, moving the heads down
the landing ramp and "loading" them to the platters. Then,
identify info, spared sector info and the like, is loaded
from "below sector zero". A short SMART test and a few
simple seeks may also run at this point, and then perhaps,
the drive is ready to talk to the outside world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_drive

The clicking you're hearing, means the platters are up to
speed, the heads are loaded to the platters, but the
controller isn't able to get data from the platters.
The "clicks" are "seek to zero" attempts - the controller
is trying to find the info it needs, but cannot locate
it. The controller is "lost in the woods". That could happen,
for example, if the heads have been ripped off the end of
the actuator arm, or there is damage to some part of the
platter.

HTH,
Paul

Re: Laptop won't recognize hard drive
 

cross your fingers: if SMART is turned on,
go into BIOS and disable "disk diagnostics" (SMART)
now do you at least see the drive ?

If not - it's toast. ( the interface part of the drive has a failure) and if
you really want to retrieve data - you're paying a professional company -
big bucks.

If you CAN see it now, MAYBE can recover your data if it were a SECONDARY
( not boot) drive ?

You want to understand all of this so read up a bit on these items.
If in fact your hard drive has surface damage , it will get worse quickly
( like when a VCR tape starts jamming - for a second or two -it's fixable:
after 30 seconds the vcr tape is a useless pile )

( If some parts of this 'mean nothing to you', there's info on Google about
each item)
I'm reaching but these are things I'd try:

1. On a good PC, download a copy of Knoppix ISO file from internet and burn
to CD.
Boot that from CD - now- can you see your data ?

2. Can you remove disk drive and put in a desktop machine ? If so, read THIS
message thread here
from

Jan 22, 2009 Laptop HDD

"Jeff Strickland" <crwlr@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:glag14$fl8$1@news.motzarella.org...
>I posted a few weeks ago about a failed HDD in a laptop....

Jeff ,
go here:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...tebook+adapter
for vendors - pick one like :
http://www.shop4tech.com/user.htm?go...&id=6763&r=183

for $6.99 they make a small adapter that basically bends/aligns the pins

With that you hook up your laptop drive to your desktop cabling.
I leave cover off my PC and rest the laptop drive/adapter/cable on a book
externally and copy data to desktop drive........

Good luck.
===============

"Paul" <nospam@needed.com> wrote in message
news:gr73gl$jcd$1@news.motzarella.org...
> Rick wrote:
>> My daughter tried to boot up her laptop today and it made a clicking
>> noise and gave a "media test failure" message. That sounded to me like
>> the hard drive was going bad or already shot. I tried to boot the
>> computer using a Windows XP disc and use the "repair" option, hoping it
>> was just corrupted software, but it gave a message that there was no hard
>> drive present. The computer turns on okay and will let you go into the
>> bios, but the bios does not see the hard drive at all. The computer had
>> been working fine up to this time and not given her any problems. It's
>> a Compaq 2311 and it's around 4 years old.
>>
>> My question is this. I would think that if the drive were going bad, the
>> bios would still be be able to see the drive, but just wouldn't be able
>> to read from it. The fact that the bios doesn't see the drive at all
>> makes me wonder (hope) if it is just a loose cable. Does this make sense
>> or am I just being overly optimistic? My daughter is a college senior
>> expecting to graduate in a few weeks and there are several files on the
>> computer she desperately needs in order to graduate.
>>
>> There is not much we can do this weekend, but on Monday we will take the
>> computer to a laptop repair shop and hope they can somehow get the data
>> she needs off the drive. Is there anything else I can do in the
>> meantime?
>
> Since the data on the drive is important, and is time sensitive,
> then it's time for "data recovery". There are firms which
> are capable of opening the HDA and doing things like
> replacing the head assembly or installing a new motor.
> The price they charge is variable, because in some cases,
> they can achieve data recovery from the outside of the
> drive (by doing stuff to the controller board). Some
> of these firms will offer no cost analysis (no charge to
> you, unless they recover the data). The price could be
> $500 to $1000, depending on the work done, or the amount
> of data recovered.
>
> The drive will not respond to outside queries, until
> some amount of internal housekeeping has been completed.
> That means spinning up the platter, moving the heads down
> the landing ramp and "loading" them to the platters. Then,
> identify info, spared sector info and the like, is loaded
> from "below sector zero". A short SMART test and a few
> simple seeks may also run at this point, and then perhaps,
> the drive is ready to talk to the outside world.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_drive
>
> The clicking you're hearing, means the platters are up to
> speed, the heads are loaded to the platters, but the
> controller isn't able to get data from the platters.
> The "clicks" are "seek to zero" attempts - the controller
> is trying to find the info it needs, but cannot locate
> it. The controller is "lost in the woods". That could happen,
> for example, if the heads have been ripped off the end of
> the actuator arm, or there is damage to some part of the
> platter.
>
> HTH,
> Paul

