Pulling data from a PC hard drive

ziomatrixacs · #1 September 24th, 2008, 08:41 PM

Ok guys.. I have an Ibook G4 with 30gb HD 256mb of ram and 1.2ghz processor on OS 10.4.. I also have a PC desk top with a 40gb HD, 256 mb of ram and 1.5ghz processor. The PC is now saying "Operating system not found" and I tried using the windows CD to fix the disc, but it says No hard drive detected. BIOS says no master or slave primary drive is detected. So, I have a possibly dead hard drive in my PC. My mom has some invaluable pictures of a family member who passed away, and they are only on that HD. Is there a way I could use a program on my mac to pull the data off the hard drive? I will buy a fire wire if I must.

artov · #2 September 25th, 2008, 02:51 PM

It seems to be hardware problem, like loose data cable or something.

ziomatrixacs · #3 September 25th, 2008, 02:59 PM

It seems that way to me too, but I pushed the power and data cables in, and the hard drive spun up but it still said the same thing.

Id like to use my Ibook to get into that hard drive and take all my important data off..then just start over if I can.

ziomatrixacs · #4 September 25th, 2008, 03:00 PM

By the way, I tried using a windows CD to repair it and it says there is no hard dive being detected

ElDiabloConCaca · #5 September 25th, 2008, 05:25 PM

If there's physical damage to the hard drive (ie, a typical "crashed" hard drive), then it may not be accessible from the Mac-side, either -- so to begin with, don't get your hopes up.

You can remove the hard drive from the PC and put it in any old USB or FireWire external case, then hook that up to your Mac and see if the hard drive mounts. If so, great -- get the data off as quick as possible.

If it doesn't mount, then there's something wrong with the drive that may potentially not be fixable, and you'll have to resort to data recovery services like http://www.drivesavers.com. They're quite expensive, though -- so be prepared to pay an upward of maybe $1,000 for a single drive recovery. And even then, the data is not guaranteed to be recoverable.

You could take the easy route, though -- buy a new hard drive for the PC and restore the pictures from the backups that you keep.

ziomatrixacs · #6 September 25th, 2008, 11:32 PM

I took the hard drive out, and it did the same thing.. turns out the fan was making the loud noises I heard before.. The hard drive is silent.

ElDiabloConCaca · #7 September 26th, 2008, 08:37 AM

Silent... as in no sound at all? No spinning platters? No perceptible vibrations that would make you think it's working?

ziomatrixacs · #8 September 26th, 2008, 10:26 AM

Nothing, I know my I books HD makes a whirring noise when you wake it up but this HD makes no sound at all. Perhaps it is an electrical problem with either the power source or the HD.

If this helps at all, the computer would shut off by it self at random times and turn it self back on. Some times it would do this multiple times. I so not see any physical damage on the hard drive at all, so it would have to be on the inside. I dont have another power source to test it. My friend might let me have one of his old IDE HD's (Mine is an IDE) to see if I can install windows then run it. I just need another computer to be able to narrow things down.