BIOS cannot detect hard disk

Status
Not open for further replies.

shockwave

Posts: 19   +0
Correct title (mods pls fix if possible): BIOS/PC Doesn't detects hard disk

Hi all,

I have a seagate 160gb hdd .. 2 years old.. was working perfectly fine till an hour ago.

I suddenly thought my computer was slow .. kinda laggy.. and i also started to hear some voice (weird voice .. like tak-tak-tak .. as if some thing was knocking on one of the components) from inside my cabinet.

So i switched off my comp ..

I restarted .. the sound again came .. very loud and apparent.

I then realised that at the first screen, one of my hard disk (160 gb seagate) was not detected.

I then took it out (of the cabinet) .. this time i made the hdd stand on the floor, attached the power and ide cable .. turned on the comp .. and NOW i realized the sound was coming from this hdd itself. The sound goes like something spinning inside the hdd .. then it would stop .. then again spins .. then again stops .. then again spins, and so on. This (spinning) sound would also continue even when i turn off the comp (although it then gradually decreases and then goes off, and no i'm not talking about the sound fans make). I'm sure i never heard such sound from my hdd.

Nevertheless .. i kept my comp off for like 30 mins .. and then i re-tested it .. and the hard disk still wouldn't detect.

I tested it on my brother's comp .. and it won't work there too.

I then tried to put it as master (jumper) .. but then it would just stick on the first screen (without detecting the drive), and it wouldn't even let me enter the BIOS.. and once again if i remove the jumper.. it doesn't detects the hdd (although now i am able to enter bios).

This is the first time in my life i'm having a feeling that my hard disk has completely died. Which means i have nothing but to cry for all the precious data which was stored in it.

PLEASE help me. Is there ANY solution to this? Do i have to take this dead drive to data recovery center? Is there any workaround for this? (without of course affecting my warranty).

Is my drive even dead or it's just my guess?

My comp config:

p4 2.4
msi pm8m-v
win xp pro running on 200 gb segate hdd (currenly i'm on)
1 gb ram
160gb hdd --> the faulty one

Please help me.

Thanks a lot in advance

Regards
 
Sorry, but your drive is dead.:(

Other than spending a lot of money on data recovery, I don`t think there`s much you can do.

Now you know why backups are so important. The only thing certain about a hard drive, is that sooner or later it will fail.

Regards Howard :)
 
your hd has died. Your noise is a classic symptom of a failed hd. You have a hardware failure. There is no recovery. Most hds are warrantied for 5 years. I hope you have a receipt.
 
Damn. @Tedster .. what do you mean by "there is no recovery" ? you mean even the data cannot be recovered? (by data recovery companies?)

It's all my fault. I should've had backed up the data. :/
 
try using spinrite v6.0. it can be found inside HIRENS BOOT CD. then you'll be able to see what is really going on in your HD. another method is to reset your HD. i don't have any idea about how to reset, but i've seen one of my friends resetting it when his HD make some noise like yours..

WARNING! do not immediately reset you HD. try to recover first your files, because doing so is a risky task... maybe this will be your last option...
 
regret always come later, but lessons are learnt.

As per adviced above from howard, there is a chance to recover them, but do weigh up whether it is that important to you spending (nearly and above a grand in most cases) that amount of money towards recovery or whether to suck it up and go on. There are homebrew methods of data recovery on the net, but most if not all depend on luck, but those done by data companies have methods and technology to do so, hence why the expense.

Seagate has a 5 year warranty on their hdds, but from what i remember, if you book a replacement drive from their website, they just read your serial number to determine the warranty condition (at least thats what i've done before, but thats been a long time..)
 
Thanks a lot friends.

I think i'll take some time to think about recovering. If i do go with it, i'll let you know about the damage (costs) : P.

Thanks again for all the replies :)

One more thing, if i decide to send it to data recovery center (not the seagate one .. they are way too expensive) will it void my hdd's warranty? I.e: will i be able to get the hdd replaced with a new one _after_ i get my data recovered?
 
I don't see why not. As long as the sticker on the HDD is not removed you should be fine.

Please note: Rather than making a new post when there are no other replies in between, use the edit button.

Thanks.

Regards Jase :)
 
shockwave said:
One more thing, if i decide to send it to data recovery center (not the seagate one .. they are way too expensive) will it void my hdd's warranty? I.e: will i be able to get the hdd replaced with a new one _after_ i get my data recovered?

I`m not too sure about that to be honest. Contact your drive manufacturers and ask them, then you`ll know for sure.

Regards Howard :)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back