I turned my PC off, went to bed, started it in the morning and it stopped at the BIOS POST screen. It stated there was some sort of S.M.A.R.T error, that data loss was imminent and I should backup my data immediately. The drive no longer would boot into Windows. I plugged the drive into another PC to see if I could access it as storage. The PC started, there was no BIOS POST screen shown, and the monitor was on but displaying a black screen. I turned off the PC, unplugged the drive, turned the PC back on, and the computer POSTs and behaves normally. No idea what is up with this drive. I don't need much data off of it, maybe 100MB. Do I need to take it to a specialist to do this or is there something else I could try on my own?
Do you have a USB to SATA cable (with power)? With that, you can attach the drive to another PC and copy off what you need. I would also check for malware. Also, check the SMART and see if you have any flags.
I do not have a USB to SATA cable with power. Though I just read about Hot Plugging and it turns out my Motherboard has settings for it. So I thought I would give that a try. While I was down there plugging it in, I could hear a repeating sound that almost sounds like beeping. I assume this indicates a mechanical issue of some sort. I have turned off my drive for the time being. Hot plugging did not cause the drive to show up in Windows. I am thinking it isn't even operational at this point.
Let's see. Make an Linux USB thumb drive. Linux Mint should be enough. Connect the faulty HDD on the motherboard. Turn off the SMART detection on the motherboard. Boot the motherboard with that USB and open file explorer and copy the data if it is detected. But copy the files without hurry and by directories and files. DO NOT select everything and copy those files. Take your time. IF that HDD makes the same noise try another SATA cable, port and another SATA power connector from the PSU. Try again with the above mentioned suggestions. Good luck and keep us updated. Cheers!
OP, another approach is to detect and explore the faulty hdd with Testdisk. While in a live medium - Linux install Testdisk (will be installed only temporarly) and run the testdisk from the terminal as root. For so many times a hdd who wouldn't open and show files in a GUI, would open in testdisk and copy the files without any issues. The only thing is to know what is what, because hdd under Linux will be named differently -your C: will be maybe sda1, where sda is thw main volume. To cheat and be sure what is what open Gparted while are it, you will see in a GUI exactly the hdd, partitions and all with their corresponding names.
I broke down and contacted a specialist to have my drive looked at. The read-write heads have settled on the platter surface and have become stuck to it. The beeping sound I described is the motor trying to turn, but is being stopped from spinning. This is the most expensive type of hard drive repair because it requires opening the drive. It is also possible the drive will require repair before the data can even be retrieved. He said it would be $500 if the drive didn't require repair and $1,000 if it did. So at this time I am just accepting my losses and learning a hard lesson. In the future I might have the data retrieved but that kind of expenditure is simply beyond my capability at this time.
It's worth noting that for your $500 or $1000, all the 'specialist' is going to do is exactly what is shown on the videos above.
Been there and feel your pain but if the data is worth then you just need to get it done. next time “hopefully” it will go better not really sure I am any wiser myself but I try good luck I hope it works out
