2nd Hard drive vanished without a trace

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Duecem

New Member
Hey there. Im new to all this, I wouldnt have a clue what my computer is only how to turn it off, turn it on, download movies, music and pictures.

I installed and formatted the 2nd Hard Drive myself and all was well for nearly going on 2yrs now.

Yesterday I shut the PC down like any normal day, later on my wife turned it on and tried to watch a movie and it said that "the foldar has been moved, renamed or deleted". I was out so she waited till I got home before she told me what had happened.

First thing I noticed was my background pic was gone, so I went to "my computer" to check the other (2nd Hard Drive) drive and BOOM!! It was gone.

My main drive running vista was flawless, nothing wrong, nothing gone. But my 2nd drive which housed all my personal files (Music, Pictures, Documents.etc.) had vanished without a trace!! I googled around, was told Command prompt options of accessing my drive and "nothing". Wasnt in "disk management" where I first formatted it. Even the "Bios" couldnt locate it. Checked the drive and its humming, no clanking noises or anything, there wasnt no warning signs that anything was wrong before or after it was turned off. My computer aint even detecting a "Unknown device connected to this computer".

Someone please help, as far as the hard drive goes I dont care about it, but if anyone can show me a link to recovering my data (mostly the photos of my only child and my wedding video, preferabbly a "recover data for dummies" link) that would be much appriciated.

Thanks heaps and I apologise for the lack of info in regards to my computer eg.serial numbers, model numbers.etc.

Regards

Duecem
 

My Computer

System One

Duecem said:
Hey there. Im new to all this, I wouldnt have a clue what my computer is only how to turn it off, turn it on, download movies, music and pictures.

I installed and formatted the 2nd Hard Drive myself and all was well for nearly going on 2yrs now.

Yesterday I shut the PC down like any normal day, later on my wife turned it on and tried to watch a movie and it said that "the foldar has been moved, renamed or deleted". I was out so she waited till I got home before she told me what had happened.

First thing I noticed was my background pic was gone, so I went to "my computer" to check the other (2nd Hard Drive) drive and BOOM!! It was gone.

My main drive running vista was flawless, nothing wrong, nothing gone. But my 2nd drive which housed all my personal files (Music, Pictures, Documents.etc.) had vanished without a trace!! I googled around, was told Command prompt options of accessing my drive and "nothing". Wasnt in "disk management" where I first formatted it. Even the "Bios" couldnt locate it. Checked the drive and its humming, no clanking noises or anything, there wasnt no warning signs that anything was wrong before or after it was turned off. My computer aint even detecting a "Unknown device connected to this computer".

Someone please help, as far as the hard drive goes I dont care about it, but if anyone can show me a link to recovering my data (mostly the photos of my only child and my wedding video, preferabbly a "recover data for dummies" link) that would be much appriciated.

Thanks heaps and I apologise for the lack of info in regards to my computer eg.serial numbers, model numbers.etc.

Regards

Duecem
Click to expand...


Hi and welcome

there is a good recovery application called recuva. you can find it here Recuva - Undelete, Unerase, File and Disk Recovery - Free Download

Hope that helps

Ken J+
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron E 1405
    CPU
    [email protected]
    Memory
    4 gigs
    Graphics Card(s)
    integrated intel 945
    Sound Card
    integrated
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    300 gig internal
    Internet Speed
    10 down 1.5 up
Hello Duecem,
If your HDD is not being detected by the Bios, check all the leads, both power and data.
Also try unplugging the main power lead from the PSU, leave for about ten minutes and plug back in, reboot and see if your HDD is back.
Is this an internal HDD or is it connected with a USB lead ?.
Try the above and post your results, good luck.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Self Build
    CPU
    QX9650 (black box) [email protected]
    Motherboard
    Asus P5Q Premium
    Memory
    8GB-4x2GB Corsair Dominator DDR 2-1066
    Graphics Card(s)
    2 x ASUS EAH 4870 X 2 (Quad)
    Sound Card
    Supreme FX 2
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Fujitsu Siemens 22inch flat screen
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    150 Gig WD Raptor
    300 Gig Maxtor
    300 Gig Maxtor, (External)
    PSU
    CoolerMaster 1000
    Case
    CoolerMaster N-Vidia stacker 830
    Cooling
    Noctua NH-U12P x 1x120mm fan, 6x120mm case fans
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15
    Mouse
    Logitech G5
    Internet Speed
    20Mbps
    Other Info
    Audio FX Pro 5+1 gaming head set
Thanks for replying

Ken J - Thanks for link, I am downloading right now and will post results.

