Computer won't start with a hard drive in it

[GoldenEagle]

My dad had a computer that fried about six months ago. He just bought a new one, but he had data on the old hard drive that he did not back-up. I told him I would try to get the info off the hard drive, but so far no computer will boot with the drive plugged in.

I have tried it in three different computers, including mine that I built. Its is an IDE drive. I plugged it in on my computer (which has three hard drives already in it, all SATA) and the computer will not turn on.

It is unusual for a computer to not turn on at all with a bad hard drive in it, correct?

[DaddyTorgo]

boot to linux and try to mount it there?

[gstelmack]

I had one (hard drive) that did the same thing. The drive is shorting something out.

[gstelmack]

boot to linux and try to mount it there?

If the computer won't turn on at all, Linux won't help.

[DaddyTorgo]

ohhh i missed that the whole computer wouldn't turn on

[GoldenEagle]

I had one (hard drive) that did the same thing. The drive is shorting something out.

Any fix?

[ozias]

The computer should still turn on with a bad drive, so you can try these out.

It may be hard to do, but see if you can locate another drive that's the same model and works, then just swap the circuit board and see if the "dead" one will work afterwords.

It sounds like that board is the culprit, and if none of the computers will even turn on with that drive hooked up, there is something very wrong with the circuit board.

Also, remove or unhook drives from your system and just have the "dead" drive hooked up and see if it will boot. You may have to check the BIOS to make sure IDE is enabled, as sometimes IDE will be turned off, due to using just sata.

[CU Tiger]

Any fix?
Probably not a cost effective one.
It is almost certainly causing a dead short, at which point your best option is going to be disk recovery and having it laced into a new HD.....if his prize invention is there, its possible

[MizzouRah]

Try to find an older pc with an IDE drive as the primary so you can test it again in a comparable situation. If you still have issues, I do know that you can get a like drive and replace the circuit board on most IDE drives - and I've had that fix the drive before.

[M GO BLUE!!!]

The computer should still turn on with a bad drive, so you can try these out.

It may be hard to do, but see if you can locate another drive that's the same model and works, then just swap the circuit board and see if the "dead" one will work afterwords.



Make sure it has the same firmware. I saved data on a drive that fried the board by this method.

[Airhog]

I just fixed a computer for my brother in law that was doing the saem thing. If the drive was installed, the computer would'nt boot. Put it a new drive and It works fine. It was a barracude 500gig drive, which I have heard are pieces of shit.