Travel Technology - Restoring data from dead laptop hard drive

I've got a Gateway laptop. The hard drive is dead. For a while it would spin up and work for 10-20 minutes, but at this point, it's not really working at all.

Is there any way to restore the data? I know there are some companies that will do it, but it seems like it's going to be expensive?

First, remove the hard drive and buy a 2.5" to 3.5" IDE adapter (runs about $5-10). Attach the drive to a dedicated IDE cable on your desktop computer and try to move all of the important data as quickly as possible.

As a last resort, I've been told that you can wrap the drive in a static bag and put in it in the freezer overnight. After that, it should run long enough to move any and all data that you need. BE WARNED! I've never tried this, and I've been told the drive will not start up again after it fails!

Good luck!

Why bother, just restore from your last backups :confused:

Note to self, run a set of backups tonight.

First, remove the hard drive and buy a 2.5" to 3.5" IDE adapter (runs about $5-10). Attach the drive to a dedicated IDE cable on your desktop computer and try to move all of the important data as quickly as possible.

I was thinking of something along these lines, but I wasn't sure whether I'd be able to hook it up or not. I'll give that a try.

As a last resort, I've been told that you can wrap the drive in a static bag and put in it in the freezer overnight. After that, it should run long enough to move any and all data that you need. BE WARNED! I've never tried this, and I've been told the drive will not start up again after it fails!

Good luck!

This is real advice? :confused:

Wow.

I have a similar problem. A large number of sectors in my original drive got corrupted and I've lost a fair amount of data. Can anyone suggest a good data recover software? I've looked thru a bunch of stuff at download.com, and many claim to be able to recover data in such situations.

Thanks in advance.

I guess you dont have a backup :(

First thing - think about what is really on there that you must have. Most of the recovery places charge in the hundreds of dollars to get the information off.

Try booting from a floppy. Then quick dump the files in DOS ( if this is windows box) to a USB drive or a CD

Dead hard drives receive a cold wake-up call. (http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/post44555.html) Again, this should be used as your last resort!

I'm not sure these interesting suggestions actually answer the original question, which started with the drive being dead.

I have a similar problem: my drive on an old PC, with lots of data I'd like to get at, won't spin up. I have been told that I could try disassembly and give it a spin myself. Thoughts?

I'm not sure these interesting suggestions actually answer the original question, which started with the drive being dead.

I have a similar problem: my drive on an old PC, with lots of data I'd like to get at, won't spin up. I have been told that I could try disassembly and give it a spin myself. Thoughts?

Well, the freezer trick should work, in theory, for a dead drive.

Disassembly sounds extremely risky. If you have the knowledge and equipment to extract the data off the platters, then go for it. From what I've been reading on data recovery websites, everything is done in a clean room.

Hmm.. thanks for the tip. I might give it a try.

Hmm.. thanks for the tip. I might give it a try.

But try using the IDE adapter first!

my drive won't spin up. I have been told that I could try disassembly and give it a spin myself. Thoughts?

Terrible advice. Dust particles, which are larger than the gap between the platters and the heads, will immediately crash the heads, gouging the media and making it hard to recover even by pros.

Your motor doesn't have the torque to overcome the bearings' static friction at startup: either your motor is dead, weak, or, most likely, the bearings are worn out/low on lubricant.

Assuming the hard drive parked/locked its heads at shutdown, a sharp impact on the motor might help overcome that static friction without causing the heads to bounce around gouging the platters... obviously, this is an emergency procedure! Retire that drive as soon as you can get the data off it.

Here's a technique I've used on standard sized IDE/SCSI drives:

If the problem is the electronics (not the motor) and you have access to another drive of the same model you can try swapping the PC boards. This has to be done VERY carefully.

As far as recovery software is concerned, I've used Easy Recovery Pro with a good deal of success.

I'd try the IDE adapter (as suggested above) first. If it seems to be a cooling problem try using a fan to cool it while it's spun up and attached to the adapter.