hard drive hdd not being recognized

Clarifications

I:E, Windows, Linux, Snow Leopard (Apple Mac)?

It's called Drive Fitness Tester and is available here

http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm#DFT

Grab the DOS version and replace it into your original NB and test it. If it fails that test remove it and test on the second NB. If it still fails the test the Drive is dead and gone to [b]Silicon Heaven[/b] so you really need a Data Recovery House to recover the data and it's not going to be cheap.

If the drive works but the Data is [b]Important[/b] you should still send it to a Professional Data Recovery House as the more that you mess with it the more expensive and less likely it will be to get a full recovery of the Data.

However if it would just be nice to recover some data you can throw one of the many Data Recovery Applications at it.

Here is a short list of the better ones but it is by no means a complete list of all the available software.

http://tinyurl.com/273ay5

http://tinyurl.com/rmvrv

http://tinyurl.com/yvrsl

http://tinyurl.com/yyk8cm

http://tinyurl.com/382vm

http://tinyurl.com/ynwnel

http://tinyurl.com/nc4kx

http://tinyurl.com/2wox7l

http://tinyurl.com/374d8b

http://tinyurl.com/djw6u

http://tinyurl.com/f73se

http://tinyurl.com/8bd3f

http://tinyurl.com/afu2j

While the last 2 are from the same company they are very different products. Win Hex should only be considered for use by someone who knows Hex Inside Out while Davory is a great cheap General Purpose Application.

Personally I prefer the On Track Option but it's anything but cheap. However because I use this type of software a lot it's paid for itself many times over by now, for a cheaper option Spin Rite from Gibson Research or Stella have both very good reputations by other TR members.

Col

One of my favorite tools is UBCD4WIN
http://www.ubcd4win.com/
It runs from memory and the CD not the hard drive. It will in most instances see a hard drive that can not be seen by the BIOS. It also has great tools to help you clean, defrag and delete/rebuild the MBR.
If your computer has a virus/malware infection it will help you remove it. I am sure there are great articles here on it.
One tip use a USB drive and connect it before booting to the CD. The UBCD will see it as a drive and allow you to copy your files to it.
I have used this on many computers that were infected or thought to be unbootable and recovered most if not all of the user?s files.
It is simple process to down load and run the UDCD but you need the XP install CD with at least SP2 on it. It will create an ISO file that you will need a CD/DVD writing program like Nero or Roxio to write to the CD/DVD to make the disk.
Give it a try.

If you can see the drive in My Computer, you might try running CHKDSK. It's a real long shot, but you have nothing to lose.

so i threw a knoppix attempt at it. i know next to nothing about it, but i had a guy helping me that knew some stuff. we tried it on the toshiba and it coulding find the usb attached hdd despite a bunch of different comman attempts. then i tried knoppix in the dell with the hdd just in the bay, and it didnt come up as showing any hard drive was installed at all.

i mean, the thing runs, do sata drives have any kind of controller that could be out? i just feel like if its mechanically working, the entire hard drive shouldnt just completely stop working.