View original (French)

Hard drive detected then disappears

Flo -  
 Flo -
Hello,

I got my friend's laptop which seems to be dead (maybe due to the issue that follows)

I connected the laptop's hard drive to my PC as an external drive to recover the data. However, upon startup, the hard drive seems to be recognized but it "forces" me to format the drive to make it usable. The system partition of the drive is recognized but then disappears.
I cannot format the drive since it tells me it is read-only, and after that, the drive disappears, with no trace of it in Windows Explorer or in the Device Manager.

Can the problem come from the drive? Is there a way for me to recover the data?

Thank you in advance

Configuration: Windows 7 / Firefox 43.0

1 answer

  1.
    Sannin_WD Posted messages 4316 Status Member 758
     
    @Flo, hello :)

    If the goal of the manipulation is to try to access the contents of the HDD, I would suggest declining the formatting invitation that Windows is offering you, otherwise the data will be lost.

    When the HDD disappears from Disk Management and Windows Explorer, can you see the HDD in the BIOS? Does the HDD continue to spin in the external casing (do you hear noises, do you feel the vibrations of the spinning)? I'm asking this because if a drive is detected in the BIOS, it means the machine physically recognizes it. This already gives some clues for consideration.

    Otherwise, connecting the HDD directly to the motherboard of a PC with multiple SATA ports would be the optimal option to see what happens up close...

    As for data recovery, if the HDD is physically recognized by the computer it is connected to, we could consider using a Linux Live CD to access the contents...

    Let me know what happens next, please :)
    See you later

    -----
    If you found the answer to your question, feel free to click on Resolved to help other members with the same issue ;)
    1
    1. Flo
       
      Good evening Sannin_WD, first of all thank you for your reply!

      I was unable to check the BIOS, I just realized that my PC no longer offers me access to it at startup...

      So I connected the HDD alone via SATA on my desktop, same issue as on the laptop at startup. Windows is launching a recovery process that seems endless.

      The HDD is spinning (or at least trying to), the problem is that I can hear it start and then slow down, restart, etc...

      I'm trying to boot the laptop with another clean HDD to see how it goes, I'm afraid that the HDD is dead.
      0