Dead HDD because of power spikes? Could use a hand...

Hey guys, hope you are all well, I have a problem I was hoping someone would help me with.

Im in the midst of changing computers, my old Vaio is going any day now, so I transferred all my important files to an external HDD, its a 250Gb WD Passport. Its worked flawlessly for about 2 years.

So today I noticed that whenever I turned off my kitchen light, my USB powered speakers would stop working. I would have to unplug and replug to get them going again. My External HDD was working fine though, it was just the speakers that stopped working every time I flicked the switch. I assumed this was some sort of small power-surge that was doing it. My ExHDD is coupled directly to the USB port, the speakers and WAcom are plugged in to a usb hub. Anyway, I shut down my Vaio, and unplugged everything to go home to my parents place to start transferring my files from the external HDD. BUT it wont show up anywhere. When I plug it in the light comes on on the HDD; but that's about it. It gives a quick blink and then stays constant. Before the light would flash when it was seeking. Now its just on. No sound is coming from it. Ive tried it on 3 different computers with 2 different cables.

Do you guys have any ideas what I could do? All my music and important files are on this. (only copy of course, and I dont need to hear how I should have had a backup, I know I know. But here I am.)

Cheers Tim

 

You might be able to crack the drive open and put the internal drive into a desktop PC for recovery; with any luck only the enclosure's controller or power supply was fried and the drive itself is okay.

BTW, might want to try a different power brick first...

 

Ahh, thats what i thought, put it in a different enclosure. There is no powerbrick, it only runs on USB juice.

Thanks Greg!

Any one else have any suggestions?

 

Your best chance is not to use another enclosure: connect it directly to the power/SATA ports on a desktop system (system off). Have either the HDD space or another external to copy the data to ready to go, as soon as you power up.

Good luck.

 

Ahh, ok tiller, I still need a ribbon/cable though right? I have a HP DV7t.
Maybe I should just get hold of a professional to do this for me... Ill have to look around to see if I have a friend with a desktop.

Sods law, tonight was the night I was going to do a proper backup to my new notebook, and keep an external HDD at my parents house...

 

Does your dv7t have 2 HDD bays? If that's the case, just place the drive in the second bay and copy data over to the other drive in the laptop. If not, do it with an enclosure or a desktop if you can. Usually, all you need for laptops is a caddy for the drive, since it's temporary, you could simply prop the drive with cardboard for the duration of the file transfer.

 

Yes the DV7Tdoes indeed have 2 HDD bays! But I would still need the cable right? Any tutorials online..? hehe

This is the HDD I have

http://www.doobybrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/passport-views.thumbnail.jpg

 

It depends, i didn't need a cable for my G73 so you may or may not need one.

 

This reminds us that it is not a good idea to attach this kind of device to unprotected power source. It is much better to have it draw power from the notebook which already has the necessary circuitary.

 

Chimpanzee, the HDD was connected and powered only by the USB, nothing else.

 

Have you done this kind of thing before or where you just installing an auxiliary HDD?

 

via which USB port ? If it is via the notebook port, that is very scary(I mean the notebook circuitary).

 

To connect the hard drive in the second bay you shouldn't need a cable. Maybe a caddy if you want to leave the hard drive there permanently, but for short term it should just plug right in.

 

Ok, thanks Joker, Ill have a fiddle with it tomorrow, right now my brain is bleeding from trying to understand what needs updating and what needs uninstalling before updating etc etc...

 

Seems like the DV7T does need a cable?

 

Open it up and check if you already have the connector for the second HDD. On the G73, both connectors are attached to the same cable so there's no need for one. In the G74, you need a cable though and i don't know if it is supplied or not.

It's gonna take 10 mins to check anyways so there's no harm in doing it. You'll know if you need a cable or if it is already there. Inthe event you do need a cable, you can connect the drive bare on a desktop if you have a SATA cable and a desktop.

 

Hmm, that's weird. All it takes to confirm one way or the other is to take out a few screws and pop off the bottom plate.

 

Indeed! I will do and post result, but LUCKILY it doesn't look like ill have too. I left it overnight not plugged in, and when I got back to the studio this morning it magically worked, and I have no idea why. Guess who is doing 2 separate 300 GB backups as we speak? Thats right, this a((hole...

Thank you all for your great help and support, Im glad that if it ever happens again, I can trust these forums to help me out, and now I know a bit more about what to do if it ever happens again. My dad also immediately started backing up his stuff this morning, hehe some at least some more good came out of it!

 

I just tried to plug in the same hard drive with another USB cable, and it didn't work same problem. It only seems to work with a white USB cable (the one I usually use but left in the studio the other day when i went home and this whole thing started) that has a sort of a fat hard plastic cylinder about an in from the connector that no doubt contains something electronic. Can anyone fill me int?