Re: Laptop won't recognize hard drive
 

"- Bobb -" <bobb@noemail.123> wrote in message
news:gr7dr2$pti$1@news.motzarella.org...
> cross your fingers: if SMART is turned on,
> go into BIOS and disable "disk diagnostics" (SMART)
> now do you at least see the drive ?
>
> If not - it's toast. ( the interface part of the drive has a failure) and
> if you really want to retrieve data - you're paying a professional
> company - big bucks.
>
> If you CAN see it now, MAYBE can recover your data if it were a SECONDARY
> ( not boot) drive ?
>
> You want to understand all of this so read up a bit on these items.
> If in fact your hard drive has surface damage , it will get worse quickly
> ( like when a VCR tape starts jamming - for a second or two -it's
> fixable: after 30 seconds the vcr tape is a useless pile )
>
> ( If some parts of this 'mean nothing to you', there's info on Google
> about each item)
> I'm reaching but these are things I'd try:
>
> 1. On a good PC, download a copy of Knoppix ISO file from internet and
> burn to CD.
> Boot that from CD - now- can you see your data ?
>
> 2. Can you remove disk drive and put in a desktop machine ? If so, read
> THIS message thread here
> from
>
> Jan 22, 2009 Laptop HDD
>
> "Jeff Strickland" <crwlr@verizon.net> wrote in message
> news:glag14$fl8$1@news.motzarella.org...
>>I posted a few weeks ago about a failed HDD in a laptop....
>
> Jeff ,
> go here:
> http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...tebook+adapter
> for vendors - pick one like :
> http://www.shop4tech.com/user.htm?go...&id=6763&r=183
>
> for $6.99 they make a small adapter that basically bends/aligns the pins
>
> With that you hook up your laptop drive to your desktop cabling.
> I leave cover off my PC and rest the laptop drive/adapter/cable on a book
> externally and copy data to desktop drive........
>
> Good luck.
> ===============


I'm tempted to try some of the things you mentioned before taking it in
(particularly booting from the Knoppix disc), but I'm concerned that I might
be making things worse by just powering it up. We're taking it in on
Monday to a laptop repair place that has done work for me before and is very
reliable. I'm just not sure if me tinkering it with it could make things
worse.

By the way, it's the C drive (boot drive) that's bad.

Re: Laptop won't recognize hard drive
 

"Rick" <Rick@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:nJCBl.22624$c45.67@nlpi065.nbdc.sbc.com...
> My daughter tried to boot up her laptop today and it made a clicking noise
> and gave a "media test failure" message. That sounded to me like the hard
> drive was going bad or already shot. I tried to boot the computer using a
> Windows XP disc and use the "repair" option, hoping it was just corrupted
> software, but it gave a message that there was no hard drive present. The
> computer turns on okay and will let you go into the bios, but the bios
> does not see the hard drive at all. The computer had been working fine up
> to this time and not given her any problems. It's a Compaq 2311 and it's
> around 4 years old.
>
> My question is this. I would think that if the drive were going bad, the
> bios would still be be able to see the drive, but just wouldn't be able to
> read from it. The fact that the bios doesn't see the drive at all makes
> me wonder (hope) if it is just a loose cable. Does this make sense or am I
> just being overly optimistic? My daughter is a college senior
> expecting to graduate in a few weeks and there are several files on the
> computer she desperately needs in order to graduate.
>
> There is not much we can do this weekend, but on Monday we will take the
> computer to a laptop repair shop and hope they can somehow get the data
> she needs off the drive. Is there anything else I can do in the meantime?

