Ok what do I do now with my Locked Disc, One for the Computer experts please

[leon]

Hi guys I know I could have continued on in my last thread about my locked Hard Drive, but i thought i might start a new one to attract some other experts in the Computer Science

Well I have to say it is still locked and nothing will make it Boot.

I have had some fantastic suggestions from many fellow members and still the drive stays silent.

I have taken it through every recovery option that Win 8.1 has offered and have also tried to re/install the OS, but no, it didn't want to do that either.

I have tried to re/install on a new formatted disc and it didn't want to do that either.

I was told by some good people here to try and unlock it in Command prompt, which i did.

I tried to set the Correct Partion, Na

I tried to use Bootrec to Rebuild the BCD file, Na

I tried Chkdisk to see if all was OK on the disc, it was and told me after many hours no problems were found and no further attention was needed

I tried so many other things but no unlocked disc.

So what now chuck it away and start again with a brand new Disc and a new install might be the answer, because as sure as hell nothing else will work.

So guys if you can come up with a magic trick to unlock this disc please enlighten me.

Thanks for your earlier help and have a look at these photos that show there is something on this disc, it supposed to be healthy, but it wont let me in to see it

Leon

[Lognic04 (Logan)]

From the win install menu, you can create and delete partitions on your disk. If you think your data is well and truly gone, maybe you can try that.
First select the drive you want to format, you may have to press advanced options. From there, you should be able to click a "format" button, and if possible erase every partition on that drive. Then hit "new", and from there install windows.

[leon]

Thanks Logan, mate as i said i have been doing this for days and absolutely nothing works, however thanks for your input , i will however give it a try.

Leon

[Outcast (Carlton)]

Hey Leon,

I know you've already tried a heap of things but, I found this & maybe there is something here you haven't yet tried....

Hope it helps...

https://neosmart.net/wiki/the-drive-...led-is-locked/

[Ukastronomer (Jeremy)]

https://www.computerhope.com/lockhlp.htm

[leon]

Thanks Carlton, yes, I have actually used this tutorial and still it stays silent thank you for your suggestion though.

Leon

[FlashDrive (Poppy)]

A stab in the dark ... remove your hard drive from the Computer and replace it again, making note that it is ' seated ' in properly ...electronics and hardware can surprise you at times.

Who knows ...try it if you haven't ... !!

[highlander2287 (Brett)]

Also check any pins on cables and hard drive and make sure you haven't bent any whilst doing all this stuff.

Originally Posted by FlashDrive

A stab in the dark ... remove your hard drive from the Computer and replace it again, making note that it is ' seated ' in properly ...electronics and hardware can surprise you at times.

Who knows ...try it if you haven't ... !!

[leon]

Thanks Guys all fittings and electrics are fine, I have decided to leave the original C Drive unplugged and take it to my computer friend when i get back to Victoria, as this constant getting nowhere is driving me crazy.
With help from a member here i have successfully re/install Win 8.1 on a new HHD and am in the process of installing all my backed up stuff and programs.

You have all been very helpful, so thank you

Leon

[appiice (Ed)]

Hello Leon

I'm only guessing here so no offence meant.

If you have data on the drive you don't want to loose, and I'm guessing is is a SATA drive, you can buy fairly cheaply connectors that allow for a drive to be hot connected through a USB port.

Another way I have done it is to buy a portable harddrive and once opened I have swapped out the original HD and put one I wanted the data from, connected it to a USB ( 3 ) port and was able to get the data off the drive.

If you really really need to boot from the drive I think it is past it, if you are having this much trouble I don't think it is easily salvageable, it may be if you send it to a firm that can do that but I'm also guessing it isn't worth it.

Lastly, you could keep asking but all the advise ( good ) given hasn't helped get it booting again.

If you have a license for the OS and look on Youtube, there are descriptions of how you can still upgrade to Windows 10 at no cost.

I wouldn't trust the drive at this stage and would try and get any data I can then throw it away.

Ed

[RAJAH235]

Hi Leon,
I may have mentioned & posted this before, but here it is once more.
(People...please don't knock me or the program. It just works.)

Leon, go to grc dot com & get "spinrite" which is just ~180 kb & will cost you the measly sum of $89.00 US.
> https://www.grc.com/intro.htm

It's well worth it & will probably fix any problems you have with any types of drives.
I say "probably" because it has failed at times due to the HDD being mechanically "screwed" & unrecoverable.

HTH.

(NB: I have no affiliation to or with grc dot com or spinrite. I just use it.)

[leon]

Interesting Rajah, i will look at that who knows what can happen.

Leon

[StuTodd]

Hi Leon,

Have you tried booting from a Linux USB and see if that can access your data? There are some excellent repair tools available, such as TestDisk etc. Making a boot USB drive is easily done.

Stu

[leon]

Hi Stu, no I haven't tried booting from a Linux USB, however with the help from many here I have tried everything I could lay my hands on with no success.
I am away from home at the moment, but when I return home, if this virus thing doesn't stop me I will be chatting to my friend who is very good with this sort of stuff.

However that wont be till mid April I expect, thank you for your suggestions.

Leon

[Tronzer]

If you are having problems with the disk, then you can use Rekuva or Partition Recovery to fix them.

[Rerouter (Ryan)]

Personally I would start with verifying how bad the drive is. Something like HDtune free versions error check and SMART data.

You would need one of those usb to likely SATA adaptors. Then go see a freind to run it. If smart reports issues then it could well be a mostly dead drive. But would need to check to know for certain. E.g. crc errors is from a bad cable

[xa-coupe (Jeff)]

Originally Posted by StuTodd

Hi Leon,

Have you tried booting from a Linux USB and see if that can access your data? There are some excellent repair tools available, such as TestDisk etc. Making a boot USB drive is easily done.

Stu

This is what I would suggest. Boot to Linux, mount the HDD and see what it does. To a large degree if this doesn't work after all the other things then I think it might be time to face that it is pooched.


Having said that, I haven't read the original post but does the HDD actually spin (assuming it's not an SSD)? If it has platters then you will hear and feel them spin when attached to the power. If it doesn't spin then no amount of software will fix it ... but... you can put the HDD in a plastic bag, squeeze as much air out as you can and put in in the freezer for an hour or two. Take it out, connect it up and sometimes you'll get what you want.. but you have to be quick before the bearings heat up again and it jams.


If that doesn't work then you can pay a large amount for someone to take the thing apart and put the platters in another 'chassis' and hopefully get something off it.


Or you can take the thing outside and throw it as far as you can.