So my hard drive died...

As the title says, my hard drive died earlier today. It fought a gallant fight, but alas it give up it's last byte. I got the wirling doom of death upon start up after a shut down. Wont boot windows or nuthing. So...I need a new hard drive. Already looking at new ones. Brand new 1 tb running about 60 bucks from the store. Yes yes I know eBay..but..I dont deal with them you all know this. Anyhow..this post is for two reasons, to tell ya'll whats going on, an to see if anyone has a copy of windows 7 for my new HD when I get it.

My old system ran it, so got the sticker an key an all that. (if I'm misunderstanding the key an using software, ignore this request, not trying to do nothing illegal) Never got discs though when I bought the system. I knew that'd be a problem eventually..feh.

Currently borrowing the wife's laptop, an I hate it greatly. So the sooner I can get my rig back and up running the better. Her's is terribly old an I really hate laptops.

Lets save us some time. I tested the hard drive best as I can, an it's shot, dead, an ready to be buried. Yes I should have backed everything up, but alas...I didn't in time, it was actually on my list for this week, when I got a new external. That money will now be going to a new internal. lol.


so if anyone has that windows 7..send me a pm please an thanks. I'd not mind a hd from one of you fine folks if one is available and at lest 500gb but more worried about obtaining a copy of windows.


Posted this in off topic as it really isnt about recycling. So..mods move if you wish or slap hand as needed.




edit - sorry for more horrible typing then normal. Wife's laptop an it sucks.

Sirscrapalot - Highly annoyed with not having his desktop.

lol. Nice sounds. closest was the last one. It whirrs an then tries again. An just keeps doing that. Wont even load the Dell logo for my monitor let alone windows.

Suggestions where to learn more about recovering the info in the bad drive? I would love to get the stuff off it. Tons of music, videos, tips an hints I keep from here. My list author/topic for my quotes. Not to mention the pictures, saved messages from my inbox here(I save them once it gets full,to go through n save any info I need from them.lol)etc. All I can find when I search is either "recovering the info can extremely expensive, or places that offer it or ads. heh.

Had 6 HDs in the shop, all over 100gb, all dead. lol. I may have to get a HD docking station just when I squirrel away HDs they work. Rest were all IDE an under 80

Ah well thanks all ahead of time, an Thanks FL!

sirscrapalot - must not smash laptop

If your wife's laptop can burn DVDs you can download Windows 7 from Microsoft. I don't know the link off the top of my but I can get it for you.

What version of Windows 7 do you have??

This is the download link for Win Pro 64bit.
http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/win/X17-24281.iso

Originally Posted by Sirscrapalot

It whirrs an then tries again. An just keeps doing that.

OK, don't try powering up that drive anymore. You could end up damaging it further. Just let it RIP (rest in peace!) for now.

When it experienced its untimely demise, were there any clicking or grinding sounds? If you want to listen to more examples of how different brands of HDDs sound when they have various mechanical problems, go here: Failing hard drive sounds - Datacent.com - Datacent. That might help you diagnose exactly what's wrong.

So far, to me it seems most likely that you have a problem with either the spindle motor or the drive controller board. Those are both better news than something like a head crash, which definitely damages the platter(s) and kills at least some of your data.

Since your HDD is in a desktop, if the spindle motor has a mechanical problem, it's probably because the bearings have seized. (Your computer didn't fall or get knocked hard somehow, did it? If so, then the shaft might actually be bent or broken, especially if it's a Seagate drive.) If the bearings have seized, you would have heard grinding/whining sounds.

If the controller board (the PCB on the drive) is the problem, you might have gotten an error message saying something like "Hard drive failure" and/or heard some clicking sounds. How far into the boot process did you get before you hit the wall? Was the computer able to recognize the hard drive?

If we can narrow the problem down some more, that will help in figuring out the best way to try to recover your data. I also want to see if we can make sure it's not a head crash. If it IS, there's really nothing you can do but give it to a data recovery service. They'll need to do surgery on it in a cleanroom facility.

Thanks guys. Sorry for the slow reply, been out running errands all day. TW I will look into, just had a pleasant chat with Brojer an he explained the process to me on getting windows. Can use the wife's laptop for it, she wants me to have mine back. lol.

