Hard drive stuck on first spins

[JohnGeek]

I have a hard drive that I often use with a USB to SATA adapter and it worked perfectly until today. Now it gets stuck on the first spins: when I connect it, it makes a spinning noise, then it abruptly stops and starts making the same noise only to stop once again, repeating this process ad infinitum. Prior to this, it only made that noise a few time at the beginning and then it became more silent. Its partition won't show up in Windows Explorer, either. Does anyone know a possible fix or solution for this problem, or a way of getting the files inside it back?

 

[IDontUnderstand]

You can give this a shot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m5cil6KezI

 

[Someone Somewhere]

You can give this a shot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m5cil6KezI

Somehow that post got flagged as spam and deleted... filters are over-zealous.

It restarting is often a sign that the USB port isn't delivering enough current. Try a different port, or one on a desktop.

That's not stuck heads, by your description. Opening the lid is a very last ditch effort.

 

[Benevolence]

Do not open the lid unless you have a cleanroom environment. Even a single spec of dust can cause serious problems for the drive and even make data recovery impossible if the surface is damaged.

 

[JohnGeek]

Thanks for the responses.

You can give this a shot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m5cil6KezI

Somehow that post got flagged as spam and deleted... filters are over-zealous.

It restarting is often a sign that the USB port isn't delivering enough current. Try a different port, or one on a desktop.

That's not stuck heads, by your description. Opening the lid is a very last ditch effort.

Unfortunately, that's not it. A different adapter and port gives me the same result, whereas a different hard drive doesn't.

Also, an update: Now it makes a weird noise after each half-spin, as if it performed a different, slower spin. It never made that kind of noise before now. Then after a few spins, it becomes completely silent.

 

[IDontUnderstand]

It might be time for it to go back to the factory. RMA if it's still under warranty.
HDD is something that can't really be fixed, and easy to notice when it's failing. Noise is one of the most common symptom. Therefore, I would just RMA if under warranty.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Stick it in a desktop, run off its PSU.

 

[JohnGeek]

It might be time for it to go back to the factory. RMA if it's still under warranty.
HDD is something that can't really be fixed, and easy to notice when it's failing. Noise is one of the most common symptom. Therefore, I would just RMA if under warranty.

Sadly, its warranty expired some time ago. But all what I'm concerned about now is getting the data back if there's a way.

Stick it in a desktop, run off its PSU.

I just tried this and it made the same noises (maybe a bit louder) and caused the computer to hang on the BIOS.

 

[Benevolence]

From the posts above, it sounds like there is a mechanical problem with the drive.
Where are you located near? If you can ship the drive I know a small business in Fort Collins CO called Edge that has a cleanroom bench and some impressive tools for hard drive recovery. They're usually a lot cheaper than large-scale facilities like DataTech since it's a mom and pop shop, and I am a big fan of Sam from working with him in the past.
If there's a local place that does it, that might be the better option if you're iffy on shipping your hard drive. Also know that you will have to purchase a replacement drive for them to recover your data to.
Data recovery is EXPENSIVE, so estimate the personal/sentimental value on your data before you call these places.
http://www.edgecomputerrepair.com/
http://www.datatechlab.com/

 

[JohnGeek]

From the posts above, it sounds like there is a mechanical problem with the drive.
Where are you located near? If you can ship the drive I know a small business in Fort Collins CO called Edge that has a cleanroom bench and some impressive tools for hard drive recovery. They're usually a lot cheaper than large-scale facilities like DataTech since it's a mom and pop shop, and I am a big fan of Sam from working with him in the past.
If there's a local place that does it, that might be the better option if you're iffy on shipping your hard drive. Also know that you will have to purchase a replacement drive for them to recover your data to.
Data recovery is EXPENSIVE, so estimate the personal/sentimental value on your data before you call these places.
http://www.edgecomputerrepair.com/
http://www.datatechlab.com/

Thank you. However, the data isn't important enough to warrant paying thousands of dollars, as most of it had been backed up. But some of it wasn't, so I would like to know if there's anything I could do to attempt get it back without spending a lot of money? Any way of reviving the hard drive long enough to access it? For instance, would you gentlemen recommend me to try any these suggestions:
http://www.hirensbootcd.org/200-ways-to-revive-a-hard-drive/

 

[IDontUnderstand]

I mean people have their tricks here and there, it works for some, not for the others. Go for it if there's nothing else legitimate to be done about the drive.