Turn, Maxtor, Turn!

2007-06-16 05:28:17

#1

Vub: The Power of Two; +188|6512|Sydney, Australia

One day, my old computer stopped working. It was so abrupt. I'd used it the previous night, but this day when I went to turn it on, the monitor came up, the computer started, but then it told me it couldn't detect a primary disk. Since, I've opened up the case a few times and concluded that it was the Maxtor harddrive which had stopped turning/working (I'm not sure which). I've tried replacing the cables with the CD-ROM drive one, but still it doesn't start.

There were a few cool things on the harddrive which I have now lost, even though most of the school work I had I managed to backup before the harddrive went on strike. Is there a way to get the thing to start working again? What do you guys think the problem is? Note, I am not exactly sure that it's the harddrive not turning. It might be a connection or something.

Last edited by Vub (2007-06-16 05:29:27)

2007-06-16 05:31:19

#2

krazed: Admiral of the Bathtub; +619|6798|Great Brown North

how old was it?

2007-06-16 05:36:55

#3

Vub: The Power of Two; +188|6512|Sydney, Australia

About 4-5 years old, internal harddrive.

Last edited by Vub (2007-06-16 05:37:12)

2007-06-16 06:06:21

#4

jsnipy: ...; +3,276|6540|...

I don't usually knock brands, nor o I have many hardware failures .. but Maxtor drives are junk. I have had 3 of them die on me. Thats ashame that had to happen to you.

Last edited by jsnipy (2007-06-16 06:06:47)

2007-06-16 07:04:41

#5

Vub: The Power of Two; +188|6512|Sydney, Australia

Can you retrieve what was on the drive once it's broken down?

2007-06-16 07:11:56

#6

TheEternalPessimist: Wibble; +412|6638|Mhz

Get a new hard drive stick windows on it and put your current nackered one is as a slave, see if you can get something from it, it works more often than not. Apart from that it's basically just data recovery services and they cost a fortune.

2007-06-16 07:24:48

#7

Scorpion0x17: can detect anyone's visible post count...; +691|6784|Cambridge (UK)

Yeah, from the sound of it, the only way you're probably going to retrieve anything off it is by paying a data recovery company lots of money.

However, as TheEternalPessimist says - you might get it running just long enough to copy data off by installing it as a slave drive in another machine.

And like the eminent Mr Snipy, I too don't normally knock brands, but Maxtor are shite, but I also have had a couple of Maxtor drives just give up and die like this.

One thing I found that helped with one said dead Maxtor drive was to package it up in an anti-static bag, put it away in a cardboard box, and forget about it for a while - I dug it back out recently and was able to easily and safely retrieve all the lovely data I thought I had lost.

(now, of course, that just means I'm in even more need to get more HDD space...)

2007-06-16 20:29:26

#8

Vub: The Power of Two; +188|6512|Sydney, Australia

Cool, thanks for the replies.

2007-06-26 04:58:15

#9

occamsrezr: Member; +7|6733

Sorry to bring this one back from the dead, but try the freezer trick on the HD.

Put it in a plastic bag and put it in your freezer for 20 minutes or so, pop it out and put it in the comp real quick and boot it up. You might get a few minutes out of it to work.

No one knows why it works, but it does sometimes.

Btw, I like Maxtor, I've never had a problem with them.

2007-06-26 05:01:27

#10

cospengle: Member; +140|6505|Armidale, NSW, Australia

jsnipy wrote:
I don't usually knock brands, nor o I have many hardware failures .. but Maxtor drives are junk. I have had 3 of them die on me. Thats ashame that had to happen to you.

lol Me too. Three times' the charm... I know I'll never use a Maxtor drive again.

2007-06-26 19:25:32

#11

Scorpion0x17: can detect anyone's visible post count...; +691|6784|Cambridge (UK)

occamsrezr wrote:
Sorry to bring this one back from the dead, but try the freezer trick on the HD.

Put it in a plastic bag and put it in your freezer for 20 minutes or so, pop it out and put it in the comp real quick and boot it up. You might get a few minutes out of it to work.

And, ideally, use an anti-static bag - like the ones HDDs come in.

BF2S Forums Turn, Maxtor, Turn!

jsnipy wrote:

occamsrezr wrote:

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