[SOLVED] HDD not detected anymore

albero10

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Jan 7, 2018
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Hello,
since few days my internal HDD (which is just few months old) is not detected anymore.
Is the only disk inside the computer, so no boot device are found and also in the bios is not detected. There are no suspicious noises, the disk seem to run as usual.
I have already tried to change the sata and supply cables.
I have also try to put it inside another computer as second disk and it is detected in the Windows disk manager but it ask me to
initialize it (as MBR or GPT) and I don't want to lose data.
Do you have any suggestion for try to recover the data?
Thank you!
 
Solution
"I have also try to put it inside another computer as second disk and it is detected in the Windows disk manager but it ask me to
initialize it (as MBR or GPT) and I don't want to lose data. "

It sounds like the drive is failing but since it is recognized by another system it sounds like an intermittent problem for now. I would certainly replace the drive as soon as possible.

As far as recovering the data I would recommend you install a program like DiskGenius or something similar and see if the files can be recovered. I have recovered files in a similar situation on my dads PC when the disk drive suddenly disappeared...it turned out to be a bad partition table was keeping the drive from being recognized but I was able to recover the...
since few days my internal HDD (which is just few months old) is not detected anymore.
What brand and model name? Is this the only HDD? What motherboard model?

and also in the bios is not detected.
? Can you rephrase, be precise on what you mean by "bios is not detected" ?

I have also try to put it inside another computer as second disk and it is detected in the Windows disk manager but it ask me to
initialize it (as MBR or GPT) and I don't want to lose data.
This can happens if for some reason the hdd disconnect suddenly while Windows are not finished writing to disk.

Do you have any suggestion for try to recover the data?
How important is those? Use the backup data.
 
Hi, thank you for answering. Please, be patient with my poor english 😊

What brand and model name? Is this the only HDD? What motherboard model?

The HDD is a Seagate Barracuda, the motherboard is a msi A78M-E35.
Yes, it was the only HDD inside the computer.

? Can you rephrase, be precise on what you mean by "bios is not detected" ?

This can happens if for some reason the hdd disconnect suddenly while Windows are not finished writing to disk.

I meant that the hard disk is not detected in the bios settings. There is a list with all the connected peripherals (e.g. the cd reader) and there is no hard disk.

How important is those? Use the backup data.

Sadly I don't have a recent backup 🙁
 
I know that data recovery is not something easy and that can be very expensive but I would like to know if there is something that I can try before give up.
Assumin it's in fact the HDD that is broken (as per now, it's a theoretical possibility that it's the mainboard/hdd controller that is defect, and you won't know until you test the hdd in another computer) then there is little you can do. Yes, there are possible ways that you may be able to retrieve some data, maybe by cooling down the hdd or replace the PCB on the hdd. But in general, whatever steps you take - it may also just lead to the hdd being even more damaged and thereby more expensive for a data recovery company to retrieve that data.

Hope you learned from this and see why backup are so important.
 
Assumin it's in fact the HDD that is broken (as per now, it's a theoretical possibility that it's the mainboard/hdd controller that is defect, and you won't know until you test the hdd in another computer) then there is little you can do. Yes, there are possible ways that you may be able to retrieve some data, maybe by cooling down the hdd or replace the PCB on the hdd. But in general, whatever steps you take - it may also just lead to the hdd being even more damaged and thereby more expensive for a data recovery company to retrieve that data.

Hope you learned from this and see why backup are so important.

I know that backup are important. My mum didn't 😆
I still didn't tested the HDD in another computer (I'll do it soon) but I tested this computer with an old hard disk and it is working. That's why I'm assuming that the HDD is broken.
Thank you for your suggestions
 
Assumin it's in fact the HDD that is broken (as per now, it's a theoretical possibility that it's the mainboard/hdd controller that is defect, and you won't know until you test the hdd in another computer) then there is little you can do. Yes, there are possible ways that you may be able to retrieve some data, maybe by cooling down the hdd or replace the PCB on the hdd. But in general, whatever steps you take - it may also just lead to the hdd being even more damaged and thereby more expensive for a data recovery company to retrieve that data.

Hope you learned from this and see why backup are so important.

Hi Grobe,
I have a question (that maybe is very stupid).
What if I buy a new hard disk (same model) and I replace the pcb of the old one with the newest?
Does this make sense?
Thanks
 
What if I buy a new hard disk (same model) and I replace the pcb of the old one with the newest?
There are 3 possible outcomes of this:
  • It works (because there was a PCB failure)
  • It doesn't work, because:
    • PCB are not compatible due to minor version/batch number or for some reason (speculation) if manufacturer have locked PCB ID against platter ID.
    • Your handling of the PCB from the new drive (very sensible to ESD).
In case of incompatibility, you run the risk of making more "damage" and making it harder (even more expensive) to get a professional data recovery company to get the files back.

That being said, I've seen very little sources on web on people having actually had any success with this method, and hence little to no data in order to guess the chance of this actually working.
 
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There are 3 possible outcomes of this:
  • It works (because there was a PCB failure)
  • It doesn't work, because:
    • PCB are not compatible due to minor version/batch number or for some reason (speculation) if manufacturer have locked PCB ID against platter ID.
    • Your handling of the PCB from the new drive (very sensible to ESD).
In case of incompatibility, you run the risk of making more "damage" and making it harder (even more expensive) to get a professional data recovery company to get the files back.

That being said, I've seen very little sources on web on people having actually had any success with this method, and hence little to no data in order to guess the chance of this actually working.

Ok, understood.
Thank you!!
 
"I have also try to put it inside another computer as second disk and it is detected in the Windows disk manager but it ask me to
initialize it (as MBR or GPT) and I don't want to lose data. "

It sounds like the drive is failing but since it is recognized by another system it sounds like an intermittent problem for now. I would certainly replace the drive as soon as possible.

As far as recovering the data I would recommend you install a program like DiskGenius or something similar and see if the files can be recovered. I have recovered files in a similar situation on my dads PC when the disk drive suddenly disappeared...it turned out to be a bad partition table was keeping the drive from being recognized but I was able to recover the files from it.
 
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Reactions: albero10
Solution
"I have also try to put it inside another computer as second disk and it is detected in the Windows disk manager but it ask me to
initialize it (as MBR or GPT) and I don't want to lose data. "

It sounds like the drive is failing but since it is recognized by another system it sounds like an intermittent problem for now. I would certainly replace the drive as soon as possible.

As far as recovering the data I would recommend you install a program like DiskGenius or something similar and see if the files can be recovered. I have recovered files in a similar situation on my dads PC when the disk drive suddenly disappeared...it turned out to be a bad partition table was keeping the drive from being recognized but I was able to recover the files from it.

Thanks.
That's also a good option.
I'll let you know