I had a HDD fail on my daughter's computer. I pulled the drive and did a
Google search on the part number, and found that I could get a new one for
$50, and it's larger than the one that came out.

You can pull your drive easily, the cover typically has only one or two
screws holding it on, and two screws holding the drive in place. I'm not a
big fan of the Geek Squad, but they can pull data off of the drive and put
it onto a USB thumb drive for you. If you have a Mom & Pop Computer Repair
in your town, they can do the same thing, and probably cheaper and faster.

If you have any computer skills at all, you can connect the laptop HDD to
your desk top PC and set it as a Slave. this will boot your PC to the
existing drive C, and make the laptop HDD into drive D (or some other
letter) and you can pull the data off by yourself. The trouble here is that
the laptop HDD has a smaller connector than the ribbon cable in your PC, and
you must have an adaptor to make it fit.

If this is more than you're up to, call Mom & Pop and ask if they can pull
the data if you bring them the drive. In the mean time, you can search for a
source for a new drive on the 'net, get delivered to your door in a couple
of days, and load the operating system, and you're off to the races once
again.

Plug the HDD'S part number into Google, and there will be lots of hits. You
may find that your drive is a member of a family of drives of various
capacities. In my case, the drive was the middle of three. You can buy
another drive from within the same family -- I bought the largest -- and be
reasonably sure it will work without any modifications to anything (such as
the BIOS).

Re: Laptop won't recognize hard drive
 

Rick wrote:
>
> "Paul" <nospam@needed.com> wrote in message
> news:gr73gl$jcd$1@news.motzarella.org...
>> Rick wrote:
>>> My daughter tried to boot up her laptop today and it made a clicking
>>> noise and gave a "media test failure" message. That sounded to me
>>> like the hard drive was going bad or already shot. I tried to boot
>>> the computer using a Windows XP disc and use the "repair" option,
>>> hoping it was just corrupted software, but it gave a message that
>>> there was no hard drive present. The computer turns on okay and will
>>> let you go into the bios, but the bios does not see the hard drive at
>>> all. The computer had been working fine up to this time and not
>>> given her any problems. It's a Compaq 2311 and it's around 4 years
>>> old.
>>>
>>> My question is this. I would think that if the drive were going bad,
>>> the bios would still be be able to see the drive, but just wouldn't
>>> be able to read from it. The fact that the bios doesn't see the
>>> drive at all makes me wonder (hope) if it is just a loose cable. Does
>>> this make sense or am I just being overly optimistic? My daughter
>>> is a college senior expecting to graduate in a few weeks and there
>>> are several files on the computer she desperately needs in order to
>>> graduate.
>>>
>>> There is not much we can do this weekend, but on Monday we will take
>>> the computer to a laptop repair shop and hope they can somehow get
>>> the data she needs off the drive. Is there anything else I can do in
>>> the meantime?
>>
>> Since the data on the drive is important, and is time sensitive,
>> then it's time for "data recovery". There are firms which
>> are capable of opening the HDA and doing things like
>> replacing the head assembly or installing a new motor.
>> The price they charge is variable, because in some cases,
>> they can achieve data recovery from the outside of the
>> drive (by doing stuff to the controller board). Some
>> of these firms will offer no cost analysis (no charge to
>> you, unless they recover the data). The price could be
>> $500 to $1000, depending on the work done, or the amount
>> of data recovered.
>>
>> The drive will not respond to outside queries, until
>> some amount of internal housekeeping has been completed.
>> That means spinning up the platter, moving the heads down
>> the landing ramp and "loading" them to the platters. Then,
>> identify info, spared sector info and the like, is loaded
>> from "below sector zero". A short SMART test and a few
>> simple seeks may also run at this point, and then perhaps,
>> the drive is ready to talk to the outside world.
>>
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_drive
>>
>> The clicking you're hearing, means the platters are up to
>> speed, the heads are loaded to the platters, but the
>> controller isn't able to get data from the platters.
>> The "clicks" are "seek to zero" attempts - the controller
>> is trying to find the info it needs, but cannot locate
>> it. The controller is "lost in the woods". That could happen,
>> for example, if the heads have been ripped off the end of
>> the actuator arm, or there is damage to some part of the
>> platter.
>>
>> HTH,
>> Paul
>
> What do you think is the likelihood that a data recovery company can get
> the data off in a timely manner? At this point, the cost involved
> isn't really an issue since my daughter's graduation depends on getting
> the data back. And do you know of any firms in Florida that have a good
> track record with this?
>
> Thanks...

