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I have a Hitachi Desk star hard drive that was declared "dead" and it was replaced without charge to me. I am just curious to know if I can access the SATA drive externally using an adapter and see any files on the hard drive?
I use Win7 Home Premium. I do not want to do this if there is any chance that my computer will be harmed. As usual, TIA.
It depends on how "dead" the drive is. I doubt you'll harm your computer by trying.Quote:
can access the SATA drive externally using an adapter and see any files on the hard drive?
I have known problem hard drives to cause interminable boot times, and occasionally massive slowdowns once in Windows. It is not permanent though, if you disconnect the drive all will be well again. Just so that you are aware of what can happen.
Thank both of you for your reply. The failed drive stopped booting my PC and that is why it was replaced. I am a curious soul and that can lead me into much trouble at times; especially with computers.
There is the classic freezer trick which I have tried with success in some dead drives. I guess at this point, there is no harm to try.
http://geeksaresexy.blogspot.com/200...over-data.html
And thank you falcon. I may try the freezer trick but I would need much more time than 20 minutes. OTH, I have never tried that so I may just do it and if I do, I will report back.
Fooey I just thought my adapter was for a SATA and an IDE hard drive!!!
I just checked--no SATA. Am closing this thread but I do thank those who tried to help me. Merry Christmas everyone
I think I am still in "business". I remembered that I had ordered a SATA to USB external case sometime back; located it and will install the failed hd in the case and see what happens. I will be back in a few days.
Decided to check the 'failed' hard drive that I put inside the external case and I have been looking at files on the hard drive. I never had this experience before and don't really know what to make of it but the hard drive seems to be working very well; that is, I didn't expect to see anything. I hardly think the drive is to be trusted again. What do you more learned minds make of this? And perhaps a Mod will remove the "Resolved" from my thread.
Title edited :)
Have you run the maker's diagnostic utility on the drive? If not, do so and see what it says.
Thanks for the reminder Nick. I had meant to do that but forgot. Will do it now and come back with the results. Thanks for removing the "Resoved" and now the thread is 're-freshed'.
I need more help Nick. I know I ran the diagnostic test when I first had the first hint of windows not loading but now I can't seem to find where I found the tool.
Just reviewed my notes when I ran the diagnostics and every test passed except the Smart Short Self Test failed. Of course, the hard drive is now running as a USB drive.
Download UBCD and burn it to CD, it has all the memory testing and disk diagnostic utilities on it plus many more besides. Run MemTest and Windows Memory Diagnostic, as well as the disk utility for your brand of hard drive (or Seatools if you aren't sure). All you have to do is to boot up with the disc in the drive, select the utility that you want to use, and it will run.
Ultimate Boot CD
You may find these instructions helpful for burning the UBCD .iso file to disc:
How can I write (burn) ISO files to CD or DVD?
After I had posted about my not finding the Hitachi Deskstar utility tools I learned that I can't seem to check the condition of the drive because I have it connected via USB. I don't care to stall the drive just to satisfy my wishes to be able to 'read' those files on the "failed" hard drive. (my added work to restore my files;etc. to the new hard drive has already been done by me) At this point, I have a new hard drive installed without cost to me and now I appear to have a functioning Hitachi Deskstar that could be used if I wanted to install it on an Emachine, as an example, I have but not my main rig!!
Last night I discovered my HP Compaq came with PC Tools installed and a diagnostic hdd feature. I ran it today and all tests passed. There was some question about sector 232974 so I ran the complete test again and all tests passed. I guess I should be happy but I still have some doubts about the replaced Hitachi hdd. Don't know whether to trust it or not.:rolleyes:
If all it found was one bad sector, then I wouldn't be at all concerned about that. However, you should check the drive every once in a while, and if the bad sectors start multiplying, then the drive is definitely on the way out. But the occasional bad sector is quite normal, and there are spare sectors on the drive that will be used to replace the ones that are marked bad, so you don't even lose any space :)
Thank you Nick for continuing to reply to my questions. With your latest reply, perhaps I can accept the fact that the Hitachi HDD was replaced in error and now I have an 'extra' 500 gig HDD. :)
Smile Buf!
I think I can and will smile Train--a freebie. HOORAY for my side!!
Hey Buf, nothing I can think of more appropriate for an unpredictable hard drive than putting it into an eMachines computer.:D
ROFL, right? Perfect match. :)
Well, I don't think it is so funny but I'll roll with the punches. Glad I could help furnish toward the laugh of the day. Pop you and Doc may be right. I have to say though, wife has had two emachines and both of them served her quiet well. (One of them is still in use and I won't knock it--for now anyway :D
Not poking fun at you bud, you know that. I speak from rueful experience. We bought one for our daughter for college, and when it died (before I joined this forum) I didn't know any better so we bought another one.:eek:
To this day I hate TriGem.:D
And I didn't think for a second that I was being 'funned'. There is hardly anything good about emachines, except the price ;) However, we have found them to be somewhat reliable in our home and until one fails us I am reluctant to fault them. This cold weather we are having tonight and promised again tomorrow may just cause trouble in these parts.
Since this subject has lingered so long, I think I will mark it Resolved and forget the experience. I have seen the folders/files on the "failed" hard drive. I even copies the content of one of the files and then opened it. Perhaps my insurance protection decided to replace it; largely because it would not boot into Win 7.
Lots of thanks to all for your replies.