calling all computer geeks

[Vinman]

My external hard drive has taken a dump and will not be recognized by my computer.

This is a basic IDE normal computer sized drive not a tiny laptop or flash external drive.

If I plug it directly to my PC mother board via the IDE cable and power supply it will spin but I don't think I am smart enough to get it to be installed correctly for the PC to see it.

I tried setting it up in the BIOS but I still don't think I have it right. Any ideas on how I can get my data? It is mostly music and some photos.

I may try taking it to Best Buy or someplace like that to see if they can recover this stuff for me.

[jrosendahl]

The probability of the USB interface breaking instead of the drive is very, very low. If you can't figure out how to get the computer to recognize the drive (it should automatically) you could buy a new external drive enclosure install the drive in that and see what happens (which will likely be nothing)

If you have to get data off a dead drive you need to go to a data recovery firm. They charge $$$$$$

[Vinman]

That's just it I don't think the drive is dead. It will spin when connected to an adequate power supply. But then again it is not been seen. I guess I'l just have to try the best buy geeks and see what happens. Maybe I can get one of the IT geeks at work to try it out for me...

I googled this drive i o magic 250 gb and it seems many have this problem. Some were able to get their data back by the method I tried. I'm just not geek-savy enough to be sure I am doing it right.

[jrosendahl]

If the drive is not spinning up in the enclosure then you may be right. Go buy a new enclosure, they are fairly cheep. If that fixes it you needed a new one anyway.

[crackboy]

did you see the drive in the bios? if so you probably just need to map the drive using drive manager, it won't automatically show up

i find a lot of those enclosures are hit or miss. i had one that wouldn't show up on windows but would on a mac

[jce338]

if you can direct connect through IDE or SATA and the drive is not recognized in windows, try booting into a pre-windows environment ie. VistaPE and see if your drive is recognized there. You might be able to save your files without paying for an expensive data recovery service.

[Vinman]

this is why I need a geek, you guy are over my head with this now. thanks anyway thought, it is appreciated.