Member Avatar for abu taher

my ide hard drive not work. when I connect it other pc it not show. I don't know why? is it possible to recover data ? if yes then how? another thing is it possible to repair and what you are suggestion me (about repair).

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by mjdodd

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— stop using the drive as-is and avoid any write or repair attempts until you know whether the failure is logical (filesystem/partition) or physical (motor/heads/PCB). was on the right track with a Linux environment; below is a practical triage + safe first-recovery workflow that fills in the missing details.

Quick triage (do these first)

  1. Check power and connectors: a 3.5" IDE (PATA) drive needs a 4‑pin Molex power plug and the 40‑pin ribbon cable. If you used a cheap IDE→USB adapter, confirm it provides external power for a 3.5" drive.
  2. Listen and feel: does the drive spin up quietly, spin then click, or not spin at all? “No spin” usually means power/motor or PCB failure. Repeated clicking usually means head/media damage.
  3. Try another machine internally as a single drive with correct jumper settings (set to single/master per the drive label). Do not initialize or format if Windows prompts you.

If the drive spins and is visible to BIOS but not to the OS
Use a Linux live USB (SystemRescue, Ubuntu live, etc.) and make a block image of the whole disk before any recovery attempts. Imaging preserves the original and lets you work from a copy.

Example safe imaging workflow with GNU ddrescue:

# first, copy without heavy retries
ddrescue -f -n /dev/sdX /mnt/backup/drive.img /mnt/backup/drive.log

# then attempt to rescue bad sectors (use a few retries)
ddrescue -d -r3 /dev/sdX /mnt/backup/drive.img /mnt/backup/drive.log

Replace /dev/sdX and mount points as appropriate. Work on the image file; use TestDisk to repair partitions or PhotoRec/file-carving to extract files from the image. Never run chkdsk/format on the failing drive before imaging.

If the drive is not detected or shows mechanical failure
Do not open the disk outside a cleanroom. PCB swaps sometimes work but require an identical model and, often, ROM/firmware transfer; this is delicate and can destroy data if done incorrectly. For clicking motors or non-spinning platters, stop and consult a professional recovery lab — they have cleanrooms and the right tooling.

Recommended immediate steps: verify power/jumpers, try internal connection on a working desktop, image the disk with ddrescue if it spins, recover from the image with TestDisk/PhotoRec, and choose a professional service if the problem appears mechanical or the data is critical.

Member Avatar for mjdodd

Have you tired booting the computer from a linux boot and then trying to see the hard USB drive? Sometimes the boot sector on the drive can go awol! Other idea to try a partition manager and see if you can see the drive. If not then it may be possible via specialist software (like the old fashioned norton) to read the drive direct.
BOL
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