Need Help!!!!!!!

[bugslsu9]

Ok, here's the problem. I was typing a post on DU, when my computer froze. I hit ctrl-alt-del multiple times, and nothing happened. As I did not not have any open files that were not saved, I cold rebooted. After the first "Gateway" screen, I got an error message about 5 lines down, if I was looking at a dos prompt saying: "A disk read error has occurred, please press ctrl-alt-del to restart", along with a weird clicking noise from the hard drive.

This computer is no more than 8 months old. it runs Windows XP home, has a 3.0 GHz P4 and 512 MB RAM. I took the hard drive home so I could, hopefully transfer the files I need (this is my work computer) and then I could reformat the drive tomorrow. Well, I cannot connect it. It is a Western Digital 200GB drive, and has a different connection than my computer at home.

Can someone please tell me what is going on, and can I fix the problem without having to erase and/or replacing the hard drive. The money is not the thing, it is the information stored on the drive I am worried about.

Please DU, help me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bemildred]

1. What sort of "different connection"? nt

[bugslsu9]

2. My computer at home

has the old ribbon connection to the hard drive. The HD that I took home has the 4 prong, and then a considerably smaller place, I think, to send the information from the drive to the RAM.

[bemildred]

3. There is no "4 prong" that I'm aware of, other than power jacks,

which come in two types. The "considerably smaller space" could
be a SATA connector, which is new, and as you say smaller. If in
fact it is the case that the HD you took home has no other data
connector than the SATA one, you would need a Motherboard that
supports SATA and a SATA cable to try to read it. The drives I've
seen of late support both SATA and the old IDE ribbon (in two
varieties) but I don't try to keep up.

So, I recommend:

1.) Make sure, if you haven't, there is no IDE ribbon connector.
2.) Consider finding a friend with a machine that supports SATA.
3.) Consider getting professional help with a SATA connector.

The principal thing you want to do, supposing the data on the drive
is "important" is find out whether or not it can be read by suitable
hardware. If it can, you can get your data back by copying, once
it's properly hooked up to suitable hardware. If not, you are
screwed.

[SlackJawedYokel]

4. SATA PCI card

Under $20.
http://store.yahoo.com/outletpc/c5535.html

Cletus

[bemildred]

6. That would do too. Thanks for the tip. nt

[SlackJawedYokel]

5. Ouch.

That clicking noise is your hard drive dying.
You could try taking it to a PC repair store and they could maybe salvage the data if it is important.

You could try using a PCI SATA card(see my other post) with your work hard drive to recover your data assuming the bad drive even functions enough to allow that.

Otherwise, I'd check my warranty to see if it covers house calls and/or replacements.

You'll undoubtably need a new hard drive.
Check http://www.salescircular.com/
Click on your state and then "Storage: Hard Drive".
Best deal is "Office Max/Western Digital WD 200GB Hard Disk Drive. 7200 RPM $74.88"

Best deal with no rebates is "CompUSA/Maxtor 250GB Hard Drive. 7200 RPM $129.99"

You might want to consider backing up your data to DVD or an external hard drive.

Good luck.
Cletus

[RC]

7. You have a bad hard drive.

The clicking noises are the clues here.
Do not bother to reformat. The drive is bad. You may get a few more months out of it, but is it worth it?
Gateway has a history of failing hard drives. Find a different brand of computer.

[jayfish]

8. Agreed,...

get as much data as possible off the drive and call the mfg. for a warranty replacement. If it is the clicking sound that I'm thinking of you might not be able to get anything from the drive.

Jay