TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: Data Recovery Question From:doc -at- edwordsmith -dot- com To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Thu, 26 Jan 2006 13:58:43 -0800
On Thursday 26 January 2006 10:48, Martin Bosworth wrote:
> Later on his drive got fried (I don't know how, though I've been
> trying to find out), and won't boot up.
Here are a few ideas that I always try on my equipment when a drive goes
astray. Neither of these techniques has ever made things worse when I use
them, and both can produce a satisfactory recovery, but of course, the usual
caveats and stamdard disclaimers etc. Try them in order--#1 first, ...
BTW Martin, your IT department (assuming an IT dept) may want to do these, and
the Windows Recovery Console things (assuming Windows), instead of having you
prowling around in the equipment. I dunno about you, but I've had IT people
get pretty territorial (and even scary) when I open a company owned machine
or mess with configurations.
1. Disconnect the drive and boot the machine, go into the BIOS and check that
everything looks OK as far as drives are concerned.
BTW, not all BIOSes manage hard drives the same way, so check around for a
screen that shows installed drives, a screen that sets drive priority, a
screen that sets the boot drive...
Save the BIOS settings (they should all show no references to the missing
drive), then shut down, reconnect the drive, and boot again, look at the BIOS
settings for evidence that the drive is detected and set up to boot (or not,
whatever you need), and then proceed to boot up into the OS. Back it up
immediately if you get results!
2. Note the manufacturer and model of the drive, and go to the manufacturer's
web site and download the utilities they provide for your drive.
The useful utility you're looking for will be a free download--get the
latest version, read the instructions, make the diskette or cd as directed,
and then boot the utility disk (with the fried drive in the machine).
Spend the time needed to test the drive media and perform all of the
diagnostics. DON'T do any format things or boot sector or master boot record
writes unless you understand what you're doing (and/or your IT says it is OK,
OK?). Just do the media tests and diagnostics.
Note any error codes emitted by the diagnostics and tests, you might find
something to explain what went wrong with the drive.
As with the other procedure, back up immediately if you get results.
Now Shipping -- WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word! Easily create online
Help. And online anything else. Redesigned interface with a new
project-based workflow. Try it today! http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l