Retriving data on old drive

[roehrle]

My HD would not boot and because of it age I decided to buy a new computer. I wasn't as faithful in backing up my drive and there is data that I think I can get off the drive by hooking it up as a slave on the new computer. Before I try that I was wondering if it is possible to get a plug that would fit in the HD and then have a USB on the other end. If possible I would like to put off opening up the new computer if I can find another way to get the data of the old drive.

 

[kronwhon]

USB IDE Adapter, Converter, SATA

I've never tried this, and can't guarantee its success, but seems like what you're looking for.

I just googled "IDE to USB" and got lots of hits

Obviously if your HDD is SATA you will need SATA to USB

 

[reghakr]

Hook it up as a slave.

You should have an IDE cable available

 

[richc46]

My HD would not boot and because of it age I decided to buy a new computer. I wasn't as faithful in backing up my drive and there is data that I think I can get off the drive by hooking it up as a slave on the new computer. Before I try that I was wondering if it is possible to get a plug that would fit in the HD and then have a USB on the other end. If possible I would like to put off opening up the new computer if I can find another way to get the data of the old drive.

As a last resort, dont laugh, put it in the freezer over night and then try it. As I said, when everything else is tried, this is last resort.

 

[Urbwolf]

\you can get this and keep it as a external you can move around, A little cleaner and safer then having it exposed. Newegg.com - Eagle Consus T-Series ET-CSTU2-BK 3.5" USB2.0 to IDE External Enclosure - External Enclosures

 

[roehrle]

\you can get this and keep it as a external you can move around, A little cleaner and safer then having it exposed. Newegg.com - Eagle Consus T-Series ET-CSTU2-BK 3.5" USB2.0 to IDE External Enclosure - External Enclosures

Hi Urbwolf
Took your advice and ordered the enclosure.. A little more money than the IDE-USB plug but more convenient. Just hope now I can retrieve my old data

 

[roehrle]

I got the Eagle consus today and installed my old drive in it. When I had everything installed and turned on the box the computer was not able to recognize the old drive.
They mention that the unit works for everything up to Vista but don't mention Win 7. I am assuming this may be because the literature was printed before Win 7 ?? Could this be because the boot up wasn't working when it was in the old computer ??
Any suggestions on that I should try next ??

 

[Urbwolf]

Windows 7 should see it as a external HD, You just plug it in after 7 boots up. You should just see another drive letter on your computer

 

[roehrle]

Do you have the Eagle or just know someone that does ?? I only tried one cold boot-up so may be i'll try a couple more. 7 ????

 

[johnhoh]

I am assuming this may be because the literature was printed before Win 7 ??

agreed

Could this be because the boot up wasn't working when it was in the old computer ??

yes

Any suggestions on that I should try next ??

open computer and try using an ide cable and molex power plug with the hard drive

 

[Orpheous]

As a last resort, dont laugh, put it in the freezer over night and then try it. As I said, when everything else is tried, this is last resort.

Believe it or not, this does sometimes work on drives with hardware faults. If you're going to try this, make sure that you completely seal the drive ie. inside an anti static bag, inside a zip lock bag, inside a freezer bag inside another zip lock bag.
Sounds over the top, but you DO NOT want moisture in there at all!

Before you get to that extreme though, as johnhoh suggested, try the drive connected to an 80 pin ide cable (not 40 pin CD/DVD drive cable) and molex power connector.
If that doesn't work, try it in another external hard drive case (IDE to USB)
Then try it with a different IDE to USB adaptor. Ask any tech friends if they have an IDE drive caddy in their computer and if they'd be willing to help.

2 things cause harddrives to fail: circuitry and moving parts
and this is where it gets a little tricky...
The next thing I would look into is trying to find another hard drive that is the same brand, same model, same revision, and as close to the same batch date as the drive you have. If you do manage to find one, it's not that hard to swap the circuit boards over with a basic selection of small torx drivers.

Failing that, you really need to ask yourself how much that information is worth to you. Data Recovery experts can rebuild the insides of your drive, but they generally charge like a wounded bull, something like AUD$1200+ over here. Thats because it must be done in a dust free lab environment.
This last option is usually where I'd try the freezer trick

 

[patio]

An Eagle Contus works on all flavors of Windows...i have 2 of them.

 

[reghakr]

Does it have the "click of death"?

If the drive letter does not show up, you're basically hosed,.

You could use imagimg software, but the driver letter has to show up to image it.