Contrary to what some people think about me in reality, I do NOT know ANYTHING about computers. Literally. All this new fangled technology blows my mind.

So I don't think it's very hard to understand why I'm having so much trouble with this...

My laptop (HP Pavillion, DV9000--discontinued apparently) recently kicked the bucket, under warranty--THANK GOD, and now I need to remove my files from my hard drive before I send it back to HP to be replaced. HP told us specifically to get a, "2.5 inch ATA or SATA enclosure" and that was it. They didn't even tell us which one we would need. SO! I did some guess work, looked at the connectors between the hard drive and some enclosures, and purchased an ATA enclosure first. Wrong. Second, purchased a 2.5in SATA enclosure, like they said. Wrong!

http://i36.tinypic.com/33de4yd.png

The two on the left are of my hard drive, which appears to be SATA powered and serial ATA--as it blatantly states on the hard drive itself. The enclosure ison the right, it was said to be 2.5", SATA powered, and ATA serial, but as you can see, is very small in comparison to my hard drive... and I have no idea why.

I've since messaged about six different people on Ebay about the enclosures they're selling, but have heard absolutely nothing back.

It's been going on for about FIVE WEEKS now, and I need to get this laptop sent in SOON. SO WTF. And I can't send it in without getting these files first, they're my lifeline.


I would love you THIS MUCH--only more--if you were able to help me with this. I'm going NUTS.
I broke down yesterday and almost had a conniption fit.


WHY! on earth does technology have to be so difficult.

What you're seeing on the back of the drive is just a proprietary HP connector, covering the actual SATA connector. This part pries off with a bit of a tug, and should connect just fine to your SATA enclosure.

I'll try this as soon as I get home! Thank you! So far everyone else I've asked hasn't said to do that, so that'll be FIRST THING. ♥ Thank you!

THANK YOU. It did work, but now I have another problem. The instructions on the enclosure tell me to format it, but the PC is telling me I'll lose all my information. :/ If that's so, it seems that buying an enclosure defeats the purpose of transferring files at all. If I format it, will I lose the info, or is there another way...?

This is from my boyfriend who is a micro soft certified systems engineer.
He said just put it all together and connect it to your pc. If you format it yes you will loose everything but whatever pc you plug it in to will be able to see what is there so you can remove it safely.

So the folder should be showing up items before I format it? Ack... this isn't good, I don't think. D:

Edit:

Okay, nvm xD I had the second HDD in the enclosure, so that's why it wasn't finding any files. But the first HDD, the one that has my files, isn't being recognized by the computer. It makes some clicking sounds and then it stops, and the PC never gives me a notice...

Clicking sounds from hard drives are never good. Make 100% sure the SATA connectors inside the enclosure are making good contact with the hard drive. If they are, then it's one of two things - either it's the hard drive itself that bit the dust, or the drive enclosure isn't drawing enough power to spin up the drive... but if it worked all right with the other hard drive, I'd lean more toward the drive being bad.

IF that's the case, all hope isn't lost. There's the unofficial, last ditch effort "freezer trick". What you do - and I'm dead serious about this - is take the drive and put it in a zip lock bag. Get all the air bubbles out of it - you want it as air tight as possible. Fold any excess portion of the ziplock bag over, maybe even put a few pieces of tape over it to make sure the drive is wrapped tightly. Put in the freezer for a few hours (or over night if you'll have time to work with this first thing in the morning). Take it out, get it out of the bag, and let it sit for about a half an hour at room temperature. Then, put it in your enclosure, and try firing it up. If it works, and the computer sees it, MOVE QUICKLY. It's on borrowed time, and it lasts maybe a couple hours at most before it dies for good. A half hour is more common, and sometimes 5-10 minutes is all you've got. So get the important stuff that you HAVE to have first.

The freezer trick is by no means a sure thing. I've done it several times over the years, and I've had about a 50/50 rate of it working at all, and when it does, a half hour is about all I've gotten out of it. But it's better than nothing.

The power should be fine, on both computers I could access the folder from the second drive, but I'm not from the primary drive.

This is the exact same sound it was making in the laptop, and HP thought it was the connection between the hard drive and computer that lead them to tell us to get the enclosure. I'm going to guess that it is actually the hard drive that's failed, but I have no idea why it would have. We thought it was a connection problem because the laptop has been bumped a bit (because it's so bulky it's kind of hard not to run into the wall with it...). Ack.

I will MOST DEFINITELY try this freezer trick. I'll put it in there tonight and try it first thing in the morning. I'm off on Fridays, so that's a good thing. I HOOOPPPEEEEEEE that it will work, and if it does, I will be eternally grateful! ♥

I actually just wound up leaving it in there for four hours... no luck though... Should I go longer, or is just a no go? Is there any other way? Anyone I could contact that might have professional tools or something to extract the data from the drive?

