Hard Drive Failure

djcyph · Dec 1, 2011

Ok so last night I hit space bar to preview a pdf file...i scroll down and get the pinwheel...was able to control tab but do nothing in any application..hit power button and shut down...first time ever having a freeze

started up and got the Blinking Question Mark Folder....put OS X disk in. loaded disk utility and the drive did not appear....took back off, took cables off and then back on and same thing...

went to work and have a internal hhd enclosure...showing nothing either...im not sure if the enclosure even works anymore so im going to head to apple later and have them see if the drive is dead

how can i tell if it is a mechanical problem or just dead drive? ive read that i can recover if its not mechanical myself

if it is mechanical is there anyway for me to do it? or do i have to send it out? any estimate on cost? thanks

TucsonAZ · Dec 1, 2011

djcyph said: ↑

Ok so last night I hit space bar to preview a pdf file...i scroll down and get the pinwheel...was able to control tab but do nothing in any application..hit power button and shut down...first time ever having a freeze

started up and got the Blinking Question Mark Folder....put OS X disk in. loaded disk utility and the drive did not appear....took back off, took cables off and then back on and same thing...

went to work and have a internal hhd enclosure...showing nothing either...im not sure if the enclosure even works anymore so im going to head to apple later and have them see if the drive is dead

how can i tell if it is a mechanical problem or just dead drive? ive read that i can recover if its not mechanical myself

if it is mechanical is there anyway for me to do it? or do i have to send it out? any estimate on cost? thanks
Click to expand...

You're talking about your lost data recovery? I have heard putting the HD in the freezer can buy you a little time, that may work with it in the external case. Otherwise you would have to send it out and that's costly. I love my Mac Pro for that reason, even with mirrored RAID drives I still backup every couple months on an external drive.

Good luck, I've learned this lesson already the hard way myself, I still have the HD just in case one day recovery costs come down or I have more money.

GoldenAge · Dec 1, 2011

I completely understand because the exact same thing happened to me yesterday, the spinning wheel, the force quit, the file with the question mark.
From my research you can touble shoot a little based on the sounds or lack of sound you heard when you turned it on and got the file/? sign. I also found out that you can continue to do damage if you turn it on and off so try to recall rather than check...
Now the freezing thing is supposed to tighten up the mechanical parts and it looks like you can get 20 more min with your drive. I am in the process of deciding what to do too.
Best Buy said for $89 they can extract the data which is much cheaper than any other place I checked but I'm with you I would rather do it myself if possible...
Hope everything works out for you!

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I kid you not, my drive is sitting on the table next to me in a freezer bag...

djcyph · Dec 2, 2011

GoldenAge said: ↑

I completely understand because the exact same thing happened to me yesterday, the spinning wheel, the force quit, the file with the question mark.
From my research you can touble shoot a little based on the sounds or lack of sound you heard when you turned it on and got the file/? sign. I also found out that you can continue to do damage if you turn it on and off so try to recall rather than check...
Now the freezing thing is supposed to tighten up the mechanical parts and it looks like you can get 20 more min with your drive. I am in the process of deciding what to do too.
Best Buy said for $89 they can extract the data which is much cheaper than any other place I checked but I'm with you I would rather do it myself if possible...
Hope everything works out for you!

----------

I kid you not, my drive is sitting on the table next to me in a freezer bag...
Click to expand...

i dont hear the drive spinning at all...im guessing this is a sign of mechanical failure but im still not positive

are u saying even with mechanical failure try freezer thing?

did u already take the drive to best buy and have them diagnosis if its recoverable or did they just quote u what data recovery is?

anyone know how i can def diagnosis if it is mechanical or logical?? if its logical ill just d/l the recovery software the all the stores use...if mechanical def not sending it out as ive been told its 1,200

other option is B&H in the city will try recover data..if they do its 70 bucks if not 20...

thanks guys

GoldenAge · Dec 2, 2011

Hi,

Yeah I just phoned Best Buy and they said $89 to transfer my stuff over, up to 10G.
I still haven't made any moves, HD still sitting in the freezer bag. My drive was spinning...I'm not a computer person so I'm just going on things I've read after googling all this, but I'm thinking that the freezing would help only if it is a mechanical issue as it physically contracts the parts...
I think I am going to go get an enclosure see what happens for me because I think that may be all they will do at Best Buy anyway.
It does sound like we have different types of failures, hope you get everything, good luck!

Eddyisgreat · Dec 2, 2011

Try diskwarrior. It's saved many of my drives and a few others as well, as long as it isn't mechanical failure.

Hard Drive Failure

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