Hi,
Recently my hardrive isn't showing on the computer...It boots up and spins, but it doesn't show up on my computer/even in the device manager. There's no clicking noises or anything, it sounds exactly the same as when it worked. I've been using this drive for backup of my data and connecting it to my computer using a sata to usb connector.
So any ideas how I can fix it..? Thanks! =)
Assume you've tried the usual things - different USB port, cable ? Is the USB its only source of power - is there a power brick you can add ?
Have you considered replacing the enclosure? I had an old IDE drive that I put into an enclosure and connected it to my computer via USB. It worked fine for a while, but then it began to fail intermittently. Changing the enclosure solved the problem, as it was the IDE/USB interface that had failed. It might be that the SATA/USB interface in your enclosure has failed.
I recently bought a new sata to usb, and it isn't showing up using that kit either, and I tryed all ports on my computer too...I also brought it to a computer sales tech? It didn't show up on the computer either, but using the same kit he was using, another hardrive did. He also said that the hardrive sounds fine, and it sounds like its reading and everything, so it might be that the circuit board randomly stopped working? He also said that if I could get another circuit board on it , it should work again...But then I googled this? And some people were saying this might not work because each hardrive has its own 'fingerprint.'
Dwarf: Have you considered replacing the enclosure?
Well, I bought a new kit if that counts? It didnt come with an enclosure, maybe switching to an enclosure might work..? I'm not sure.
Both the hardrive & circuit board look & sound fine though ( the same as I bought it? )...So I'm not sure what the problem is...or how to fix it...
It is perfectly possible that the on-board electronics have failed on the drive. The data on the drive can still be accessed if you replace this board with one from a known good matching drive - indeed, this is a method that data recovery specialists sometimes use.
Do you have another SATA drive that you can use to test your kit with?
...I don't, unless I can take out my laptop's hardrive & plug it into my friends computer..? Or his PS3 hardrive, I can test my new kit with that..?
Do you know what I'd have to do to change the circuit board..? Or what circuit board is the best choice for my 500GB Western Digital WD5000AAKS? Probably the same make/model hardrive right..? Also, the computer shop that I bought it from programmed it themselves when I bought it...could this have to do with anything?
Exactly what did they program? Do you mean the shop put the hardware together, then installed Windows and the drivers and whatever software came on the PC?
What external USB hard drive enclosure do you have?
I'm not sure what they programmed, I guess they programmed it to get it ready to be used? And it was a blank hardrive then, no installation of windows/drivers ever touched it, it was only used as a backup hardrive for my data that I later put on it when I got home. I also don't have a hardrive enclosure for it, I just always stored my hardrive carefully, & used a kit that connects it to the computer ( Multi-Interface Conversion cable kit for Sata & IDE to USB 2.0 ) Kind of like this one http://tinyurl.com/7jw2sx2
Pop the cover on your desktop and plug in the WD5000AAKS then check your BIOS. Boot and see if it shows up in device mangler/Windows Explorer. If so, look to the external interface. If not, check the BIOS (again) and Windows settings then suspect the drive itself.
Regards,
GEWB
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