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my portable hard drive thingy wont work on the lap top - HEEEELLLLP

3 replies

imaynotbeperfectbutimokmummy · 07/07/2009 09:47

My PC is broken, but i backed up stuff onto a portable hard drive, usb thingamajig. When i plug it into the pc it obviously gets the power from the pc. When i plug it into the lap top it doesn't seem to respond - no little light comes on and it doesn't show up on the computor. Is it that its got no power or is it that it is buggered because it was plugged into the computor when it "died". There is the option to use an external power source but i don't have an adaptor. I think i have an adaptor that i use for DDs vtec toy - might that work?

This is quite stressfull, ALL my pictures of DD since she was born are on there, as well as all DPs business stuff - he is going to flip!

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MrAnchovy · 07/07/2009 10:10

It is probably not buggered, it is just that the laptop USB port is not supplying enough power. Is the laptop plugged in to the mains? If so, and you don't have any battery saving settings that are limiting power to the USB port, you might need to get an adapter: it is unlikely that the one from the toy will work. Either that or use a different computer to load the stuff onto a USB memory stick, iPod, online storage or whatever so you can download to the laptop.

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imaynotbeperfectbutimokmummy · 07/07/2009 11:48

thanks mrs anchovhy - but, bollockybollocks! i tried it on another lap top that i know it has worked on in the past and it doesn't work.
Could it be that whatever has fried my pc has fried the hard drive (it was plugged in at the time). The hard drive on the computor is buggered but it does have power etc.

Is there ANYTHING I can do to retreive my data? I have EVERYTHING on there, pics of DD, pics of my dad (passed away). My PhD thesis (i do have a hard copy though). All our account info, including the tax return for this year that took me ages to do!

ARRRRRGHGHGHHHHHH

fucking computors!

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CruelAndUnusualParenting · 07/07/2009 20:41

I think your data is probably recoverable, but it may cost you a few pennies. I would guess that some of the electronics got fried, but the data is still on the disk.

It's possible that the enclosure electronics are fried, but the disk's electronics are fine. First thing I would try is taking the disk out of the enclosure and plugging it into another enclosure or directly into a PC. This would allow you to see if the disk is OK. Do you have any "geeky" friends you would trust to do this?

If the disk itself has fried electronics then it will need to go to a data recovery specialist. I haven't had to do this, so I'm not sure what it would cost. My best guess is about £100.

If you have a trusted local computer shop (not PC World) you could ask them to take a look?

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