where can i get my computer fixed? or can i?

[minx]

so someone not named minx dropped my laptop. it no longer recognizes that it has a hard drive. this is really bad b/c all of my 2007 business tax info is on the computer. i could conceivably recreate that info but it would take days that i do not have to do it.

 

is it possible to salvage this info? or should i just toss the damn thing in the garbage and beat someone up to vent my frustration?

[rob]

Hmm, are you sure the hard-drive is broken? Possibly is it just disconnected by the fall? How do you know it doesn't recognize the drive?

 

What does it say when it boots?

 

Can you hear the harddrive spinning when you power on?

 

If your drive IS dead, you can still get the data from it (most likely) but the question at that point is, how much are you willing to pay?

[minx]

hmmm...i haven't checked on it in a while this happened a few weeks ago and i was hoping the individual in question might have gotten it looked into by now but i can't wait any longer.

 

it could be disconnected. when it tries to boot, there is an error message about not detecting the hard drive. can't remember if i can hear it spinning or not. i'll check tonight.

 

i'm willing to try and pay a fair bit. it would take DAYS to recreate the info from paper.

[rob]

I think it's possible the drive just needs to be reseated. When you get home, turn the beast on and listen closely for noise from the drive. You should hear it spinning. If it's damaged, it might sound a bit like shaking a box of nails.

 

If you hear nothing, my bet is it just needs to be reconnected.

 

If it IS damaged, you're probably looking at a few hundred dollars to get your data, give or take.

 

[minx]

thanks rob. where would i take it to get it reseated if that's all it needs?

[rob]

Well, if you're brave, you could do it yourself. What kind of laptop is it?

 

Or, you could take it to the computer repair shop of your choice. It's an easy job, if that is the only problem.

[minx]

its a toshiba. i'm not sure how brave i am but its not working now, i guess i can't make it much worse

[G-spotter]

Even if it won't spin you can take it to a forensic data recovery place and get it extracted and manually spun.

[minx]

i'll have to do a cost benefit analysis of that. do you think if i get audited i could just hand the IRS the broken hard drive as my supporting documentation?

[builder206]

i'll have to do a cost benefit analysis of that. do you think if i get audited i could just hand the IRS the broken hard drive as my supporting documentation?

 

For many years my sister was an IRS auditor in the oil & gas section. Based on what she told me of the work, my guess would be No.

[STP]

Could be a defective drive head. Here's some basic info plus a WAVE file of the noise that a normal head makes.

 

http://www.datarecovery-europe.com/ursachen/koepfe.htm

[sobo]

I'm no computer expert, but I recently took out the hard drives of a coupla old boat anchors lying around the house and turned them into external hard drives. If the hard drive ain't damaged, couldn't you just do that, and access your data from another computer via the USB port?