How to recover a crashed laptop hard disk (windows NTFS)

bluerhinoceros wrote:
Erica Eshoo wrote:

Electrical recovery for not spinning drives
- Connect to a high wattage power supply

I don't understand this one. Doesn't the device draw the amps it needs regardless of the supply's maximum output
rating?

Nope, the supply may not be able to supply enough current at the rated voltage.

I can see it making sense if the original power supply was overloaded/overrated and not really delivering,

Thats essentially what they mean.

but the video implies that the power supply "pushes" the current rather than allowing the device to draw it.

Just a clumsy description.

Erica Eshoo wrote:
On Sun, 04 Nov 2007 08:43:26 -0800, bluerhinoceros wrote:

Here is the freeware/demoware that PC World suggests at
http://www.pcworld.com/video/catid,1...e,1/video.html
How to Resurrect a Crashed Hard Drive - PC World Video
Electrical recovery for not spinning drives
- Connect to a high wattage power supply

I don't understand this one.
the video implies that the power supply "pushes"
the current rather than allowing the device to draw it.

I agree with you - this is a wierd suggestion by PC World.
But, I can tell you watched the video because that's exactly what it
says.

PC World seems to imply that a larger capacity power supply INITIAL
current/voltage (they call it wattage) surge into the reluctant disk
drive could JOLT the dead disk drive into cooperating - sort of like
a Taser for reticent hard disks.

http://www.pcworld.com/video/catid,1...e,1/video.html
Does anyone else know more about this PC World suggestion
to resurrect my dead but spinning hard drive - is it science

Its always science. Tho rather mangled in the case of that article.

or is it voodoo?

Hard drives are immune to that.

On Sun 04 Nov 2007 07:08:06, Erica Eshoo
wrote:

On Sat, 03 Nov 2007 10:53:08 -1000, Richard wrote:
Didn't notice anybody mentioning PC Inspector...
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/pcinspector.html

This was in the first post:
Digging further, I found PC Magazine recommended PC Inspector
(http://pcmag.ph/hard-disk/recovering...rd-disk-crash/) for
freeware hard disk recovery after crashes.

I did find a good video from PC World at
http://www.pcworld.com/video/catid,1...e,1/video.html
titled "How to Resurrect a Crashed Hard Drive - PC World Video".

This video has LOTs of suggestions which were not covered in this
thread yet.


That video maye misleading because there is a far better approach for
fixing certain IBM hard drives. If you have one of the old Deskstar
drives then check out the following repair guide.

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/morgan.tate/

On Mon, 5 Nov 2007 06:12:24 +1100, Rod Speed wrote:
but the video implies that the power supply "pushes" the current
Just a clumsy description.

I think I get what Rod Speed is saying.
When I start my blender, the lights dim for a second in my California
kitchen. Then everything is fine.

I think what Rod Speed is saying is, if the hard disk drive motor is
drawing too much current for the original power supply to handle, then
adding a larger capacity (more current) power supply, will allow it to draw
more current than the original power supply could handle.

That, in an emergency situation such as mine, might be the way to free a
"stuck" drive.

As noted, my drive isn't stuck - it's just clicking and spinning until the
clicking gives up ... so I think I'll give up on the larger power supply.
Plus, I'm using the Vantec IDE-to-USB adapter which comes with its own
power supply.

Funny thing, the hard drives I tested STILL WORK on the Vantec IDE-to-USB
adapter even without plugging in the external power supply. I guess they
get power from the USB - but I'll use the external power supply also to
power the naked laptop hard disk drive.

The good thing is we're learning - the bad thing is that we probably can't
use any freeware on earth to resurrect this drive ... or can we?

On Sun, 04 Nov 2007 20:18:40 GMT, Franklin wrote:

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/morgan.tate/

Interesting article.
It's an IBM laptop so it has a Hitachi 2.5" hard disk drive in it, not an
IBM desktop hard drive.
But, in the end, if I don't resurrect the disk by less drastic means, it
will be time to go in for the kill and rip the innards out and put them in
another drive. But that's for later.

For now, I found the IBM Thinkpad recovery disks and have re-instaleld the
operating system - having given up on the buggy Windows Activation (it
should at least have given me the chance to type SOMETHING in - and not
just hang like that).

The good news is the computer is back up - the bad news is I have to
install all the programs all over again, like WinXP SP2 and all the
updates. For example, I have to dig up how to load Wireless Zero
Configuration stuff so that WPA2-Personal works again (it's not even an
option in SP2 - I remember digging that one up on google so I'll dig it
up).

