first of all, thanks in advance for any help you provide, even the tiniest!

and then right to the situation:

I have 2 Western Digital 500GB HDDs, one of them works just as should, and looks like this in my systems boot screen:

download/file.php?mode=view&id=3592

but the second one stopped working some days ago, I started the system & it restarts every time after showing a fast Blue Screen of Death for half a second, right when windows logo with it's loading bar is showing

and the HDD shows up in boot screen like this:

download/file.php?mode=view&id=3593

and the same, in BIOS boot priority settings screen:

download/file.php?mode=view&id=3594

since Windows doesn't start when the second HDD is connected, I tried booting a Linux distribution from a USB flash disk to use TestDisk, but no success, when I run the program it only shows my USB which it's loading from and there's no other HDDs & partitions there

I can't think of any other way to find any sign of my HDD, & I have some 400 GBs of valuable data on it

so I'm looking forward to reading any hints on what should I do

I apperciate any help, & thanks very much

There is little chance of you fixing this yourself, and you are likely to need the services of a DR company - but just to gather some more background info:

- the "problem" drive was inside your system when it failed - is that correct? (I mean, this was not an external drive which failed, and then you moved it into your PC.)

- listen carefully compare the noises between the "problem" WD drive and the "good" WD drive, when power is applied. Does the "problem" WD drive make the same noises, as the "good" WD drive? Or is it completely silent (no spin-up)? Or is it making some repeated "click click" noises? Or something different?

FYI, since the "problem" drive is not responding properly to Identify Device command (that is what the BIOS uses to provide the information which should be shown there), then it cannot be used with Linux either, which is why you did not succeed with that.

Edited to add: There is other diagnosis that you can do, but there is also a risk that the drive will deteriorate, the more that you attempt to do such diagnosis - therefore you need to consider how much you want to try, compared to the value of the data and the cost of (attempted) professional recovery.

Dear Vulcan,

Thanks for your fast reply,

1. Yes, it was an internal drive, & there was no OS installed on it, only my data archive drive

2. I don't feel any difference between noises, I think I hear both spinning, I'm not 100% certain about spinnig the bad one but there's absolutly no clicks of any kind at all

3. I think my only chance is to do it myself, because I never had good experience with data recovery proffesionals in my country and besides they gonna charge a huge ammount of money for recovery of 500GB of data which I can't handle anyway

So I'm open to try any kind of rescue plan you may think of to get the data out

Thanks again

Well, I guess you're getting "BLANK" instead "none", but clearly the disk is unable to communicate basic information about itself to the computer. Probably an SA issue. Time to look up some DR companies.

Well, I guess you're getting "BLANK" instead "none", but clearly the disk is unable to communicate basic information about itself to the computer. Probably an SA issue. Time to look up some DR companies.

please don't tell me that's the final solution! there must be an alternative way hidden somewhere! I didn't try many yet!

If you are familiar with ESD precautions, and if you accept the risks you are taking with any DIY, then cleaning the preamp connections on the PCB with IPA, would be one of the very few things you could try.

However, since you say the "problem" disk is spinning (you might want to double-check if you're not sure), the only other DIY recovery attempt I could imagine (which would also have risk and costs) is highly unlikely to be successful.

You're limited by only having access to "normal" utilities. Limited further diagnosis of disk behaviour might be possible (again, with some risk of further disk degradation during your diagnosis) using MHDD to see what it shows (e.g. disk staying busy). However I cannot think of any difference that the answers would make, to the conclusion above that this isn't a DIY issue (which is why I didn't suggest this earlier).

IMHO what you need is full diagnosis (as a minimum), but for the symptoms you describe, that needs specialist equipment. So if the data is important, I believe the services of a DR company would be your best option - pick a good one (some members here may be able to help) and see what their diagnosis is, if you're not sure whether the data is worth much, before committing to the cost of a fix. Good luck!

You've expressed the fact that you don't want to send this drive out to a pro and your willing to try some DIY methods. Be aware you can further damage the drive.

If the bios does not detect the drive, have you checked your SATA cabling.
(MHDD is a free download on the homepage here, i would try that for detecting
the drive. F2 i believe is the command to detect.)

Power Connections (double check if you used any power taps or splitters - can you eliminate those and go direct to the factory power supply connections) Is your Power supply hot or making any noises... hisses or squeals? (If so move to a known good PS)

Do you have access to a multimeter?
Do you have access to any other computers to possibly check this drive in also?

Have you taken the PCB off of the drive yet to inspect?
( Can you upload pictures to here yet? the higher quality pictures the better)

If you decide to remove the PCB ensure that your grounded - don't want any discharge frying the board.

WD Diags can tell you some basic information, If you want to download that its free.
( http://support.wdc.com/product/download ... =3&lang=en ) Windows version
( http://support.wdc.com/product/download ... 30&lang=en ) Dos Bootable CD that you can burn.

Label your GOOD drive and your BAD Drive somehow with a marker so you dont get confused working with them. This is a good idea just so you don't ever get confused what one is being plugged in. ( I put a small DOT on the top case and one on the PCB )

As Vulcan said you can clean the connections with some Isoproply Alcohol if you would like.

(Clean any dust or dirt on the circuit board by dipping cotton swabs into rubbing alcohol and gently cleaning the surface of the circuit board. Moisten the swab, but don't soak it)

Be sure that the entire board is dry before re-attaching it.

Let us know if anything works out.