Hard drive beeping and not recognised - whats the best way to retrieve the data

v2 on 22/12/2016 - 12:11

Hello fellow ozb i need your help/opinion with my hard drive situation.

I've got a 10 yr old maxtor desktop hard drive that has stopped working. I managed to retrieve few files using the cables but then it has started making this intermittent beeping noise and it is no longer being recognised by the computer.

I searched few youtube videos on this issue and it suggested moving the head from the platter and it solves the issue on majority of the cases. Tried that but still no luck - the platter spins all fine.

Rang few data retrieval places in Melbourne but prices quoted are exorbitant and no provide no guarantee at all.

Any expert out there to suggest any solutions or workaround? or any anyone skilled in this niche to help out?

many thanks!

Computing

Comments

    • Diji1 on 22/12/2016 - 13:13
      -2

      And if that doesn't work put it in the oven on 200C for 15 minutes

      • retiredfeline on 22/12/2016 - 13:17

        Any preheating? :)

      • nocure on 22/12/2016 - 13:49

        15 minutes

        Quicker in the microwave.🌋

        • retiredfeline on 22/12/2016 - 13:51
          +2

          I'll bet on "nocure". :)

  • Winston100s on 22/12/2016 - 12:47
    +1

    First of all, what windows are you using, have you tried another PC? I had a seagate 1.5gb external disk which failed after under 1 year. Seagate offered to have it replaced but said no files would be recovered. I tried so many recovery programs but non would work. I then connected the disk to an old XP windows PC, where the disk was read by the recovery program, there is something in the way XP reads the drivers. I have also had a few SD and CF card failures(some not recoverable) but having experience i would highly recommend you download HIRENS BOOT RECOVERY. It is a free program collection disk which runs as a live CD in DOS mode, and there are a quite a few recovery options. Please do some research on which program would be most suitable for your needs. There also is a program that tries to "fix/revive" bad clusters. Unfortunately if this doesn't solve your problem than no other solution or program will fix your disk in terms of software issues with it. However if there is important information you have on the disk, you might consider buying the same model of the disk second hand(i doubt you will find it new since it is 10 years old as you say), then disassemble it where you take out the PCB board and replace it with the one on the failing disk. If that doesn't help then you can try opening up the whole disk and replacing the internal part, however this needs to be done in a dust free environment and special tools are needed.
    Let this be a lesson, and from now on you must backup your data on at least two other storage mediums.
    If you can't find the program i mentioned(is available on torrent sites) or you find it difficult to use, give me a PM and i will try to help you out.

    • v2 on 22/12/2016 - 14:14

      Thanks for the suggestion. The original hard drive was the system hard drive with windows XP and i'm using windows 10 on the new laptop to save the files. Will look into HIRENS to see if there is any luck. Thanks again for your suggestions!

  • Randxyz123 on 22/12/2016 - 12:50
    -4

    Ok first question why the bloody hell don't you have a backup? (hint: The answer is "because I'm a idiot")

    Now we've got that out of the way is it a desktop external or internal hard drive?

    There are a few Linux / Unix recovery tools that can help. See http://lifehacker.com/5982339/diy-data-recovery-tricks-for-w…

    I certainly wouldn't have moved the head from the platter until you've tried using some of the tools available to recover your data. You could have made things worse.

    With the above freezer trick may or may not work. It does sometimes but it isn't a guaranteed solution.

    YES recovery places charge a lot of money, that's because they try all these options. Try and find one that has a policy like no data recovery = no charge. When my hard drive died earlier this year it was $250 to retrieve the data. I got mates rates through a certain shop however so the price went down by about $80 so I just went ahead.

    • Diji1 on 22/12/2016 - 13:15
      -2

      When my hard drive died

      why the bloody hell don't you have a backup? (hint: The answer is "because I'm a idiot")

    • v2 on 22/12/2016 - 14:09

      Thanks for writing in! yes, i do have back ups but this is trying to save the data from the last back up to when it stopped working.

  • [Deactivated] on 22/12/2016 - 13:00
    +1

    I will defend data recovery prices. The standard way is to use an identical donor drive and to swap platters in a dust free environment. That's extremely fiddly and accident prone work. Maybe they increase the price due to desperate customers, but if a friend did it for free, it is still not simple, fast or easy work.