Some claim to offer 24/7 service, so you can contact them anytime
and start the process. If you deal with a firm locally, they
may operate during regular business hours. At least some of the
time will be taken up in the transport of the drive to the
company. All you need now, is a courier that is open on the
weekend.

This person from one of the Microsoft newsgroups, recommends Drivesavers.

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/...iruses_Malware

Seagate has a link on their support page. They appear to have
changed the name of the company, perhaps to give the feeling it
is more at arms length from the main company. See the "Data
Recovery" link here.

http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/about/contact_us/

WesternDigital has a page for this as well.

http://support.wdc.com/recovery/index.asp?wdc_lang=en

Hitachi offers their customers... nothing. They suggest
checking Google :-) I guess they're truly arms length
from the data recovery industry, wishing to not give
the impression they're causing the problem in the first
place.

The scary part is, probably every town has an entry in
the phone book for a local data recovery service (I have
two located here). What I can't tell you, is if it is
real easy to set up a company for yourself, or whether
these are storefront operations that just courier the
drive to someone else.

HTH,
Paul

Re: Laptop won't recognize hard drive
 

"Rick" <Rick@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:ehJBl.15950$D32.15691@flpi146.ffdc.sbc.com...
>
> "Paul" <nospam@needed.com> wrote in message
> news:gr73gl$jcd$1@news.motzarella.org...
>> Rick wrote:
>>> My daughter tried to boot up her laptop today and it made a clicking
>>> noise and gave a "media test failure" message. That sounded to me like
>>> the hard drive was going bad or already shot. I tried to boot the
>>> computer using a Windows XP disc and use the "repair" option, hoping it
>>> was just corrupted software, but it gave a message that there was no
>>> hard drive present. The computer turns on okay and will let you go into
>>> the bios, but the bios does not see the hard drive at all. The computer
>>> had been working fine up to this time and not given her any problems.
>>> It's a Compaq 2311 and it's around 4 years old.
>>>
>>> My question is this. I would think that if the drive were going bad,
>>> the bios would still be be able to see the drive, but just wouldn't be
>>> able to read from it. The fact that the bios doesn't see the drive at
>>> all makes me wonder (hope) if it is just a loose cable. Does this make
>>> sense or am I just being overly optimistic? My daughter is a college
>>> senior expecting to graduate in a few weeks and there are several files
>>> on the computer she desperately needs in order to graduate.
>>>
>>> There is not much we can do this weekend, but on Monday we will take the
>>> computer to a laptop repair shop and hope they can somehow get the data
>>> she needs off the drive. Is there anything else I can do in the
>>> meantime?
>>
>> Since the data on the drive is important, and is time sensitive,
>> then it's time for "data recovery". There are firms which
>> are capable of opening the HDA and doing things like
>> replacing the head assembly or installing a new motor.
>> The price they charge is variable, because in some cases,
>> they can achieve data recovery from the outside of the
>> drive (by doing stuff to the controller board). Some
>> of these firms will offer no cost analysis (no charge to
>> you, unless they recover the data). The price could be
>> $500 to $1000, depending on the work done, or the amount
>> of data recovered.
>>
>> The drive will not respond to outside queries, until
>> some amount of internal housekeeping has been completed.
>> That means spinning up the platter, moving the heads down
>> the landing ramp and "loading" them to the platters. Then,
>> identify info, spared sector info and the like, is loaded
>> from "below sector zero". A short SMART test and a few
>> simple seeks may also run at this point, and then perhaps,
>> the drive is ready to talk to the outside world.
>>
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_drive
>>
>> The clicking you're hearing, means the platters are up to
>> speed, the heads are loaded to the platters, but the
>> controller isn't able to get data from the platters.
>> The "clicks" are "seek to zero" attempts - the controller
>> is trying to find the info it needs, but cannot locate
>> it. The controller is "lost in the woods". That could happen,
>> for example, if the heads have been ripped off the end of
>> the actuator arm, or there is damage to some part of the
>> platter.
>>
>> HTH,
>> Paul
>
> What do you think is the likelihood that a data recovery company can get
> the data off in a timely manner? At this point, the cost involved isn't
> really an issue since my daughter's graduation depends on getting the data
> back. And do you know of any firms in Florida that have a good track
> record with this?
>
> Thanks...

