HDD trouble

willy-wilson

I have an external HDD and its saying that its unreadable, now ive been using it a while now and recently plugged it into a different usb port, witch unknowingly to me has a connection problem and has been connecting a disconnecting my HDD and now its saying its unreadble/currupt and need to be reformated. Theres a lot of importent info on there, is there any way of getting any of it back?

SyncViewS

Hi, if anything else fail, like trying it on another usb port/computer, the best bet is to get rid of the external case and plug the disc directly to your motherboard. I'm not 100% sure the serial ata interface (I assume the disc is recent) is the same for 3.5" and 2.5", but should be (anyone correct me if I'm wrong).

If you are a techy guy, go get your screwdriver, otherwise ask someone with a little more experience as your data is precious and don't want to risk unneeded damage.

willy-wilson

well i would be able to do that but.... laptop...

SyncViewS

So you don't have access to a motherboard connector, another computer and/or another external HDD case are needed to test your disc again.

I just browsed the net for some additional info and find out that even if the serial ata connector should be the same, 3.5 HDD are 12V powered, while 2.5 HDD are 5V powered. So, for anyone looking at this thread: NEVER attach a 2.5 HDD on a standard desktop PSU, even if the socket fits, it could be fried in an instant.

PolyHertz

From the wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ATA)

"Unlike PATA, the same connectors are used on 3.5-inch SATA hard disks for desktop and server computers and 2.5-inch disks for portable or small computers; this allows 2.5-inch drives to be used in desktop computers with only a mounting bracket and no wiring adapter."

So if you have a sata 3.5 hdd and want to connect it to your laptop directly you can just plug the sata cable in directly, and power it using the connection from the external bay.