[X] My Assistant

[tedstryk]

Yes, it happened again. The good news is that, after the bitter experience of the crash at the end of 2005, I had plenty of backups. The drive that crashed was the drive that I use to store HST data. There were only a few of my own projects stored on it, and I have recovered most of them (I got it to limp along for a little while). So this crash is more of an annoyance (especially given that obtaining HST data is time-consuming). Any tips on getting an external hard drive working? For the record , it was my own stupid fault. I was cleaning the area I keep it and pushed it up against a file cabinet to get it out of the way. Then I moved some other stuff in front of it. What that did was block all its vents, and it overheated.

[djellison]

If you're desperate - you can swop the outside circuitry with an identical model piece of kit. If you're REALLY desperate, you can swop the platters into an identical drive that works. If you're a millionaire, you can give it to a data recovery team The first two have both worked to some degree for me in the past.

Chances are - if it's a SATA drive, you can just open up the enclosure and drop the disk into your machine and have it work.

[Greg Hullender]

If it's a true disk crash, though, then nothing can be done. If it's just that the motor is burned out, then you've got a chance. Did it make a horrible grinding noise before it died? And did it have a period in which is was very very slow?

--Greg

[tedstryk]

If it's a true disk crash, though, then nothing can be done. If it's just that the motor is burned out, then you've got a chance. Did it make a horrible grinding noise before it died? And did it have a period in which is was very very slow?

--Greg

No, it just quietly went off (I heard the little sound windows makes when a USB device is disconnected). I clicked on "My Computer" and noticed drive G was the thing that was missing, so I reached down for it and saw how it was positioned. I reached for it, but it was too hot to touch, so I just unplugged it. For the next few hours, it would work for three or four minutes, then becomes unresponsive and the computer reacts like it was unplugged, although the power light is still on. The longer I left it off, the longer it worked.

[Greg Hullender]

No, it just quietly went off (I heard the little sound windows makes when a USB device is disconnected). I clicked on "My Computer" and noticed drive G was the thing that was missing, so I reached down for it and saw how it was positioned. I reached for it, but it was too hot to touch, so I just unplugged it. For the next few hours, it would work for three or four minutes, then becomes unresponsive and the computer reacts like it was unplugged, although the power light is still on. The longer I left it off, the longer it worked.

If I really valued the data, I wouldn't turn the drive on again; I'd have a pro move the disk into another enclosure.

However, if you have more courage than cash, :-) here is an option to consider. Fill a bag with a mix of crushed ice and water -- something 100% water proof so it absolutely won't leak. Put that on the device and then, quickly as you can, copy all the data from it.

Oh I'd keep a fire extinguisher handy too. (That's not a joke.)

--Greg

[hendric]

Fill a bag with a mix of crushed ice and water -- something 100% water proof so it absolutely won't leak. Put that on the device and then, quickly as you can, copy all the data from it.

There's a recipe for disaster. If you do go down that path, I recommend placing the bag+device inside of an airtight container of some sort. Otherwise, you'll get condensation running down the outside of your bag and into your drive. (*)

I'm glad you have a "disaster recovery plan" and it's working for you. Many people, companies even, don't implement or test them sufficiently. Alaska had a plan, but never actually tested recovering data from their backup tapes, and only found out the hard way that their procedure was broken.

(*) Voice of experience on this!

[tedstryk]

I still am limping the drive along. If I can keep this up for a few more gigabytes, I will have everything of importance off of that drive.