My laptop died yesterday and it appears to be related to the HDD as when going into the BIOS it shows as no HDD being installed. The laptop HDD is a 2.5" IDE, can I connect this to the IDE interface of a standard desktop PC designed for a 3.5" HDD so I can check the drive and also attempt to recover my data?

You will need an adapter card, but it can be done.

It may be easier and cheeper to get a USB2 2.5" drive caddy case.

Eddie

I have a spare 2.5" caddy and case you could borrow to get sorted.

Failing that maplin sell the ribbon cables that you will need to go from 40pin IDE to laptop drive.

You will need a space power pin too.

Eddie

I have a spare 2.5" caddy and case you could borrow to get sorted.

Thanks for the offer but I'm gonna pick one up today from PC World rather than waiting as they're only

It's totally dead. :(

Does anyone have a recommendation for a data recovery company that charges under

deleted

Alez (Zr Zoidberg) recommended a company recently - maybe PM him?

PC World are under £100 at £99.99!

There is the old trick of popping the disk into a freezer to get data back. I have heard it works, but never tried it.

My works laptop is just one big BSoD at the moment :-(

PC World are under

PC World are under

Just be very careful, as I wouldn't trust PC World as far as I can throw them. Depends exactly how they intend to recover the data too. Because if they're not successful, they could ruin another company's chances of having another attempt later. They'll probably sub-contract the job out anyway...

When I get back to the office, I'll post back with the details of two companies I've used for company data recovery in the past.

Exactly how much of the data on the drive could you do with retrieving? This may have a bearing on the cost.

I've also heard about the freezer trick, and seen it work. But then again, I've seen it not do the trick as well! So a bit of a lottery

What's your backup routine going to be then, for next time? :sofahide:

Steve

Just be very careful, as I wouldn't trust PC World as far as I can throw them. Depends exactly how they intend to recover the data too. Because if they're not successful, they could ruin another company's chances of having another attempt later. They'll probably sub-contract the job out anyway...

When I get back to the office, I'll post back with the details of two companies I've used for company data recovery in the past.

Exactly how much of the data on the drive could you do with retrieving? This may have a bearing on the cost.

I've also heard about the freezer trick, and seen it work. But then again, I've seen it not do the trick as well! So a bit of a lottery

What's your backup routine going to be then, for next time? :sofahide:

Steve

I just need the 'my documents' folder really most specifically 'my pictures', the drive is 40gb but I probably only need about 5gb.

For backups in future I'll probably make use of my external drive and also the dvd-writer.

Sorry Eddy, thats all I know. It was on a pamphlet I picked up in-store (from there repairs desk). Thinking about it, I think the £100 included 5GB, and extra GBs were at a cost. It was a different company too, not PC World themselves.

I think this is one area I would go on a personal recommendation though.

If you need to move on this urgently Eddy, I know one of the companies I've used in the past was Insector UK - Data Recovery, Computer Forensics and Business Continuity services on hard drive, hard disk, RAID, tape, exchange servers, sql database provided by Data Recovery UK Limited

No idea if they'll come in 'on budget' though, as I used them for company director's laptop drive. He needed all the data off it, so he said, and wanted the 24hr service. You can imagine the kind of figures you're talking for that! :eek: - they only managed partial recovery on it as well.

HTH,

Steve

Eddie, whats is the "dead" behavior of your hard dis?

Does it spin up is it making noises etc.

What brand is it and do you have a model number? (Sorry if I have missed this info)

I know of people work in the field of making a load of HDD test and manufacturing equipment

If you need to move on this urgently Eddy, I know one of the companies I've used in the past was Insector UK - Data Recovery, Computer Forensics and Business Continuity services on hard drive, hard disk, RAID, tape, exchange servers, sql database provided by Data Recovery UK Limited

No idea if they'll come in 'on budget' though, as I used them for company director's laptop drive. He needed all the data off it, so he said, and wanted the 24hr service. You can imagine the kind of figures you're talking for that! :eek: - they only managed partial recovery on it as well.

HTH,

Steve

I'm in no rush.

Eddie, whats is the "dead" behavior of your hard dis?

Does it spin up is it making noises etc.

What brand is it and do you have a model number? (Sorry if I have missed this info)

I know of people work in the field of making a load of HDD test and manufacturing equipment

Hard drive isn't accessible at all when fitted to the laptop or in an external enclosure connected to another PC. There is a very faint whirring noise but that's it. When trying to access it's as though there is no HDD at all.

Make and model number please mate.. will all be on the sticker on the top of the drive.

Do you hear any clicking noises at all when the system first boots.

Doesn't help the OP but interesting trick with the freezer (I googled to check it out), I've got a clicking maxtor that has some stuff on I'd like (rather than need to recover) - I'll give it a go - seems this sometimes gets you a few minutes access.

Make and model number please mate.. will all be on the sticker on the top of the drive.

Do you hear any clicking noises at all when the system first boots.

It's a Toshiba not sure which of these is the model number: MK4025GAS or HDD2190

The sound is more like a muffled fart than clicking.

Is the freezer trick worth trying?

The freezer trick is worth trying for some drives, as some had an IC on them which went a bit weird but worked again after being cold. It would only work for a short while, but usually long enough to get the data off. Also freezing can help loosen up sticky platters etc.

I don't think it would help in your situation personally as from what you say, it sounds to me that the platters are spinning properly.

What I would ask is, how important is this data on a scale of 1 (i don't care if I lose it) to 10 (If i loose it i am bankrupt).

It sounds like an error on the circuit board, but i'll have a nosey and ask around as IIRC we don't do the toshiba stuff.

The freezer trick is worth trying for some drives, as some had an IC on them which went a bit weird but worked again after being cold. It would only work for a short while, but usually long enough to get the data off. Also freezing can help loosen up sticky platters etc.

I don't think it would help in your situation personally as from what you say, it sounds to me that the platters are spinning properly.

What I would ask is, how important is this data on a scale of 1 (i don't care if I lose it) to 10 (If i loose it i am bankrupt).

It sounds like an error on the circuit board, but i'll have a nosey and ask around as IIRC we don't do the toshiba stuff.

There are no detrimental financial effects of losing the data, the only thing I'm really annoyed about losing is some holiday photos.

The BIOS showed that no HDD was fitted after the fault occured if that helps at all with diagnosis.

BTW does anyone know what the warranty is on Toshiba drives as it's just over 2yrs old?

Depends on the model of the drive for the warranty, they vary from 1-5 years depending on manufacturer and the drive model.

Well if you want to give it a go, put the hard disk in an anti-static bag and put it in the freezer for an hour and give it a go to copy your data over to another HDD.

Don't see this working myself but you might get lucky.

If you have another HDD of the same model you might want to try swapping over the IC boards if you can work out how to do it without any damage as this would allow you to get your data off and then put the board back on the other hard disk.

Regardless I would be buying a new hard disk for the machine.

Regardless I would be buying a new hard disk for the machine.

I've done that already. Replaced the 40gb standard drive with a 120gb and also installed an extra 1gb of memory while I was at it. Everything is now reinstalled and working much faster.