Computer go boom.
So after a very enjoyable weekend in Whistler, we came home to a broken computer... !
It was working on Friday morning before we left. When I turned it on Sunday night, I get the message that there is a disk error. I boot up with the Vista CD, run a repair and it comes back basically saying that I have no hard drive. Which is funny because I'm pretty sure there was a hard drive in there 2 days earlier...
I pop open the case, re-set the cables and presto magico... still nothing. 
hmmm.
So me being the computer wizard that I am... (ahem), crack open the case of my old PC still collecting dust under my desk and see about putting the 'bad' hard drive in that one to at least try and access the 40 gig of photos I have stored on it. But naturally, my broken HD is an SATA drive and my old PC only supports IDE. As my French brothers say... ZUT ALORS!
So unless any readers out there have a better suggestion (and don't say 'go buy a mac'), I need to run to Best Buy to buy an SATA hard drive enclosure so I can plug it into my other PC via the USB and see if it is truly fried.
And if it is completely fried, we'll you'll know because everyone will hear the faint sound of someone screaming immediately followed by the sound of a gun shot. Then silence.
March 2nd, 2009 - 14:40
No backup eh ?
Just take your busted hard drive to work and pop it into a machine off the network grid, to check it.
That said if you get an enclosure, it will motivate you to use it as a backup solution so it can’t be bad.
Good luck.
This would be the worst nightmare for me.
I am dying to say it. and I bet that Mark is too, But I will refrain.
I am curious
Do you shoot in RAW these days?
March 2nd, 2009 - 16:10
Mr Shnewt,
I have more experience than I care to admit recovering data off hard drives as long as there’s nothing physically wrong with it. Give me a shout if you want a hand with that.
Dan
March 2nd, 2009 - 16:11
If ONE MORE PERSON tells me I need to buy a Macbook Pro, I’m gonna scream.
I’m sorry to hear of your computer issues. That sucks
Wish I had answers for you.
Hey — Did you guys get my Rock Band evite?
Tanya (aka NetChick)’s last blog post..It’s a Monday… Hide the knives!
March 2nd, 2009 - 17:58
Bruno,
You can’t say buy a mac because I beleive this is a hardware issue, not an OS issue. And I don’t care what you say, Apple harware is no better than… anything else. Its just sexier…
And I’m shooting in RAW and Jpeg. My camera resords both at the same time. I love RAW.
T,
Eeks! I did. I’m waiting to hear if we’re going to have our project wrap party this Friday. If not, then I’m there!
shnewt’s last blog post..Computer go boom.
March 2nd, 2009 - 17:59
Thanks Dan. If my other computer can see it, I should be OK. I just can’t imagine why my fairly new computer no longer sees the hard drive.
Could this be a motherboard problem? Or for sure is it a hard drive issue?
March 2nd, 2009 - 20:43
Three words: Network Attached Storage
Learned my lesson the hard way as well. You’d think, being involved with computers for so long, that we’d have figured this out a long time ago… but clearly we’re slow learners.
By a NAT, get some good backup software, set it up to do it weekly and forget about it.
Roger’s last blog post..Simple Pleasures
March 2nd, 2009 - 22:27
There are usually two things that go on a PC: power supplies and hard drives. Sure, sometimes a CPU fan will die and a processor fries itself, or even a 17″ Daytek CRT monitor explodes in a puff of blue smoke, but motherboards rarely die. Oh, except in my sister’s Macbook, 2 weeks after the warranty expired.
I just had a power supply go boom on me last week. Fortunately, it was a quality power supply and it died without taking out all his friends. No other damage.
You might want to consider making a Knoppix CD. You can see if the drive is still there without going through too many hoops. When my wife’s HD died, only the boot sector was badly damaged, and I was able to pull off most everything else.
March 3rd, 2009 - 13:49
Cobian Backup.