Recovering Data from and External Drive

Are you sure the drive dock still works?

Is it an external drive or an old internal drive from a computer? If it is an external drive, what type? I have had multiple older external drives fail and every one was a failure of the drive controller in the box. I typically removed the drive from the box/disconnected the controller and used a USB to IDE/SATA adapter to get the info off the drive.

Something like this.

FIDECO USB 3.0 to SATA or IDE Adapter, Hard Drive Adapter Cable Universal for 2.5/3.5 inch SATA HDD/SSD & IDE HDD with 12V/2A Power Adapter

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Would it be strange for both slots to have gone out at the same time?

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I think it would be more strange for only one slot to stop working

Good to know.

Any dock you would recommend or are they all about the same?

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Any dock you would recommend or are they all about the same?

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I think they are all about the same but Korkstand is probably has better insight than I do.

What I posted should do what you want though I think it is not as versatile as what you have shown.

Yes I do. Unfortunately, that one seems to be working.

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mapped in system/storage/drives

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I have quite a few old HD that I need to read. Most work fine with a dock very similar to the one you use. Others fail to appear without help. As long as the HD spins there is hope.

1. Having once been an internal drive there is leftover software/firmware from the system the HD came from. Your current computer may not be seeing that the USB input is a drive.

2. It might be that Hot Plug & Play isn't working. With power on disconnect the dock from the computer, then cycle computer off/on twice. Then with computer power off, connect dock with HD in. Power up again and hope the drive is recognized.

Check your USB devices with dock connected and dock disconnected...any strange devices found?

3, Alternately, the Disk Management System may have found the drive but can't identify its contents. Check which drives are listed when dock connected and when dock disconnected. If the HD shows up, you need to assign it a letter manually. I've found this often.

4. Outside Help. Before using an expensive recovery service, see if a local repair place can copy image files only to a new HD or a cloud account. They should have drive management software that can do that... probably on a Linux machine.

GOOD LUCK

I confirmed earlier that it worked with a different hard drive in the dock. Not liking my chances.



Anyone know how successful those data recover services are if indeed I needed to go that route?

If that bastard isn't clicking, there's always hope. I have read (but never used) the technique of replacing the circuit board with the SATA/IDE connector with one from eBay.

There's also the technique of cooling the drive in the fridge or freezer (which I've also never done) to get it to work for at least a few minutes to pull data off. This seems especially risky because of moisture buildup due to temperature differentials, but you're near (or at) that point of desperation.

If things don't go well, there is a bright side. The cameras and pictures you took pre 2005 (assuming a camera, not a phone) would probably look like arse anyway. Again, I'm just trying to poke a hole in the dark cloud of data loss.

This is the company I use (hddparts). They are trustworthy. I have used them several times over the years including this year. I don't think you can find anyone as affordable, reliable, and convenient to work with. I have had the same issue with hard drives going bad and not being detected.

https://www.hdd-parts.com/info.html

don't bother trying to check anything out there, just e-mail him and he will send you an invoice.

you can e-mail him at hddparts@gmail.com and ask about replacing the pcb board.

he will ask for you to send pictures of the hard drive/board and then confirm if he has a replacement board in stock or not.

this is the cheapest potential way to find a fix.

you will need like a torx screw driver set. i think around a size t4 or something (i am not too familiar with the names or sizes) but there are kits that have all the sizes and you try each one until one works to unscrew all the screws on the board from your hard drive. Then the PCB board simply removes and that is all you send in. He then takes a chipset off of it or clones one from your bios on to a working board that he will send back to you. Then you just attach the new board on to your hard drive with the screws you took off and it should work again. Just be sure to save them in like a plastic bag or something. You don't need to send in the screws. Keep those with your hard drive.

He has an option to send back just the new board or both the bad and good board. That is up to you, but if he sends both back just be sure you are using the new board.

The good thing about just sending in the board is that if you are private and concerned about stuff on your HD well then they still don't see all that.

i have this kit from bestbuy https://www.bestbuy.com/site/ifixit-essential-electronics-toolkit/6451019.p?skuId=6451019 that I use to work on electronics. It has all the torx screw sizes you need.

You can probably find something cheaper if needed, but this is usually readily available at your local BestBuy.

he usually gets it fixed within a few days. the whole process of sending to him and receiving it back only takes like a week. like i said his price includes return shipping. usually something like dhl, but you will get tracking.

if replacing the board does not work then you are looking at much more expensive recovery options, but this has always worked for me. it's still not a guarantee, but it is very likely to work. i have recovered data off of at least 4 hard drives from his services just by doing this board swap.

Also, one last note, if you get it fixed and working, I highly suggest you get all your data off and on to a new hard drive as quickly as possible. Sometimes this fix last for years, but it can go bad again. Sometimes much quicker.

One more tip, if you end up shipping your PCB board to him I suggest using pirateship.com to get the best rates from either ups or usps. They tend to be even cheaper than buying a label directly. pirateship can even schedule cheaper UPS pickups through than from ups's site. of course usps offers free pickup during your normal mail delivery. or you can drop it off at UPS or USPS.

You can compare rates shipping to Washington and to Canada. Shipping to Washington takes more time to forward to Canada as they don’t check their mail there every day. I shipped directly to Canada because it wasn’t that much more and I always want a quicker resolution. This will get it repaired quicker. They are also a legit business in Canada and not just some guy. You can actually see their building on his provided address. He will send you two addresses to choose shipping to.

I really hope you can get your stuff recovered. Please let me know if you do. If this doesn't work there are other potential recovery services, but it gets really pricey.

I highly recommend going this route, because it has always worked for me and it was always less than $100. I have recovered around 40 TBs worth of stuff thanks to this guy.



here is a video of pcb board removal i think although this video seems way too long. it's super easy though. you can probably find another one. or just easily figure it out. you just flip your hard drive around and unscrew all the screws holding the board to the hard drive and it removes.

Good luck.