[SOLVED] Corrupt HDD

[leading-man]

Hello,

I was using my computer and it started slowing down then became almost entirely unresponsive so I shut down.

Now the HDD is corrupted. I boot from an SSD but my HDD had almost every single file on it. If I boot with the HDD connected my system becomes incredibly slow, but ofc it I don’t have the HDD connected I can’t check its health/status.

I’m lost as to what to do, I’d really like to recover the data on this HDD...

 

[rocktalkrock]

If the data is very important you could try buying SpinRite software in an attempt to recover your files.

 

[leading-man]

Hello,

Thanks for the reply, how would I go about doing that? If I have the faulty HDD connected when I boot up the system is incredibly slow and almost any application fails to load.

Are you able to suggest a way in which I can access/analyse/repair etc. the drive without having it connected when I boot up? Is there a way for me to connect it after I boot?

Otherwise my system is too slow to do anything of much use.

 

[Karadjgne]

If your bios allows, you can set it to hot-plug/hot-swap the Sata connectors. You'd plug power into the hdd, but not the data cord, boot up as normal then plug in the data. Windows will read it like a USB stick inserted.

Of course that all depends on exactly what the issue is with the hdd, if the controller board is bunk, if the drive itself is mechanically bunk, it'll still be bunk overall, there's no way of telling if it's a physical failure or not, but it sounds like the drive is toast, not so much the data.

 

[USAFRet]

Hello,

Thanks for the reply, how would I go about doing that? If I have the faulty HDD connected when I boot up the system is incredibly slow and almost any application fails to load.

Are you able to suggest a way in which I can access/analyse/repair etc. the drive without having it connected when I boot up? Is there a way for me to connect it after I boot?

Otherwise my system is too slow to do anything of much use.

A USB dock is perfect for this.
https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Docking-Station-Support/dp/B0099TX7O