My daughter took her drive to a friend she knew in high school that does
computer work, he pulled the files in a few minutes.

There is no way to tell from here, but odds favor the boot sector being bad.
There's a possibility that the drive can simply be reformatted and you can
continue to use it. the problem is, you have to pull the files from it
first.

A HDD can be a Master or a Slave. Currently, your drive is the master. To
make it into a slave, all you do is (either) install or move a jumper. It's
really not difficult. When the drive is a slave, it will be ignored during
boot-time, meaning the bad boot sector will not be accessed. The data can
easily be pulled off and moved to another drive, or to a flash (usb) drive.
The programs on the affected (slave) drive will not run, for example your MS
Office apps won't work, but the files they generate can be copied over to
another destination.

The restoration you need is not complicated, but it is more than most can do
because most don't have the adaptors and stuff needed, and computers are
spooky.

Consider the work you need as only something you don't know, not as
something that is complex. Mom & Pop down on the corner won't have any
problem at all, if the trouble is as I think it is.

Re: Laptop won't recognize hard drive
 

"Rick" <Rick@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:wuJBl.15951$D32.13864@flpi146.ffdc.sbc.com...
>
> "- Bobb -" <bobb@noemail.123> wrote in message
> news:gr7dr2$pti$1@news.motzarella.org...
>> cross your fingers: if SMART is turned on,
>> go into BIOS and disable "disk diagnostics" (SMART)
>> now do you at least see the drive ?
>>
>> If not - it's toast. ( the interface part of the drive has a failure) and
>> if you really want to retrieve data - you're paying a professional
>> company - big bucks.
>>
>> If you CAN see it now, MAYBE can recover your data if it were a SECONDARY
>> ( not boot) drive ?
>>
>> You want to understand all of this so read up a bit on these items.
>> If in fact your hard drive has surface damage , it will get worse quickly
>> ( like when a VCR tape starts jamming - for a second or two -it's
>> fixable: after 30 seconds the vcr tape is a useless pile )
>>
>> ( If some parts of this 'mean nothing to you', there's info on Google
>> about each item)
>> I'm reaching but these are things I'd try:
>>
>> 1. On a good PC, download a copy of Knoppix ISO file from internet and
>> burn to CD.
>> Boot that from CD - now- can you see your data ?
>>
>> 2. Can you remove disk drive and put in a desktop machine ? If so, read
>> THIS message thread here
>> from
>>
>> Jan 22, 2009 Laptop HDD
>>
>> "Jeff Strickland" <crwlr@verizon.net> wrote in message
>> news:glag14$fl8$1@news.motzarella.org...
>>>I posted a few weeks ago about a failed HDD in a laptop....
>>
>> Jeff ,
>> go here:
>> http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...tebook+adapter
>> for vendors - pick one like :
>> http://www.shop4tech.com/user.htm?go...&id=6763&r=183
>>
>> for $6.99 they make a small adapter that basically bends/aligns the pins
>>
>> With that you hook up your laptop drive to your desktop cabling.
>> I leave cover off my PC and rest the laptop drive/adapter/cable on a
>> book
>> externally and copy data to desktop drive........
>>
>> Good luck.
>> ===============
>
>
> I'm tempted to try some of the things you mentioned before taking it in
> (particularly booting from the Knoppix disc), but I'm concerned that I
> might be making things worse by just powering it up. We're taking it in
> on Monday to a laptop repair place that has done work for me before and is
> very reliable. I'm just not sure if me tinkering it with it could make
> things worse.
>
> By the way, it's the C drive (boot drive) that's bad.



