Hard Drive!

[308holes]

Im having HD problems the HD is a Wester Digital 20Gig i took it out to check to see if anoter disk was still working and put back in and not wont work . it show in the Device Manager that thier are no problems with it but it wont show in the My Computer and i cant access it at all! can someone help me fix this problem i need the Data on the HD ASAP

[DiGiTaIErRoR]

You plugged in the power, the ide cable, on the right ide bus, and set the jumper accordingly right?

[The Hobo]

When you took it out, did you store it properly, such as on styrofoam or in a box, or just leave it about on a desk? Did you make sure you discharged any static energy from your body before handling it? Were you standing on carpet while handling it?

It's very easy to fry things. When I worked as a tech guy and was building citrix machines, you wouldn't believe how many idiots constantly ruined hardware by doing little things.

[308holes]

Took it out for like 5 min so that shouldnt matter


Ya
Cable is connected
Power is on
jumper is on CS

[The Hobo]

Originally posted by 308holes
Took it out for like 5 min so that shouldnt matter

It takes a split second for the static energy to jump off your body and fry it.

[308holes]

True

[The Hobo]

If you have everything plugged in correctly and everything setup properly in bios, then my best guess is that it's fried.

[JPicasso]

wait a minute, before inciteing a heart attack,
lets take this step by step.


first of all, check your jumpers. Are they set to master/slave correctly?

second, on bootup, enter the bios and check to see if you can detect it at that point.

third, what changes were made while it was out?

fourth, why exactly did you remove the drive?



I once rendered a drive unreadable via a joystick port driver (thanks gravis). took a while to fix it, but I did.

Try booting to safe mode and see if you can see it with minimal drivers.

going home right now, but will be back tomorrow. good luck.

[The Hobo]

Originally posted by JPicasso
wait a minute, before inciteing a heart attack,
lets take this step by step.

Okay.

Originally posted by JPicasso
first of all, check your jumpers. Are they set to master/slave correctly?

He already said yes to this.

Originally posted by JPicasso
second, on bootup, enter the bios and check to see if you can detect it at that point.

I mentioned this.

Originally posted by JPicasso
third, what changes were made while it was out?

This has not been answered yet.

Originally posted by JPicasso
fourth, why exactly did you remove the drive?

He stated the answer to this already.

[JoshT]

WD has a Data Recovery Tools Floppy (you can download from their web site) that will run tests on the drive. If it fails them, its easy enough to send it back for warranty replacement if you have time on the warranty (and you bought it retail).

[JPicasso]

Hobo,

My point was that the first thing you don't do,
is assume everything is broken and there is no turning back.

The first thing you do, is figure out what changed.
And it doesn't hurt to double check a few things (like jumpers)
just to be sure. Even if you think you set the jumpers correctly, it's worth looking at them again, making sure you are not holding
the drive upsidedown or whatever.



308
Also, check your ribbon connection, make sure you didnt'
bend any of those wee pins.

I have, on one occasion, found it *slightly* bad if you spill orange juice
onto a disconnected hard drive. I'd imagine it'd be much worse
if you spill orange juice onto a harddrive while running connected
to the rest of the computer.

Anyway, 308, at this point you gotta get back to us.

Hope all is well.

[msimmons]

This is gonna sound stupid but I sweated for almost an hour once over this. Make sure that the power that is plugged into the hard drive is getting juice. What I mean is make sure it's not a 'piggy back' style like some fans use that is unplugged.

Originally posted by JPicasso
Anyway, 308, at this point you gotta get back to us.

maybe he fried his other hard drive and cannot get back online.

[JPicasso]

Or maybe, as was almost the case with me,
his wife killed him in a fit of rage because he almost
lost her entire research papers and articles for her
Master's degree because of forgetting
to back things up before going poking around.

I was able to put something into her drink before I told her,
and luckily was able to recover it all.... but it was dicey there for a while.