Dead disk? Boot loop. Disk unreadable. Shows in diskpart. Won't initialize.

[JohnDoe1980]

Hello all. I have a PC that came in today where the client was complaining about a boot loop. There was an error message on boot saying CSM should be enabled in order to boot. Enabled it in BIOS. Restart and it goes back into BIOS.

BIOS not showing disk.
Booted into WinPE and ran cmd diskpart. The disk shows but no volumes.
Ran Aomei partition assistant. Disk shows but says unreadable.
Ran disk management, the disk shows but says "unknown" and got the notification to initialize disk. Trying to initialize as GPT or MBR, I get the error "incorrect function".
I feel that this disk is toast but before I do anything further I'm hoping to get some opinions on this.

Thanks in advanced.

 

[frase]

Sounds like HDD is fubar, possible logic board error.

 

[JohnDoe1980]

@frase Hey, I got an email notification that you commented on this post but I don't see it in here. You mentioned initializing the disk wasn't good? That was the last thing I tried. I researched first if initializing a disk will wipe data and everything I read said it won't, just the format process but I did not get that far, and wouldn't have gone ahead with format if prompted.

 

[NviGate Systems]

Here we go again.

Initializing the disk 100% wipes it. Especially if there is existing data!!!!

Also, I thought you mentioned you were going to stay away from your XX in 1 boot tools? I'm hearing words like PE and Aomei Partition Manager. When it comes to situations like these, avoid using those tools. They can really mess things up.

First and foremost, always run diagnostics (Smart Check) by using a good tool. Then, once you have an idea of what the drive is like, you can figure out if client needs data. No data? Move straight to drive replace. Need data? Off to lab for recovery.

Let's hope your customer doesn't need data.

 

[JohnDoe1980]

Initializing the disk 100% wipes it

Thanks for your reply. I checked first online if initializing a disk would wipe it and everything I read said it wouldn't, just the formatting process. Since I couldn't initialize it anyways, it's in the same state as it was when it was brought to me I believe. I'm going to run some diagnostics and see what I can find.

 

[JohnDoe1980]

Also, I thought you mentioned you were going to stay away from your XX in 1 boot tools? I'm hearing words like PE and Aomei Partition Manager. When it comes to situations like these, avoid using those tools. They can really mess things up.

I use WinPE boot disks so I can access disk management and CMD and other disk utilities. I guess I could have used a windows disk to access CMD, but that's all.

 

[JohnDoe1980]

run diagnostics (Smart Check) by using a good tool

I ran crystal disk info and the drive is not showing. Same with HDDscan and WD data lifeguard diagnostics shows the drive as (SCSI Int), 0mb, smart status not available.

 

[NviGate Systems]

So...what do you think that means? I'm not going to answer...I want you to figure it out.

 

[Computer Bloke]

 

[Rigo]

I'm not going to answer...I want you to figure it out

WowWow!!!

 

[frase]

@Computer Bloke

 

[JohnDoe1980]

So...what do you think that means? I'm not going to answer...I want you to figure it out.

I'm not sure. If the drive is unreadable then there's not much more I can do with it. I'm going to try to use a program to recover files. Beyond that, I'm not sure.

 

[JohnDoe1980]

I've got the drive out of the computer and connected to my tech bench PC. It's not showing in explorer or disk management. I have it connected via SATA as it wasn't showing up via sata-usb.

 

[Markverhyden]

I'm not sure. If the drive is unreadable then there's not much more I can do with it. I'm going to try to use a program to recover files. Beyond that, I'm not sure.

If it doesn't show up in BIOS why would you expect it to in the OS. BIOS is what presents devices to the OS.

 

[JohnDoe1980]

If it doesn't show up in BIOS why would you expect it to in the OS. BIOS is what presents devices to the OS.

I agree but it wasn't showing up in bios before but I was able to see it with disk management and partition assistant through my WinPE boot disk yesterday which is why I was hoping it would show up in some way today. I'm not running my winPE disc now. I'm in windows with the drive connected.

 

[JohnDoe1980]

Just talked to the client. They neglected to mention before that this happened right after a power outage last week. Just found that out.

 

[britechguy]

Sounds like HDD is fubar, possible logic board error.

Got it in one, even without the additional information that now pretty much confirms the diagnosis. This one will be "send it off to the pros" if you want to have the best chance of getting anything back from it.

 

[JohnDoe1980]

Got it in one, even without the additional information that now pretty much confirms the diagnosis. This one will be "send it off to the pros" if you want to have the best chance of getting anything back from it.

That's what I figured. Do you have an outfit that you would recommend for data recovery? It's unlikely they will go for it but I'd like to advise my client of all their options.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Paging @lcoughey

 

[britechguy]

Do you have an outfit that you would recommend for data recovery?

The member who has been paged is an excellent resource. Shipping to/from Canada has become, in my opinion, exorbitantly expensive, though. I cannot for the life of me recall his business name at the moment, though.

I have used Data Medics myself (US Based - Rhode Island) and have been impressed with their service. Like many data recovery services, they will only charge (and only return any data at all) if they find they can return at least 70% of the data on the drive. If it's less than that, you are able to make the call as to whether to pay the full charge for what they can recover, or bail on the process with no charge.

I know many have used $300 Data Recovery (member: @300DDR) and been happy with them. That's who I refer clients to when they want to handle the entire process themselves rather than have me handle it for them.