I seriously doubt that you will hurt it. Odds favor a data error on the boot
sector as opposed to a mechanical error. One cannot completely discount a
problem with the drive unit for the head, or for the platter, but if the
odds of the head and platter colliding is remote, so further damage is also
remote.

Re: Laptop won't recognize hard drive
 

Rick wrote:

> My daughter tried to boot up her laptop today and it made a clicking
> noise
> and gave a "media test failure" message. That sounded to me like the
> hard
> drive was going bad or already shot. I tried to boot the computer
> using a Windows XP disc and use the "repair" option, hoping it was
> just corrupted
> software, but it gave a message that there was no hard drive present.
> The computer turns on okay and will let you go into the bios, but the
> bios does
> not see the hard drive at all. The computer had been working fine up
> to
> this time and not given her any problems. It's a Compaq 2311 and
> it's around 4 years old.
>
> My question is this. I would think that if the drive were going bad,
> the bios would still be be able to see the drive, but just wouldn't be
> able to
> read from it. The fact that the bios doesn't see the drive at all
> makes me wonder (hope) if it is just a loose cable. Does this make
> sense or am I just
> being overly optimistic? My daughter is a college senior expecting
> to graduate in a few weeks and there are several files on the computer
> she desperately needs in order to graduate.
>
> There is not much we can do this weekend, but on Monday we will take
> the computer to a laptop repair shop and hope they can somehow get the
> data she
> needs off the drive. Is there anything else I can do in the meantime?

The HDD is shot ! Simplest cure is just to replace it ! You can get a
new drive for as little as $35 !

I hope you have being making backups and you have your recovery CD
handy ! You will need them to put a system on the new disk and restore
your backed up data.

--
Best Regards:
Baron.

