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My Laptop hard disk crashed, I bought a new hard disk and installed Win XP on it but I have my data on the old failed drive that I want to retrieve. I bought an external enclosure and plugged my failed hard disk. But when I connect the enclosure to any OS, it does not read/recognize the hard disk. I hear the humming and spinning of the HD but nothing happens. Is there any way I can retrieve the data... or I'm I all out of luck. Please advice. Thanks!
If the disk is rotating the problem may be file system corruption, or the circuit board may be shot. If the problem is just the file system crapped up a version of Linux MAY be able to identify the files and copy them somewhere. Do you also own a desktop computer? (edit)
Did you try looking in disk management to see if the drive shows there at all?
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Well I do have a desktop computer and I connected that failed drive via an usb enclosure but the desktop system won't configure the device. Now if I don't see the disk, how can I retrieve the files? If there is a way to fix it, please let me know what software/tools to use and how? Thanks!
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The preferred way is to slave the drive internally. In your case I am not sure if that would make any difference.
Did you actually go to disk management in WinXP and see if the drive appears there in any form.
Right click My Computer> choose manage> storage> disk management.
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Good question per.
The USB ports may not even be functional.tanveers
Check Device manager and see if your USB ports are working properly.
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"I have my data on the old failed drive that I want to retrieve."
This is the key. The drive failed......it's not working......it's kaput, or as we say in the industry, it's f*#@ed. Just putting it into a caddy won't magically restore it's usefulness. The data can be retrieved, but not by an average computer user. This is a job for a professional, and it'll cost big bucks.
You are wasting your time trying to test USB functionality on a known failed drive. If you need reassurance that your USB ports are working, use a known good USB device. If that device works, your USB ports are fine.
Please let us know if you found someone's advice to be helpful.
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Sci-Guy
The OP stated the harddrive crashed. I really don't know what that means so I am not yet convinced this is hopeless.
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I'm with Sci-Guy on this one. A program like Spin-Rite might be able to recover the data, but if the system can't even see the dive, it's not probable.
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Don't know if the drive can be seen or not the OP hasn't responded about looking in Disk Management. Also, not sure if the USB ports are even working.
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Thanks for the feedback guys. The USB ports on my desktop computer are working just fine. I can connect any other drive/device and can see it in my computer.
But this "failed disk" inside a usb enclosure is not seen in my computer. So am I out of ideas here now? Should I just give up? Or there is still some way to see the failed drive and somehow retrieve the data? Thanks a lot.
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"is not seen in my computer". I'm going to ask you one more time if you see the drive in disk management? Disk Management is not My Computer. I geve instructions on how to look in Disk Management. If it doesn't show there then the drive is dead. If the file system of the drive is corrupted it MAY show in Disk Management and not My Computer.
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Try using another usb cable. Also try plugging the device into another computer to make sure it's not that issue. Last, make sure the drive's jumper is set to single drive and try it again. One more idea is to slave it as a second drive inside a desktop system, but remember to set the drive's jumper to slave so you won't have boot conflicts. Sometimes the cable select jumper setting doesn't work too well for enclosures or for slave drives. Good luck, Jeff - NewOrleansComputerGuy.com
JeffTeach
NewOrleansComputerGuyDOTcom
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The drive did show up in the "Device Manager" but within a minute it crashed my system. This happened again the second time I attempted. Thanks guys for your replies.
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If the drive crashed your system it may have exceeded the current draw for a USB port. That may indicate the drive bearings are bad and is not rotating freely.
Connecting the drive internally to an IDE connector as a slave drive may allow you to recover some files. If after connecting the drive as described it then shows in Device manager you can try to take ownership of the files or you could use a live version of Linux like Knoppix to copy files. Keep in mind if you can see any files at all it probably won't last long. Get the most important files off first. Below is a link to explain how to take ownership of the files. Google for a download source for Knoppix. It is a 700MB download.
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