Stoney - My hard drive is an internal, its a Seagate brand 500GB hard drive, i was told that a line of Seagates 500GB hard drive were in fact not very reliable. A friend said he sent his back to the manufacturer (in Indonesia), after receiving the hard drive, it died again in under a week. His data was not so important. But he never used Seagate again.

In relationto your post/reply - I actually dissconnected the main hard drive running vista and used the same connections (data and power cable) that was connected to the main hard drive. Knowing they worked on the original hard drive, they should have worked on 2nd. I connected them to the 2nd hard drive and tried to reload vista hoping that it would put all data (photos,music.etc.) into the windows.old file, which you get the option of when loading vista onto the PC. Where the hard drive was suppose to be, it was blank. Yet the main hard drive with vista on it shows up no problem, which leads me to believe that the data and power cable for the 2nd hard drive are in perfect working order.

Thanks again though.

I did try your above method, sadly with no results .:(
 

My Computer

System One

Ken J - Thanks, Recuva helped, a little, sadly it did not find the 2nd hard drive (or data on it), that i lost. Brought up everything that I have had go through my main hard drive, but somethings I loaded straight on to my 2nd hard drive, it didnt pick up. Though I did recover some useful photos, videos.etc. im still left without a whole load of the important documents.

I was told of a recovery speacialist in New Zealand (as I live in New Zealand) that recovers things for a very HIGH fee (2k to be exact), not guaranteed to get everything, and with the possibility of getting a whole lot of CORRUPT data that may be useless when recovered. Memories are priceless and if I had that sort of money I would definately do it.

Thanks again though,

Hope someone can help.

Very desperate and stressed now.:(
 

My Computer

System One

Do you have another PC to try this HDD on, even as an external HDD ?, i don't think its your HDD, i think its more likely to be a MB issue if the Bios isn't picking it up, try re-installing all your MB drivers.
If you don't have another PC, do you have another HDD to try in your PC ?, just to eliminate one or the other.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Self Build
    CPU
    QX9650 (black box) [email protected]
    Motherboard
    Asus P5Q Premium
    Memory
    8GB-4x2GB Corsair Dominator DDR 2-1066
    Graphics Card(s)
    2 x ASUS EAH 4870 X 2 (Quad)
    Sound Card
    Supreme FX 2
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Fujitsu Siemens 22inch flat screen
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    150 Gig WD Raptor
    300 Gig Maxtor
    300 Gig Maxtor, (External)
    PSU
    CoolerMaster 1000
    Case
    CoolerMaster N-Vidia stacker 830
    Cooling
    Noctua NH-U12P x 1x120mm fan, 6x120mm case fans
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15
    Mouse
    Logitech G5
    Internet Speed
    20Mbps
    Other Info
    Audio FX Pro 5+1 gaming head set
stoneys-nutz said:
Do you have another PC to try this HDD on, even as an external HDD ?, i don't think its your HDD, i think its more likely to be a MB issue if the Bios isn't picking it up, try re-installing all your MB drivers.
If you don't have another PC, do you have another HDD to try in your PC ?, just to eliminate one or the other.
Click to expand...
Process of elimination.

CHECK.

No I dont have another HDD, and no I dont have another PC.

Soon as I buy another HDD I will try it and post results, or if I can connect my HDD to another computer.

Thank you for the small "Ray of Hope" and I hope that it is not my HDD.:)

Sorry to be a nOOb but what is "MB" issue??:o
 

My Computer

System One

MB = Motherboard.
Do you still have the MB installation disk ?, if so, re-install all the MB drivers.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Self Build
    CPU
    QX9650 (black box) [email protected]
    Motherboard
    Asus P5Q Premium
    Memory
    8GB-4x2GB Corsair Dominator DDR 2-1066
    Graphics Card(s)
    2 x ASUS EAH 4870 X 2 (Quad)
    Sound Card
    Supreme FX 2
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Fujitsu Siemens 22inch flat screen
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    150 Gig WD Raptor
    300 Gig Maxtor
    300 Gig Maxtor, (External)
    PSU
    CoolerMaster 1000
    Case
    CoolerMaster N-Vidia stacker 830
    Cooling
    Noctua NH-U12P x 1x120mm fan, 6x120mm case fans
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15
    Mouse
    Logitech G5
    Internet Speed
    20Mbps
    Other Info
    Audio FX Pro 5+1 gaming head set
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