maxtor external hard drive dropped

[mystreetgang]

Hi, I have a 500gb Maxtor external harddrive, i accidently dropped it down my stairs and whilst it powers up, there sounds like there is something loose inside and my Windows XP fails to recognise it when i plug in the USB cable.

What are my solutions, i have a lot of films and music on there so really want to be able to fix it.

I am willing to buy a new Maxtor unit, take out the harddrive and replace it with my old one from the "broken" unit. is that possible?

I had a look last night and couldnt see how you get into the inside of the Maxtor.

Thanks for any help you can give.

Scott.

[Ponch]

i accidently dropped it down my stairs and whilst it powers up, there sounds like there is something loose inside

Sorry to disapoint you but this says it all. Your drive is dead. Hard drives don't like to be dropped down stairs. A bit like birthday cakes. If you hear lose parts only when the drive spins up, it's internal to the drive itself and there is absolutely no cure for it. Unless you are ready to pay thousands of dollars for a recoveryby a specialized company.

[mystreetgang]

Thanks Ponch, that is disappointing as there were 1000s of songs on there.

No way to take the hard disc out and put into another machine ?

[DJ MyRinX]

It's an external drive.

So it could be just the case which is broken.

Have you tried to remove the HDD from the case?

When you do remove it, you could connect it to an other pc.

First try to find out if the HDD really has got loose parts inside. ( shake it a bit GENTLY)

If the it does have loose parts in side your probably F*^d , but you could still try to recover files, connecting it to an other pc.

Good Luck.

Edit: Answer is yes you could...

While i was typing this post you came up with a possible solution your self.

Edited January 26, 2009 by DJ MyRinX

[jaclaz]

Hard drives don't like to be dropped down stairs.

Just for the record, they don't appreciate bungee jumping as well....

Now, seriously.

It is very possible, though indeed rather costly, to recover the data on the drive, at least partially, through the services of a professional data recovery firm.

What they can do is to open the actual hard drive and replace parts in it.

The procedure can also be attempted as a DIY job, but requires a number of tools and experience that, from the kind of question you asked, you appear NOT to have right now.

Basically you need to find a working drive IDENTICAL to the failed one, disassemble BOTH in a "protected environment" then "transplant" some parts from the working one to the failed one, from the description of the problem most probably the heads and head arm needs to be replaced.

jaclaz

[ner]

Let us know what the Maxtor model is, as i have done a few drive rescues myself...

[mystreetgang]

Hi DJ MyRinX,

it is an External drive, i looked at it last night but couldnt see how to remove from the casing as it looked like a sealed unit. I took out 2 screws but couldnt seem to slide it out.

I think the loose bit is inside, my hope is that the drive is ok and its either the part that connects to the USB or something else other than the drive that has loosened.

When you say "When you do remove it, you could connect it to an other pc"; what would be the best way to do that ? buy maxtor and stick the old hard drive into the new one ? (sorry for seeming stupid, i just havent done that before).

thanks again.

[DJ MyRinX]

Most of the times it is just a normal hdd with a nice looking case around it.

So if you've disassembled it, you could try to make it a slave hdd (with jumper) and connect it to you pc.

Edit:

Did you try Open Sesame to break the sealed case?

You need to open the case some how...

but first of all give us some more info about the hdd.

Starting with the type... etc. etc.

Edited January 26, 2009 by DJ MyRinX

[jaclaz]

If when you power it clicking, clinking or rattling noises come out of the HD case, something mechanical has broken (namely heads or head arm).

An external disk is nothing more than a "normal" hard disk+a IDE to USB or SATA to USB controller, as DJ MyRinX pointed out.

In other words, this:

http://www.usb-ware.com/tt-usb-2-hard-drive-kit.htm

+ this:

http://www.maxtor.com/en/hard-drive-backup...hard-drive.html

makes this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822100037

(more or less)

jaclaz

[mystreetgang]

Hi, thanks for the feedback all, and yes I dont have the knowledge to reassemble the drive, i thought it might be as "simple" as taking the drive out of the broken unit and replacing into a new identical Maxtor.

Will get the details and post later today.

Thanks

[DJ MyRinX]

Replacing the hdd for another one and trying to save the case, is, imho not even an option.

The prices of spare hdd's and new external drives are almost the same, so don't even bother to save the case.

The prices in the Netherlands are around the €100,- for a 1TB drive. (about 80 GBP)

Been google-ing: for 85 pounds you got a new 1TB external drive same as a spare hdd

oops: lingo/reading problem...

Replacing the inside of the hdd with another identical sounds like a nice project if you got the money and time to spare... and got loads of patience.

Your talking about that the hard drive contains music and movies.

Those are replaceable (at least most of them).

you know how..

Edited January 26, 2009 by DJ MyRinX

[jaclaz]

OT, but not much:

For the record, and not wanting to seem too "alarmistic" , the reliability of 500 Gb and 1 Tb drives appears to be, to say the least, "inferior" to that of drives up to, say, 250 or 320 GB.

Besides the known recent "Seagate hiccup" common also to some Maxtor's, I have seen (or heard) much more woe tales recently that in the past, it may be a coincidence or simply people making more fuss than before about dead drives, but maybe better be safe than sorry and stick to somewhat "lower density" drives.

jaclaz

[DJ MyRinX]

AMEN!

Cause as we speak a Fujitsu-siemens drive (WD 1TB) is recovering @ 127.0.0.1 (active@ recovery ftw!)

bigger isn't always better.

edit

Keep it on-topic guys!

edit 2:Way of topic: want to laugh or cry.... check the log file..

RECOVERY.zip

Edited January 26, 2009 by DJ MyRinX

[mystreetgang]

Hi all, thanks for your comments.

For the record, the Maxtor model I have / had is:

Maxtor Seagate STM305004EHDB01-RK Basics Personal Storage 3200 500GB USB 2.0

Does that hold out any hope with regards taking out the disc and intalling into another pc ?

Thanks,

[spacesurfer]

People have said a lot in this post.

Can you open the case and take the HDD out and use it in another case or computer is the basic question?

It depends on what's broken. If simply the case is broke and the HDD escaped damage, then yes. You can replace the case or take the HDD and install in your computer as a slave.

If the actual HDD got damaged, (which happens as they are fragile animals), then your option is the pay 1000's of dollars for a professional.

If I'm not mistaken, when your HDD gets damaged, the parts that make it spin get damaged. The platters that hold the data are safe. Hence, the platters need to be opened in an environment that won't cause data loss though magentic fields as your data is magnetized on the platters. The platters are implanted in units that spin and the data can be read.