FL..no worries the drive is chilling here in front of me, not in the machine. I stopped playing with it after my post, then spent time finding out all my other ones were shot and badly going by the sounds. lol. I think it's like you said, as it's a low whirrr, like a car wanting to turn over, but can't. Thinking I got a replacement solved. Once again forum folks looking out for each other. Much thanks. My cooler is always open, an you know who you are. Tho it stands to the vast majority of my forum members. I won't be messing with the old drive anymore. I hope it doesn't need to be sent out. Will be talking with a computer buddy tomorrow when he's back on the beach to see if he can help with the recovery process.

Mech! Good to see ya back buddy. Don't scare us again like that. An thanks for taking time fro recuperating to reply. not sure if it's a bearing, just know it doesn't want to boot. Silly computes, an they wonder why I like smashing them. ha ha! Maybe it herd me one time..

As always thank you folks for the advice. It's helped or will. An for olddude..we ever get that scrap convention, Ill bring a long a few laptops for plinking practice..stress relief booth!

FL keep an eye on the quotes...I got one involving Linux you might think is amusing.

Stay safe folks, an I'm toasting you all with a cold one from the cooler.

Sirscrapalot - Laptops were designed to annoy me, I swear.

I think one of ya asked the type of HD..sorry forgot it in my reply. It's a western Digital 500gb.

Thanks again one an all!

Sirscrapalot - Sending his old hard drive to the great scrap yard in the sky...soon, once recovery has been determined or not.

Originally Posted by Sirscrapalot

I think one of ya asked the type of HD..sorry forgot it in my reply. It's a western Digital 500gb.

Sir, which WD model number is it? It might have fluid dynamic bearings instead of ball bearings.

There are 2 different things you could try, depending on the type of bearings:

(1) Fluid dynamic bearings: Warm up the bearings with a blow dryer. This might free up the spindle long enough for you to copy your data onto another drive.

(2) Ball bearings: Put the drive in your freezer for 2-3 hours. The metal might contract enough for you to be able to operate the drive long enough to copy your data, but this "fix" won't last long, since the drive heats up fast once it starts spinning. So you'll have to work fast to grab your data. Another risk with this is that if there's any moisture and dust particles inside the drive, the water will condense around the dust and could land on the platter. That could cause a head crash.

Aside from those 2 things, the only other way I know of to fix a seized spindle involves opening up the hard drive. That really should only be done in a cleanroom, which means you would have to give it to a data recovery service, and that is expensive. (>.<)

Fl, thank you. Hopefully wont come to a clean room, but preparing for the worst. It's a WD WD5000AAKS - 00V6A0 so it says under model. 500gb 16 cache if that helps. No huge clanking on the inside, just a real low whirr type, before it tries again when the computer is turned on. Thinking your right on the spindle. I won't open it for the reasons you mentioned. Read about it a little after your reply. Heh.


Anyhow thank you! Oh an TW it's windows 7 home premium. Sorry I neglected that before from your second reply.

Sirscrapalot - I got friends in low places, where the whiskey flows an the beer chases.. - Garth Brooks, Low Places..or something like that.

FL you are the tops. Thanks for the links, got them saved away to use. That sound was likely the closest so far. My hd the sound is

very low. I had to put my ear to teh case to hear it. I know I;m being terrible trying to describe it.


Sirscrapalot - I've seen turtles and snails move faster then this laptop

Originally Posted by miked

Sorry to steal the tread a little but you can run Linux(I am using Ubuntu now) along with any windows OS. At start up it will ask which you want to use. When you download Ubuntu it will ask you if you want to run it along with the windows OS or completely do away with the windows installation. I highly recommend Ubuntu. Mike.

Thanks, Mike. I'm thinking about dual boot with one of the Linux distros and Win7 on a nice used laptop, and keeping Win8.1 on the new laptop so I can occasionally torture myself and keep up with the times. I don't want to mess around with installing Linux on that one.

derail away Mike. Lest it's about computers!

An FL the Linux quote was actually for Unix. But I got some Linux ones..they'll be in the quote thread.

sirscrapalot - If you have any trouble sounding condescending, find a Unix user to show you how it's done. - Scott Adams

allow me to just butt in and take over this thread.

To anyone who ever questioned if Sirscrappypoopoo is real ur not, I think he is. That, or I was talking to some whacked out alien last night.

that is all.

You may now return to whatever mindless activity you were engaged in.