Greetings All, I am going completely madd trying to pull data off of my damaged harddrive using a harddrive to usb adaptor. Basically, after installing a windows update, my computer would boot and then a black screen would appear stating that I needed to reinstall windows to repair my system. I tried that my system got stuck in a loop that always returned to the black screen. So, I purchased an IDE/SATA Harddrive adaptor so that I could try and get the data off of the harddrive etc... but when I connect it to another computer the hardware is recognized but I can not locate my hardrive. I went to my computer (not there), I went to computer management and I can see the adaptor but am unable to munipulate it at all. It will only let me see the properties and/or uninstall. Computer management also does not have it listed as external storage or as a hardrive. It's listed as like a disk or something but, again, I can not open it or get the data off. PLEASE HELP!!!!
It was a plug and play. So, when I checked the status of the drivers etc it said that they were working properly.
I use a usb adapter and it works like a champ everytime (no drivers needed). Is there anyway that you can add a drive letter to the hard drive in computer management? that's what you need to do. Another thing you can try and do is a chkdsk or scandisk on that hard drive. If there is any file corruption it could be causing problems.
Yeah what was I thinking. Mine is the same. Did you try as jony218 says and do a disk check on it, using the properties tab in Computer Management. Or assign a drive letter to it, if one is not already.
100% sign of a completely dead hdd. Sometimes they will pop up "insert diskette in drive <whatever>" but if the drive isn't initialising in the first place it will not be there. Sometimes leaving them hanging about on a shelf for a few weeks will bring them back to life for a short time, but usually if they don't ID then they are gone for good.. Believe.. I have a box full heading for recycling which don't ID.. This doesn't make sense... Either it is there or it is not there.. Is it the drive which is detecting or the adapter? You need to plug the drive straight in to the motherboard port to do low level stuff like repairing the drive geometry (that's what I think has gone astray) or running manufacturers drive diagnostic tools. You will need a set of diagnostic tools on a bootable cd if the drive is stopping the hardware booting normally. I use UBCD.. but there are others about. They will allow you to probe the drive if it is actually powering, and possibly run some repair tools which may or may not manage to fix it. So to recap... Get a bootable diagnostic disk http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ Plug the drive straight into the motherboard and set to boot from cd While you are in the bios see if the drive is detecting as the right make/size etc Run the diagnostic tools by the relevant manufacturer If you seem to get some life try copying files using the dos prompt/command line copy command to another drive. If not either take it to a professional who may have some other ideas about how to trick it back into life.. or recycle it.
My quote basiclly meant that the computer recognized the adaptor but not the hard drive. I'll try your suggestion and let you know how it goes. Thanks, Imanni
I think what your saying is you can see the hdd in Computer Management but does not show up in "My computer" That usually is a sign of a drive thats not formated etc, but in your case probably the drive is damaged in structure. I had the same problem, and just connected the drive to my mobo, used the Windows Xp disk and booted up and used the Recovery console to do a Chkdsk /r on my hdd. It took awhile as it was 300GB I then did the fixboot on it. I was then able to view it using the usb hdd adaptor
sort of...in computer management I can find IDE/SATA adaptor...etc... but there is not a listing for an additional drive. Like, I thought that I would be able to see the C: of the computer I am trying to send the recovered data to and then another drive (like F: or G: or whatever)but I don't see that. I only see the the C: and the name of the adaptor. I also don't see the adaptor or the drive under My Computer. I am sorry ya'll I'm not very computer savvy. Anyway, I want to make sure that I am understanding your instructions... I am to connect my hdd to the mother board of the computer I want to save the recovered data to. Then, put the XP disk in and boot the computer from the disk. When I do that it'll ask me about the recovery console. Click yes (I guess) and do a scandisk to check my hdd. It should either fix the problem and let me recover the data or at least tell me what's wrong...right?
Yes when the Xp disk loads up you see the screen like this. There are some more pictures in this thread to give you an idea what you will see.
