Hard Drive "Clunking"

[Clay]

Western Digital HD in my machine only clunks and won't boot up. I have no backup and data is valuable, but professional recovery is too expensive. I don't mind voiding warranty if opening drive might be route to data recovery. Any suggestions?

[Tex_Gex]

Sorry ..its probably history..Most of us have been there....
First rule of Computing


Backup , Backup , Backup

[Isos]

Do you think that the drive is spinning or that it was trying to spin and that's what making the noise?

Warning! What I'm about to tell you might be damaging to your harddrive.

TAP the top middle portion (around the center of the disk). (not too hard now) Try to reboot, see if you can access the drive. Good Luck.

[Jventrigli]

partition magic makes a program called Lost & found for hard disk data recovery,they say that as long as your hard disk is spinning, all data can be recovered.......hope this helps

[Clay]

Thanks for the replies so far. I am definitely familiar with the first rule...especally now.

I think it IS trying to spin, and when I try the tap maneuver I only succeed in making it stop altogether. I did try this before my original post, so I'm not trying to pass any blame.

Any other suggestions? Is it possible that opening the case would reveal some obvious quick fix?

Thanks!

[Isos]

Sorry to hear that your HD stopped altogether.
I once had a WD 210MB that will spin as long as power is not cut off by manually spinning the spindle of the motor. Most model of the HD covers the motor end with a piece of label or removable cap.
I've openned an old Harddrive before and I COMPLETELY RUIN IT. The read/write head assembly came off with the case.

[JP]

Hard drives that make a constant churning sound when power is applied make neat wall decorations once the cover is removed. I have one in my bedroom and one in my shop. Sorry, but that's about all they are good for.
-JP
http://members.xoom.com/PSComputers

[Chuck]

I had a drive that wouldn't spin up. I put it in the front seat of my car on a HOT August day for a few hours. That freed it up enough so I could get it spinning again and back it up.

Not an elegant solution by any means but it worked!

[Bud]

Ok try this:
Be sure that you have some way to get your stuff off of your hard drive. If you get it going it is only going to give you 1 chance.
Remove the HD from the mounts--leave it plugged in--hold it in your hand and turn on the machine as soon as the power light comes on give the hard drive a flip like a twisting motion and this may start it. Try this a couple of times. Might or Might not work I have had it work but not often. Good luck
Bud

[greggx101]

If its real important data on there, some data recovery firms work wonders.Costs loads of bucks though.

[martyvh]

Take your win95/98 boot disk go to a dos prompt and see if the drive will read or at least show a drive letter. try to copy the drive over to another drive thus making sure it is as big or bigger than the drive your copying from. I have done this as a last ditch effort to recover data. This does not always work. Taking the cover off is really not a good idea! Your drive still may be under warranty check with drive manufacture.
Good luck with your problem! We all will, or have in the past, have dealt with this problem. No pleasure on this boat!!

[Clay]

Thanks again for all the input. I have resigned myself to the fact that it is really dead. It goes back to the manufacturer under warranty tomorrow!

[MaxVal]

I seem to recall a problem with some WD31600 drives exibiting these symptoms. I beleive there may have been some 2.1GB units affected also.
Dosen't help restore your data, but check for warranty replacement- WD generaly good about that!