Asked By
pyesta25
0 points
N/A
Posted on - 09/01/2011
I bought an IDE to USB cable and I have a spare 80 GB hard disk. I have been using the hard disk for my important files and downloads. After months of using it, my hard disk stopped  responding and I can't access my files anymore.
How can I recover my files and downloads? Is there any way to fix them?
Answered By
thomasp
0 points
N/A
#120674
Hard Drive Crash Using IDE to USB cable
Let me answer your question.
What do you mean by  your question that your hard disk is not responding ?
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First of all, we need to confirm whether your hard disk is damaged or not. If it is damaged, you need to go to a professional data recovery company to recover your data from the hard disk.
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You can check whether your hard disk is detected by the BIOS. If the BIOS can detect your hard disk, we can assume that the hard disk is at least working. Sometimes, BIOS detects hard disk but after that you will not able to access it. It will happen if the hard disk is damaged ( If you have any bad sectors [bad areas ] in your hard disk ).
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After log in to windows ( I hope that you have installed your operating system in different partition. go to computer management and check whether your hard disk is displayed there. Sometimes, we need to assign a drive letter for hard disks ( not always, there are several reasons for that and i will skip it ). If your hard disk doesn't have  a drive letter, you need to assign it. After assigning a drive letter,  you can access your hard disk partition (s).
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If it is not the problem, please change your cable and check.
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If the same problem exists after doing all of the above, just connect your hard disk in to another computer and check whether your hard disk is detected or not.
As I've said, if the problem is in your disk, you need to go to a professional data recovery company to recover your data.
Thanks.
Hard Drive Crash Using IDE to USB cable
So, you are using your spare hard drive as an external hard disk using an IDE to USB converter cable. Sounds good, but you need to enclose your hard disk to an external drive casing so that the bottom part of your hard disk which exposes the circuit board won't be touched by hand or accidentally get wet.
Try checking the IDE to USB converter cable you are using if it’s still working or kind of faulty already. Try using that cable on your other hard drive that is working. If the other drive works, then just replace the cable with a new one.
If you tested the cable and it’s working, try detecting the hard drive in your computer’s BIOS. If the hard drive is still detectable by the BIOS, use hard disk utility software to recover all your data in it. But if it’s undetectable already, well, you can’t do anything  but replace it.
