Phillips series spe3000 500 gb external hard drive

[geo940]

Hi my name is George

 

I have a problem with my external hard drive in that it will not boot up or is even recognized by my computer now. I came down to check my machine this morning to find microsoft essentials still running and a couple of messages popping up saying roughly that file $j:/ (the rest I missed and could not read) was lost and couldn't be recovered, ''J'' is the main drive path to my external drive. I stopped Microsoft Essentials running and it was then that I saw the the drive wouldn't boot up. I am running windows xp with service pack 3, I tried 2 or 3 system restore points going back 2 or 3 days but it did no good so I looked at one about 2 weeks ago but it said that the drive was not plugged in at that time and any changes made would be irreversible. Not knowing if the file was missing off my computer or the or the Phillips hard drive I decided to leave it for the time being. I have been in touch with Phillips Support Group but didn't get much help there. is there anyone out there who has had a problem similar to this and if so any help you offer me get back into my external drive would be greatly appreciated as my computer knowledge on these sort of problems is a bit limited.

 

Regards - geo940

[Synapse]

Probably a good idea to plug the drive in to another computer, if it works, the computer is at fault, if it does not, the drive is at fault.

 

We can take it from there.

[geo940]

Hi Synapse sorry about the delay in replying but have to wait til my son comes home from his work to borrow his computer. will let you know the results after the test

 

George

[geo940]

Hi Synopse just plugged my drive into my sons computer running windows 7 not xp and no response, would windows 7 recognise the disc??

 

Geo940

[Plastic Nev]

Yes Windows7 should detect it just the same as any other operating system George, so it looks like the drive itself has died I am afraid.

Synapse may have some idea's for trying to get into it.

 

Though I have never needed to try this, I have heard that on rare occasions, freezing the drive in the kitchen freezer has managed to briefly get in to recover data.

Wrap the drive in cling film or a poly bag to prevent condensation from forming inside, and then leave it in the freezer for at least four hours. If it does run up, it may die as it warms up again though.

 

Nev.

[Synapse]

It seems either the drive or housing is probably faulty. If you can, remove the drive from its case and plug it in to your computer (when switched off) as a slave drive. You may need an extra cable, so if you are unsure, if you can get the drive out of its housing post the drive make and model here and we can work out what it is.

 

Also, I should say if the drive is faulty, and does not show now you are unlikely to get much from it without professional help.

 

Are its contents valuable to you?

[geo940]

Hi Synapse it seems weird that a few software files are lost and the drive will not sign on. It is a philips spe3000 series 500 gb, the only screws I can find on it are two philips at the top end were all the switch gear and plug in points are.

 

Regards Geo940

[Plastic Nev]

Hi George, I have found the user manual here=

 

http://www.manualslib.com/manual/178545/Philips-Spe3031cc-00.html?page=4#manual

 

Looking at that and the photo of it, though no view of the plug in points end, but going by your description of that, those two screws, once removed the whole unit should then slide out of the case.

 

Once out, you can visually check any connections and internal plugs and sockets. Further dismantling to remove the drive from the chassis will then be needed, in order to connect it directly into the computer as suggested by Synapse earlier.

 

Nev.

[geo940]

Hi Nev thanks for that when I get some me time am going to try and see what is inside the drive. Will let you all know about when done

 

Regards Geo940

[Plastic Nev]

I think you may find the actual drive unit will be plugged into a socket on the chassis or main board, I did hear of someone who dropped an external drive, found it had then failed, fearing the worst they opened it up to find the jolt had just dislodged the drive from its socket, that was all that was wrong.

 

Nev.

[geo940]

Hi Nev it looks like my last post didnt get onto the site, sorry for the delay in answering but have been having hospital treatment and was not up to anything. Well I took my disc to a mate of my sons who has his own business and he tried to repair my drive, his conclusion was that it was knackered as he couldnt get it to wind up even after taking it out of the caddy and trying to slave it to his computer. So I guess its condemned to the bin, funny what losing a few files can do as I didnt drop or bang it so I think its a software fault, anyhow many tks for all of your help no doubt will be calling again in the near future

 

Gegards George.

[Plastic Nev]

Hi George, in actual fact the missing files will be the files actually on the hard drive which are there in part for the drive to be recognised and read.

If the drive fails, then obviously those files cannot be seen or read by the computer. The computer as in this case, recognises there is a device connected, but if the disk doesn't spin up, then nothing further can happen, hence why it couldn't find the files.

 

Hard drives can fail at any time and without any knocks or jolts to cause it, so it is unlikely it failed due to anything you have done, just one of those things I am afraid.

 

Hope you find another and longer lasting new one to replace it.

 

Nev.