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    Inspiron 4150 HDD replace & recover data

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by modal, Aug 11, 2007.

  1. modal

    modal Notebook Guru

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    Ok guys, I'm looking for some advice here--perhaps one of you has a great idea that I haven't thought of yet. Here's the situation:

    The hard drive in my wife's Inspiron 4150 (IBM/Hitachi Travelstar) has bitten the dust (not recognized in BIOS etc.). Now, given the reputation of these drives (particularly the Deathstar...err... Deskstar model) and the fact that the drive still spins up (I can feel it when it powers on) I suspect that it is just the controller card that is bad. So, my first thought was this: since I have to get a new hard drive anyway, I might as well just buy one, swap the controller card to pull data off the old drive, and then put the controller card back on the new drive and use that.

    However, my concern here is that this will lock me into buying another Hitachi drive--something which I'd rather not do. So, here's where I'm looking for advice--do you guys know of another drive whose controller card might be swappable with that of the Travelstar? Alternatively, do you have any other good ideas for pulling data off the old drive?
     
    modal, Aug 11, 2007
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  2. dellbert65

    dellbert65 Notebook Enthusiast

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    If you have access to another HDD I would place in old 4150 and see if BIOS can recognzie the new HDD. It is a good possibility that its not the HDD controller, but some sectors in the drive itself. You do not need to stick with same HDD OEM, Dell uses multiple HDD OEM sources for every platform. This is to protect against gap outs and getting hammered on pricing. As for retreiving data, I would recommend sending the HDD to a professional for that, if it indeed turns out to be a HW malfunction on the drive
     
    dellbert65, Aug 11, 2007
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