Topic: Urgent PC Help Needed

[Stogi]

I think HDD has failed. I can't boot PC past the Dell logo. I just get a blinking underscore.

So I restart and try again, but every time I try it tells me that a there maybe a SMART failure on my HDD and that a failure maybe imminent and then a blinking underscore. So yeah, I think it's fucked.

What I'm wondering is, if my HDD is divided, can I format where windows is, reinstall and be able to access the other portion? I ask this cuz I have a **** ton of files, mainly my music collection, that I haven't backed up.

If that doesn't work, is there anyway to get the information off of there? Maybe buy an HDD usb port?

[Stogi]

Well I'm going to go get drunk in honor of all my music I probably lost. ****.

[Morari]

Your best bet would be to download a nice live Linux CD and try to access the partitions that way. It sounds like it's more of a hardware failure than a software failure though.

[BranDonk Kong]

Try putting your HDD in the freezer for a little bit (in a moisture proof bag) and dry it out thoroughly before using it again (really other than the controller board on the outside, there's not much that can get water damage on the inside). Honestly this will help with HDD failures quite often - more likely than not the drive is still fucked, but if you can at least get your important data off of it, then it's worth the hassle. Reinstalling Windows won't help (at least not at this point), as you have a hardware  failure on your hands. You can also try using an SATA to USB adapter on another computer and accessing your data that way. Once you get to the part of the drive where the actual damage is (assuming it's not the controller board or something), then you'll notice Windows Explorer just kind of sits there like it's going to show you the contents of the folder or partition, but basically freezes up. Remember where that happens, reboot, and avoid that part of the drive and get whatever you can off of it.

[ShyGuy]

I know a place that will recover your data for about $700

[Stogi]

**** it. I've come to terms with. *Takes another puff*

I don't know if I can find all that music again, but I'm going to try. Plus, it's a great opportunity to upgrade my harddrive from the measly 320 gb I had before.