I recently updated my computer system (new memory, graphics card, mobo, cpu, power supply). It broke and I was going to update the system anyway so I decided to just go all the way.

I currently have 4 internal hard drives (all SATA). They all work except for one. When one of them is connected to the power supply, the computer won't boot-the fans start for like .5 seconds then shut off completely. I've tried switching the cables with another HDD and when those same cables are plugged into a different HDD, it boots up fine. I'm pretty sure it's a problem with this specific hard drive.

Now, my question is, what's the best way to go about getting the data off of this broken hard drive? Should I try to purchase an enclosure and use it as an external? Have I probably lost all the data? It seems to me like it's a problem with the power connector so there should be some way to get the data off, but I'm not willing to spend the $1k or whatever to have a professional manually extract the data from it.

Any suggestions and pointed questions are greatly appreciated.

An in expensive enclosure will allow to access the data from a usb port on a different computer.

Forgot to mention make sure to get an sata enclosure as not all are compatible.

Here's a SATA drive enclosure on Amazon that will set you back a whopping $2.45. This is one of those items that your local big box store would love to sell you for $30.

It may not work for your situation, but I have just recovered a whole lot of lost files from a USB stick with a corrupted file system using a program called Wondershare Data Recovery, website at:

http://www.wondershare.net/ad/data-r...FYUKfAodrCfGhQ

The useful thing is that you can try the program free to see if it actually locates the files to recover, and only then do you need to purchase, plus the price seems very reasonable to me. I'm a hopeless non-techie and it worked fine; just click on the drive you want to check and it will analyse the files for you, then you select the ones you want to recover.

No connection with the company, just a satisfied customer.

If none of the above works, it is probably the circuit board. You can buy an identical drive and move the board to yours to recover the data.

I love that trick, been doing it with with old ata drives for years. Along with the freezer method.

As others have said, an external enclosure.

I think it unlikely that it will work, though--there is probably an electrical fault with the drive. It's probably on the circuit board--if you can find an EXACTLY identical drive (model # isn't good enough, you need the exact revision of the board as well) you can try swapping the boards.

Other than that it's a job for the pros.

Thanks to everyone for all the help so far. I got the external enclosure, but no dice.

In terms of finding a circuit board, how would I go about doing that? The model number of the drive is ST31000340AS, and I bought it at Newegg, but they don't sell it anymore. On the board it says the following: "100468979 J C906GJXY". Is that the board revision? Also, if I buy a new drive with that same board, can I use the board and get the data off the current drive, replace the board in the new drive, and use the new drive?

Trash the drive and restore from your backup

You should be able to put the board back on the drive you borrowed it from--of course with the warranty voided.

I don't know how to compare them other than to have the both in front of you and look at all the markings--the only thing that can differ is the serial #. I've never messed with hardware at this level so I can't help with the details.

There's a reason that sort of thing is for the pros.

No, these are not the board version numbers; most probably will be something like "ver 1.01b" or similar. Please note that the disk will work with a non-matching revision board BUT it is possible that it had to be re-formatted if used with a different board, so there is a possibility (not a certainty) that you will need the same revision board to access the data.

This drive (ST31000340AS) has been discontinued by Seagate, your best bet to buy one is through eBay:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=...40AS&_osacat=0

Try to find the board revision number and contact the sellers, asking for it specifically. As a last resort, if you're unable to find it, take a good picture of the board and contact the sellers, explain your situation and send them the picture. YMMV, but most sellers will be happy to help you.

(As for your follow-up question, after exchanging the board, if the disk is working - which will be a vindication of the hypothesis that it was a bad board -, you can just keep using the new ensemble; only this time making your backups)

Indeed. I have the active data. A backup of it. A backup of the backup. And a backup of the backup of the backup. These days with fireproof waterproof USB drives, banks on every corner with safe deposit boxes, and services like Carbonite no data should ever be lost.

My problem is I just don't have that kind of money or space. The really important documents and files are all backed up, but I have around 7-8 TB of data not including data in my backup drive (which is probably another 500GB).

I think I'm going to go with hdd-parts.com and just hope it's actually the board.

Ok forget one or more local fireproof waterproof USB drives. My safe deposit box is free as part of the bank account. But maybe a set of regular USB drives to store all of that data are also too pricey. But services such as Carbonite are; "Unlimited online backup � starting at $59/year per computer."