If you know of better freeware that can diagnose this hard drive, let me
know.

It seems to me I heard somewhere that Erica Eshoo wrote in article
:

On Sun, 04 Nov 2007 08:43:26 -0800, bluerhinoceros wrote:

Here is the freeware/demoware that PC World suggests at
http://www.pcworld.com/video/catid,1...e,1/video.html
How to Resurrect a Crashed Hard Drive - PC World Video
Electrical recovery for not spinning drives
- Connect to a high wattage power supply

I don't understand this one.
the video implies that the power supply "pushes"
the current rather than allowing the device to draw it.

I agree with you - this is a wierd suggestion by PC World.
But, I can tell you watched the video because that's exactly what it says.

PC World seems to imply that a larger capacity power supply INITIAL
current/voltage (they call it wattage) surge into the reluctant disk drive
could JOLT the dead disk drive into cooperating - sort of like a Taser for
reticent hard disks.

Wattage, as everybody here seems to agree, is the actual power consumed
by a device; the wattage rating on a power supply is the highest power
it's capable of or designed to supply. Amperage is only drawn to the
level required by a device; if a device is not defective it will only
draw up to its rated amperage and the supply has to be able to meet that
demand. Voltage higher than the designed operating voltage of a device
may damage or ruin the device. ISTM PC World must be outsourcing its
technical writers these days.

bluerhinoceros wrote:
Erica Eshoo wrote:

Electrical recovery for not spinning drives
- Connect to a high wattage power supply

I don't understand this one. Doesn't the device draw the amps it needs
regardless of the supply's maximum output rating? I can see it making
sense if the original power supply was overloaded/overrated and not
really delivering, but the video implies that the power supply "pushes"
the current rather than allowing the device to draw it.

Watts = Amps * Volts (W=IV)

If a maximum rating of a supply is 100 Watts and the desired electron pressure to be maintained is 10 Volts then a
maximum of 10 Amps can be drawn. Therefore if 15 Amps is drawn then the electron pressure must fall to 6.667 Volts. If
10 volts is required for correct functioning of a circuit drawing 15 Amps then a power supply of 150 watts is required
(W/I=V). I have no idea if this sort of thing works but I understand the reasoning. A component may have stepped outside
the desired specification, say a resistor with a lowered value, allowing a higher current to flow and exceeding the
ability of the power supply to maintain correct voltage levels.

Zak Hipp

"Rod Speed" wrote:

bluerhinoceros wrote:
Erica Eshoo wrote:

Electrical recovery for not spinning drives
- Connect to a high wattage power supply

I don't understand this one. Doesn't the device draw the amps it needs regardless of the supply's maximum output
rating?

Nope, the supply may not be able to supply enough current at the rated voltage.

Exactly.

Motors are notorious for drawing more current at start-up than once
started, i.e. surge current. If the *maximum* supply current was
insufficient, because more devices have been added to the system than
the original supply was rated for, a stuck drive could tax it beyond
its ability to deliver, i.e. it wouldn't produce the start-up torque
required to overcome the stiction.

Larry

Franklin wrote:

That video maye misleading because there is a far better approach for
fixing certain IBM hard drives. If you have one of the old Deskstar
drives then check out the following repair guide.

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/morgan.tate/

My hammer is missing one side of its claw. Will it still work?

Erica Eshoo wrote:
On Mon, 5 Nov 2007 06:12:24 +1100, Rod Speed wrote:
but the video implies that the power supply "pushes" the current
Just a clumsy description.

I think I get what Rod Speed is saying.
When I start my blender, the lights dim for a second in my California
kitchen. Then everything is fine.

I think what Rod Speed is saying is, if the hard disk drive motor is
drawing too much current for the original power supply to handle, then
adding a larger capacity (more current) power supply, will allow it
to draw more current than the original power supply could handle.

That, in an emergency situation such as mine, might be the way to
free a "stuck" drive.

As noted, my drive isn't stuck - it's just clicking and spinning
until the clicking gives up ... so I think I'll give up on the larger
power supply. Plus, I'm using the Vantec IDE-to-USB adapter which
comes with its own power supply.

Funny thing, the hard drives I tested STILL WORK on the Vantec
IDE-to-USB adapter even without plugging in the external power
supply. I guess they get power from the USB - but I'll use the
external power supply also to power the naked laptop hard disk drive.

The good thing is we're learning - the bad thing is that we probably
can't use any freeware on earth to resurrect this drive ... or can we?

Nope, its got a hardware problem, thats why it isnt seen by the OS.