Sorry the freezer tip didn't work out for you. Most likely the drive is just toast. Sorry. There may be some professional services that could reconstruct some data from the drive at the cost of hundreds if not thousands of dollars but is that really worth it especially if it isn't guaranteed? I've personally never seen a hard drvie start clicking because of a bad connection to the computer. The clicking means there is a physical problem with the drive and it is having trouble searching. It is often caused by a physical jarring of the drive when in operation. A bad connection would just cause the drive to not be detected at all. If I were you I'd be mad at HP for having you spend money on an enclosure you didn't need when the problem should have been obvious.

This symptom is known as the "click of death". It is more known for ZIP drives but can happen to hard drives as well. More info here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Click_of_death
http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/data-...eath-hard-drive
Or by googling "click of death". Unfortunately it is still unlikely you will get anything from this drive.

Unless you know your local Forensic Computer expert very well you are probably out of luck.

If the drive won't spin up then it's more than likely toast.

Another thing I totally disagree with is how PC manufacturers want the bad hard drives back. If they are bad and the user can't delete files off them then they should remain the user's property.
I know that Dell has a 'keep my hard drive' option when you purchase a new pc that covers situations like that.

I've heard of professional data recovery services pulling data off drives that were actually damaged in a fire, so a simple issue of the heads not alligning (which is what causes the clicking) shouldn't be a problem. But, like frenat said, it's very costly - services like that are geared toward corporate entities that lost everything in a major disaster, along with backups (like a fire, flood, etc). But you're talking in the thousands of dollars range.

No, No no. Don't do the freezer trick -because it is not a trick at all. Hard drives with broken reader arms, that are not totally defunct yet, can still start up.

This is important Ebonykrow, if you put your hard drive in your freezer -You may damage the actual disk and be unable to ever recover anything. Freezing a hard disk causes the disk material to contract which can and will cause ruin the disk for good.

Now, the clicking sound comes from the reader arm preparing to read the hard disk in side the case. The arm has failed and thus the computer is unable to read the enclosed disk. You have two options.

Option 1

Disclaimer: Do not attempt this option unless you have experience working in clean situations with electronics. Do not attempt this option if there is something on the disk that is absolutely vital to your existence, if there is proceed to option 2.

If you already have a clean environment setup up, do it in there. If not you can build one. Mine sits in my garage hardly being used . The best way I have found to do it is to purchase PVC piping 1" diameter and the fittings to make a cube approximately 2'x2'. You then need to get a good strong plastic and cover the cube in it -Very tight. I would advise using at least 2 fans like those in a computer you can rig up to an old power supply to that they blow air out of your clean box (keeps dust etc out).

Next cut one of the flaps so that you can slide your hands underneath it and work in your clean environment. Before use, spray everything inside down with isopropyl alcohol. You will also need a good pair of powder-free nitrile gloves.

Now the fun part. Go to a computer resale store or ebay and purchase a similar drive to one you have lost. In your clean environment open both drives and flip-flop the hard drives. Be sure to never touch the face of the disk. Seal them back up, plug them in and you should be good to go. I would still transfer data to a back up drive at this point as the actual disk may not be operating under optimal conditions within the new enclosure.

Option 2
Don't be cheap and spring the money for a recovery service. While they are expensive, if you have vital data on the drive this is the safest method for recovery. They will do exactly what I have describe above, but in a professional clean room. Most services will rip the information to a new HD for you and you get back in the mail, your original HD in a new enclose and a new HD with all the information backed up.



Hope that helps

Edit: Here is a video on you tube of what that clicking noise is:
Clicking hard disk. The shiny disk there is the disk platter that stores your information. That is what you will need to put in a new enclosure. There was a very thorough walk through on PC mag a couple years back Ill see if I can find it for you.

Edit2: I could not find the PC mag article but there is a great video HERE

Ha, I was angry at HP long before now. When we first called them they said they would call us back about a test we'd run on the PC to see if it would detect the primary system. Never heard back from them. :/ When we called back we got a lady that tried to rip us off, and told us it would cost us mucho bucks to send the PC to them--when we already told it would cost nothing, and had the box they sent for us. And after that! We contacted a technician via internet chat at HP, and they were completely redundant, and apparently did not understand a word I was asking. I am NOT buying another computer from HP again. All of that was crap... Half of me wonders if they know what on earth they're doing at all.



I am CLEARLY not supposed to get this information back. There is absolutely nothing working in my favor. HP gives me the wrong answers and doesn't provide the right help, and many calls later still does not give us the right info, the freezer trick hasn't worked, and I may have just screwed it all up in doing so (though it honestly doesn't sound any worse than it already did), and this PC won't open youtube so I can actually hear what this thing sounds like or watch the video on the site.


I don't exactly have the option to create my own clean space... our house is pretty small, and rooms are very cramped and disorganized. We don't even have a garage. I appreciate the option though, I just wish I could give it a shot. I can't afford to send it anywhere, considering the site you posted (myharddiskdied.com) charges $600--which I imagine is cheap compared to some places. I may actually just have to say, "Screw it" and give up. ._____.



What great god have I pissed off more than normal?