Nearly dead Maxtor BlackArmor 320GB?

[canuck]

My old Maxtor BlackArmor 320GB external hard drive seems to be dead. Symptoms:

Drive starts running OK, lights come on (supposed to be only the small light first, then the large one when signed in, which I cannot do because the login screen does not display),

occasional beeping noises, drive "not recognized" by Windows, error message "malfunctioning" (Windows).

 

At first I thought it was a power problem--not enough getting to the USB ports on my Lenovo T61 laptop, so I bought a powered USB Belkin hub, but that did not help.

 

I also took the drive and hub to another PC and the problems were the same.

 

I found a thread on this site regarding similar problems with a Maxtor drive, which was solved by using a Linux boot CD, which I tried on my BlackArmor, but the drive was not recognised.

 

I am asking if anyone has other solutions that I can try to solve this kind of problem.

All I want to do is move the data off the external HD and onto another drive.

[Zourous]

You could just break the hdd out of the external casing as it's most likely to be a sata connection inside and then connect it inside a desktop PC as a second drive to see if you can access it this way? It's a long shot but maybe worth a try. If you still can't get access, try a recovery program like "recover my files" to see if that helps.

[canuck]

From CNET and PCWorld reviews:

"The drive is

[TABLE=width: 389]

[TR=bgcolor: #FFFFFF]

[TD]Drive size[/TD]

[TD=align: center]2.5-inch

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR=bgcolor: #FFFFFF]

[TD]Drive speed[/TD]

[TD=align: center]5400rpm[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR=bgcolor: #FFFFFF]

[TD]Cache[/TD]

[TD=align: center]8MB

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

with built-in Advanced Encryption Standard hardware-based encryption to prevent digital theft.

The case is built to withstand attempts to open it.

Not even a professional data recovery service can access or restore your data without the correct password."

 

But I'll try Hard disk data recovery on a computer although I have doubts that the drive will display in Disk Management.

[3s-gtech]

The encryption should only be an issue if it was enabled, and you'll have the password if so anyway. If you need to get into the casing, I'm sure it'll yield. May need to be cut open though.

[canuck]

The encryption is enabled on removing the cable (or from the Maxtor manager software which I cannot get to).

The case is all metal with no screws or access points other than the single port for the cable.

Yes, a power saw would do the trick, but there would be a good chance of cutting the disk too.