How to Recover a Dead Hard Disk

Your hard drive just stopped working. It never made any odd sounds like screeching, popping, or clicking, and it didn't crash. It just quit and it has some priceless data that isn't backed up to another device. This guide may help you troubleshoot and correct any problems related to your drive. (Alternatively, read up on how to recover data from the hard drive of a dead laptop.) Be sure to read all warnings before proceeding.

1

Inspect the outside of the hard drive for damage.

• Stop using your computer or external hard drive.
• Power down the computer or disconnect the external drive.
• Remove the hard drive from the computer or device.
• Examine it carefully for 'hot spots' or other damage on the external controller board.
• Check if there are broken parts.

1. 2
   Replace the cables. Plug the hard drive in with new cables (power and data connection) that you know works and try again. Note that an IDE drive will need a flat-ribbon cable.

1. 3
   If you have a PATA (IDE/EIDE) drive, switch drive pin settings.
• If it was “slave” or “cable select,” set it to “master.”
• Plug it in alone without any other device on that port and try again.

1. 4
   Try other IDs and/or another PCI controller and try again. If you don't have another controller, a PCI card that adds ports to your computer, just change the ID.

1. 5
   Plug it into an external drive adapter or external drive case (i.e. USB) if you have one.
   • If it does not spin up, try connecting it to another power source (include data connection as some drives don't spin up without). If on both it does not spin up, the fault is most likely related to the Printed Circuit Board.
2. 6
   Connect the drive into another computer and try again. If this works, it is possible that the motherboard is at fault and not your hard disk.