Whenever I upgrade a hard disk, I pop the old one into an external case for use as a USB drive. This is really a nice use for drives that might otherwise need something more thorough than FORMAT. I am looking at a drive that is one of the early such transplants. The USB cable has two USB-A connectors on the far end from the drive enclosure. When I plug this into a USB port, it is invisible to Windows DISKMGMT.MSC program. Any suggestions to figuring out if this drive is just finished?
You might check to see if spinrite (grc.com) can do something with this. I don't know if it handles USB attached drives... it was developed to help fix/diagnose failing installed drives. It isn't free. Someone in the forum may have a suggestion
ReplyDeleteWith the enclosure you describe, both USB-A ports need to be connected to supply enough power to spin the hard drive. You should be able to feel it spin up. If that does not start, you would need to connect the drive to a external docking station like "SABRENT USB 3.0 to SATA External Hard Drive Docking Station for 2.5" or 3.5"' HDD, SSD" or plug it into another desktop computer as a secondary drive. Both of these have more power to the drive than USB ports can supply. If it doesn't spin up then for DISKMGMT or DISKPART to see it, it is probably dead.
ReplyDeleteOldie drives such as this I've had some success giving the case a horizontal twist after plugging in, in hopes that a little inertia can overcome the stickiness of the spindle bearings that haven't moved in so long.
ReplyDeleteMy other technique has been to put the whole thing in a ziplock bag in the freezer overnight. For drives from a certain era, I had good success when the dead drive was cold in making it spin and be readable.