@#$)*&)@& HDD failure

[Tandyman100]

Okay, my 40GB bit it last night from a head crash. Smelt like bacon. No prob, I'll use my dads 110GB. No dice, botched controller.

I think the 80GB in my main system (PIII/1000 that is hopefully getting upgraded to a dual-core soon) is also failing, as it is sporadically not recognized by the BIOS, and then is iffy just getting into windows.

Since my 110 and 40GB drives are gone, I have NO WAY to get the past 8+ months of work off of it. Is there some sort of program that will diagnose my machine and tell me what is wrong with it? I've already ran memtest86+ twice, just to be sure.

 

[CBrooks]

I've had good luck with getting files off of a bad/crashed hard drive with Zero Assumption Recovery

I've never used a diagnosing program but instead have tried to rule each part out as the problem.. For example switching a power supply to see if the problem continues..

 

[aPanzerIV]

try slamming it 2 inches, then re plug it in, GET OYUR FILES OFF FAST, then throw it in the trash, because the lubricant in the berings is probably freezing up...

 

[Atomic Rooster]

Wow, I would never "slam" a hard drive to try to recover files. If anything, you can use the freezer trick to see if you can recover files off a bad drive. You place the drive in a zip lock bag in the freezer for a few hours or even overnight. Then connect it to the system and quickly recover any needed files.

Most hard drive manufactures have a diagnostic utility on their site that fully test the drive.