    Depending on your drive, it's possible the PCB is at fault, but more often it is a physical problem. Many drives have PCBs that can be replaced quite easily. Look to see if you can find a very cheap working identical model and swap PCBs would be my first advice.

    The world would be a nicer place if hard drives had more self diagnosis feedback and error information. They do tend to just lunch themselves with no detection.

    (Given the cheap price of Sandisk solid state media, everyone should have a 16 GB safe partition that they backup regularly.)

    • Diji1 on 22/12/2016 - 13:18
      +1

      I remember a striking computer mod where a guy had replaced the top cover of 2 hard disks with perspex so you could see the heads moving (this looks amazing btw).

      Both hard disks survived the mod and his "clean room" was a bathroom in which he'd run the hot water to create a lot of steam then let it condense (removes air particles apparently).

      • [Deactivated] on 22/12/2016 - 13:26

        I wonder about that dust removal technique as many hard drives have a packet of salt dessicant inside to remove humidity. Maybe humdity is only a problem in the long term, but I would be concerned about the heads that float on a tiny cushion of air caused by the spinning platters. Water/condensation there might be a problem. There were some commercial WD Raptor HDs that had windows, too. Any of my experiments are helping the HD toward the rubbish tip :)

  • retiredfeline on 22/12/2016 - 13:08

    You opened it up to move the head from the platter?! It's probably hopeless now. Distance of the head from the platter is measured in nanometres. Specks of dust are larger than that.

    • Diji1 on 22/12/2016 - 13:19
      -1

      Possibly but they aren't **that* delicate …

  • inherentchoice on 22/12/2016 - 13:52

    I didn't know hard drives have speakers.

    • retiredfeline on 22/12/2016 - 13:56

      It just the screeching noise from the heads scraping the platters. :)

      • inherentchoice on 22/12/2016 - 14:07

        But OP says there is a "beeping noise"? Or maybe it's coming from the motherboard.

        • retiredfeline on 22/12/2016 - 14:09

          Yeah, I was joking. It would be the beeper on his mobo, probably the BIOS complaining no bootable drive.

        • hazzad on 23/12/2016 - 08:39

          @greenpossum:

          It actually probably is the drive heads scratching or knocking making that noise. I've had many hard drives do this. The noise sounds very much like beeping but if you listing closely you will realise it's a high pitch scratching noise that repeats.

  • apple2016 on 22/12/2016 - 15:38

    if the hdd is not recognized by the computer then the electronics are not working. try finding a similar working hdd in ebay etc and replace the ciruit board. this could help if the issue is in electronics. if this does not work then you would have to take the platter out and put it in a similar working hdd. this is not easy and prone to failure. all the best.

  • StuffnStuff on 23/12/2016 - 08:21
    +1

    I use Active File Recovery / Active Partition Recovery. You have to purchase the software, its not expensive and probably some of the best recovery software I have ever used. Even after doing a low level format of a drive once I was able to recover data from it BUT for it to work your hard drive / heads need to be working so it can read the drive. http://www.partition-recovery.com

    If you have pulled the drive out and want to connect it to a different computer you can also get USB IDE/SATA connectors for about $5 off ebay.
    Simply plug the drive into the connector then into the usb port on you pc.

    Before any of this though, the simplest way is to recover the data from a backup ! If you data is important ALWAYS make sure you do recent backups !
    Yes I've learned the hard way too. Goodluck

  • edwardl31 on 23/12/2016 - 08:54

    Hard drive is probably the most vulnerable and critical component nowadays. I certainly won't trust a hard drive older than three years. And I always maintain at least two copies of my data.

    From your description I highly suspect there is a mechanical/electronic failure. And data recovery from a failing harddrive can be very expensive. Before you commit to it, there is one trick I have used that was fruitful in some cases. And this is only for rescuing the data and by no means a fix. Enclose the harddrive in a plastic sealable bag and put it into the freezer overnight. Then try to connect it to the computer. You can try this a few times and see if more data can be retrieved.

    Good luck.

    • v2 on 30/12/2016 - 20:10

      Yes, totally agree. I think I've learned the lesson hard way. Thanks for taking in NH time and writing in

  • legendarypoo on 30/12/2016 - 12:29

    My 2tb Seagate started beeping last week, and not being detected since. Hard drives can beep, mine beeped 11 times and I assume it is an error code of some kind, but couldn't find much info online about it (except that the 11 beeps comes up in a search, assuming others have looked for it).

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join