Re: Laptop won't recognize hard drive
 

"Paul" <nospam@needed.com> wrote in message
news:gr85nr$41n$1@news.motzarella.org...
> Rick wrote:
>>
>> "Paul" <nospam@needed.com> wrote in message
>> news:gr73gl$jcd$1@news.motzarella.org...
>>> Rick wrote:
>>>> My daughter tried to boot up her laptop today and it made a clicking
>>>> noise and gave a "media test failure" message. That sounded to me like
>>>> the hard drive was going bad or already shot. I tried to boot the
>>>> computer using a Windows XP disc and use the "repair" option, hoping it
>>>> was just corrupted software, but it gave a message that there was no
>>>> hard drive present. The computer turns on okay and will let you go
>>>> into the bios, but the bios does not see the hard drive at all. The
>>>> computer had been working fine up to this time and not given her any
>>>> problems. It's a Compaq 2311 and it's around 4 years old.
>>>>
>>>> My question is this. I would think that if the drive were going bad,
>>>> the bios would still be be able to see the drive, but just wouldn't be
>>>> able to read from it. The fact that the bios doesn't see the drive at
>>>> all makes me wonder (hope) if it is just a loose cable. Does this make
>>>> sense or am I just being overly optimistic? My daughter is a
>>>> college senior expecting to graduate in a few weeks and there are
>>>> several files on the computer she desperately needs in order to
>>>> graduate.
>>>>
>>>> There is not much we can do this weekend, but on Monday we will take
>>>> the computer to a laptop repair shop and hope they can somehow get the
>>>> data she needs off the drive. Is there anything else I can do in the
>>>> meantime?
>>>
>>> Since the data on the drive is important, and is time sensitive,
>>> then it's time for "data recovery". There are firms which
>>> are capable of opening the HDA and doing things like
>>> replacing the head assembly or installing a new motor.
>>> The price they charge is variable, because in some cases,
>>> they can achieve data recovery from the outside of the
>>> drive (by doing stuff to the controller board). Some
>>> of these firms will offer no cost analysis (no charge to
>>> you, unless they recover the data). The price could be
>>> $500 to $1000, depending on the work done, or the amount
>>> of data recovered.
>>>
>>> The drive will not respond to outside queries, until
>>> some amount of internal housekeeping has been completed.
>>> That means spinning up the platter, moving the heads down
>>> the landing ramp and "loading" them to the platters. Then,
>>> identify info, spared sector info and the like, is loaded
>>> from "below sector zero". A short SMART test and a few
>>> simple seeks may also run at this point, and then perhaps,
>>> the drive is ready to talk to the outside world.
>>>
>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_drive
>>>
>>> The clicking you're hearing, means the platters are up to
>>> speed, the heads are loaded to the platters, but the
>>> controller isn't able to get data from the platters.
>>> The "clicks" are "seek to zero" attempts - the controller
>>> is trying to find the info it needs, but cannot locate
>>> it. The controller is "lost in the woods". That could happen,
>>> for example, if the heads have been ripped off the end of
>>> the actuator arm, or there is damage to some part of the
>>> platter.
>>>
>>> HTH,
>>> Paul
>>
>> What do you think is the likelihood that a data recovery company can get
>> the data off in a timely manner? At this point, the cost involved
>> isn't really an issue since my daughter's graduation depends on getting
>> the data back. And do you know of any firms in Florida that have a good
>> track record with this?
>>
>> Thanks...
>
> Some claim to offer 24/7 service, so you can contact them anytime
> and start the process. If you deal with a firm locally, they
> may operate during regular business hours. At least some of the
> time will be taken up in the transport of the drive to the
> company. All you need now, is a courier that is open on the
> weekend.
>
> This person from one of the Microsoft newsgroups, recommends Drivesavers.
>
> http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/...iruses_Malware
>
> Seagate has a link on their support page. They appear to have
> changed the name of the company, perhaps to give the feeling it
> is more at arms length from the main company. See the "Data
> Recovery" link here.
>
> http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/about/contact_us/
>
> WesternDigital has a page for this as well.
>
> http://support.wdc.com/recovery/index.asp?wdc_lang=en
>
> Hitachi offers their customers... nothing. They suggest
> checking Google :-) I guess they're truly arms length
> from the data recovery industry, wishing to not give
> the impression they're causing the problem in the first
> place.
>
> The scary part is, probably every town has an entry in
> the phone book for a local data recovery service (I have
> two located here). What I can't tell you, is if it is
> real easy to set up a company for yourself, or whether
> these are storefront operations that just courier the
> drive to someone else.
>
> HTH,
> Paul

I found a repair shop open today and they opened up the laptop, removed the
drive, changed the cable and then put it into another PC on their workbench
to see if they could read the disc. It gave the same clicking sounds and
they were unable to read the disc. They confirmed what I already suspected,
which was that I need to get it to a data recovery specialist. I found a
place in St. Pete with an A+ BBB rating and seemingly good references. They
have a clean room on site, so the plan now is for me to drive down there
Monday morning with the drive. They will charge me a flat rate of $900 to
open up the drive in the clean room and pull off the data using their
equipment. They estimate about a 3-4 day turnover, possibly sooner. For an
extra $400 they give an expedite service, which means they put you at the
head of the queue and turn it around in two days. I'll pay the extra $400
for a $1300 total. I'm hoping Monday will count as one of the days and that
I can get it back by late Tuesday. They do not charge anything unless they
can recover the data, so that sounded like a good deal. They say that as
long as the PC wasn't dropped or physically abused (it wasn't) that they
will probably get the data off. They claim a success rate of about 85 to
90%.