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Storage: Hard Drive Clicking
Hard Drive Clicking
by fvshaggy - 10/22/06 11:44 AMHello all,
I have a bit of a problem, my hard drive recently started clicking and I am not able to start up Windows Xp without completly disconnecting the drive. The drive is a Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 and I was wondering if the hard drive is fried? I have almost 120 Gigs of data on the drive and don't really want to format it, but I will if I need to. I don't want to spend alot of money getting it fixed either. I really just want to pull pictures off the drive.
Thanks
A common failure indicator.
by R. Proffitt
- 10/22/06 12:23 PM
In reply to: Hard Drive Clicking by fvshaggy
There is never a homebrew fix for clicking drives and it's only a financial decision where the files are worth the recover fees from drivesavers.com or others.
Beware that advice of changing the circuit board of the drive. You may hamper the recover house's work and increase the fee.
Can I ask where the backup copy of the files you can't lose are?
Bob
Procrastination
by fvshaggy - 10/22/06 2:46 PM In reply to: A common failure indicator. by R. Proffitt
I never did back up my photos and various documents. I should have. Does that mean I have to format my drive? Its not the end of the world if I do, just wanting to know.
Thanks again
NEVER.
by R. Proffitt - 10/22/06 3:19 PM
In reply to: Procrastination by fvshaggy
Never format a drive that has files you want to recover. Replace the drive. I just picked up a new 300GB 7200RPM drive for 99 bucks so if you attempt to format a drive with files you want back you just revealed the files are worth less than this.
With the new drive installed we place the old drive in the packing from the new drive and wait till we decide if it's worth it.
Bob
KEEP IT SIMPLE
by kandu101 - 10/29/06 4:11 PM In reply to: A common failure indicator. by R. Proffitt
try tapping the hard drive on start up with a small hammer. if it starts up you may have enough time to backup your data good luck
hard drive problem
by jlomon - 10/25/07 6:27 PM In reply to: KEEP IT SIMPLE by kandu101My hard drive just started making a clicking noise the other day and will not boot up my computer. I get a message that says "alert system fan not detected"
press F1 to retry or F2 for setup.
Does this mean that my hard drive is fried? What are my options at this time?
I agree.
by R. Proffitt - 10/26/07 7:17 AM
In reply to: hard drive problem by jlomon
Now it's just a decision to install a new drive and reload from your restore CDs and backup.
Bob
Been there
by billcanada - 10/22/06 1:23 PM In reply to: Hard Drive Clicking by fvshaggyI just had a Maxtor harddrive make that same sound. I downloaded PowerMax diagnostic software from Maxtor and it reported that it was failing.
It sounds like it is cooked to me but try Powermax and you'll get know for sure.
Bill
Drive still clicks
by fvshaggy - 10/23/06 7:56 AM In reply to: Been there by billcanadaI tried adding the cables to the back of the drive when I get into windows and it shows that nothing is on the drive just from the properties button but I downloaded a free trail recovery program that shows that 120 gigs of data are still on the drive, but when it tries to access the information it just keeps clicking? Any ideas? If I could just get into the drive one more time then I could back up all the information that I wanted. Thanks for all the help so far.
Still hope...
by Screwdriver Monkey - 10/27/06 3:37 AM In reply to: Drive still clicks by fvshaggyJust a thought.
I have the same drive (120GB Maxtor DM9) with a similar symptom, turns out my PSU was overloaded and wasn't allowing the drive to draw the required current to perform seek / write ops reliably. I upgraded my PSU and so far so good. You could try disconnecting some devices and see if the problem improves. When trying to recover data (and getting desperate) I have tried the following:
Cooling the drive (in the freezer) then keeping it cool while transferring data (use a desk fan)
Standing the drive on its edge/end (changes the load on the spindle bearings, can help with weak head armatures)
Tapping the side of the drive when it clicks (helps a sticking head armature)
If none of this works then the chances are the drive is stuffed.
DON'T PANIC....!!!!
by skycatcher - 10/27/06 3:38 AM In reply to: Hard Drive Clicking by fvshaggyThere is a 90% chance that you can get everything back with Spinrite 6. The 'clicking' is a normal operation of a HDD to try and locate a sector that is not working well. Spinrite 6 is a kind of non-destructive low-level formatter and many data recovery companies use it but charge you LOTS more for the job.
Why hasn't everybody got this program - OK so it costs $89.00 (US) but it can be shared between you and several friends and it works wonders in Data Recovery and Drive Recovery and Failure Prevention. And when I say 'Drive' recovery I mean All drives Floppy, Hard, ATA, SATA, SCSI, ZIP, JAZ, - Windows, Unix and more.
If your PC won't boot from the drive, set you BIOS to boot from floppy (or USB if you haven't got a floppy) and fire up Spinrite from there. It's tiny and fits onto a floppy easily (pure machine code). On a HDD that size it will take hours to run so fire it up and leave it to do it's job overnight - it's often worth doing it twice if you've got time.
Go to http://www.grc.com/intro.htm for Spinrite and whole load of Free stuff as well. The videos are also well worth watching so that you understand what Spinrite is doing.
Clicking Hard Drive
by grandpajim - 10/27/06 6:54 AM In reply to: Hard Drive Clicking by fvshaggyThe drive may or may not be failing. If this is a new sound it probably will fail. As someone else suggested, since the price of hard drives have come way down, buy another drive and keep your old one. Put it in a good external case and use it strictly for data. If it has already failed, there are a number of good data recovery programs to be had (and some were mentioned) that may enable you to recover your data. If you are primarily concerned with only photos, many programs exist to recover them - even those that have been ''deleted''.
Clicking drive is a warning.
by fuelmagic - 10/27/06 9:50 AM In reply to: Clicking Hard Drive by grandpajimA clicking drive is a sign of death, or near death.
I don't recommend using the old drive for anything further, especially for backing up data, because it isn't trustworthy. Even if you did get the old drive up and running again using one of the techniques described here, it wouldn't be prudent to trust it. Take your valuables off of it and recycle the scrap metal.
My advice is to purchase a fresh new hard drive to power up your computer and connect the second one, (at least temporarily), as a secondary slave drive.
If the old drive still spins you can then retrieve all of your photos and personal stuff off of it.
As a matter of course I always add a secondary drive to all of my computers to keep my created and saved files separate from the operating drive. It seems that the "C" drive is always the one that fails. Keep your precious creations separate whenever possible.
hard drive clicking
by publicmischief - 4/15/08 8:50 AM In reply to: Clicking drive is a warning. by fuelmagicI've had this problem many times and luckily stumbled across what was causing my hard drives to keep failing...and you won't believe this.
I use externels alot and the power connectors that go to your drive widen from frequent removal and so forth causing a small short that will eventually fry your drive board after so many clicks.
This click is caused by what I believe to be a short in the power pins to the drive and a simple cure is to tighten the pins and your good to go.
I did this and have not heard 1 click since I fixed the power connectors.. Hope this saves every 1 alot of money cause it has me!!!!!!!!!!!!!
wow
by Noizxland - 6/1/08 9:02 PM In reply to: hard drive clicking by publicmischiefthanks for your post
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