Help! What does a computer hard drive disk look like?

Almost certainly, this will sound like a stupid question to anyone who knows anything about the insides of a computer. But I don't, so here goes..

I have to mail off my defunct computer's hard drive disk for data retrieval, but having gutted the bloody thing I see nothing disc-shaped- just several box-like structures. So what do I mail?

My best guess is a flat oblong box 4" X 5 3/4" labelled 'Seagate. Ultra. Barracuda 7200.7. 40 Gbytes. Model ST 3400 14A.' and other gobbledegook in which the word "drive" is mentioned several times. This would be conclusive to my simple brain, except that the flat box in question isn't wide enough to contain a conventionally-sized CD or CD-Rom disk. Does this matter?

Or am I barking up the wrong tree entirely?

Any hints on easy hard disk recognition gratefully received.

....

I saw one once...it looked about 6"x6"x half an inch...that's not helpful though.

Sorry eddie, I wish I could help.

blue moon wrote:I saw one once...it looked about 6"x6"x half an inch.

That was my impression too, on the only occasion on which I've seen one. But that was a decade ago, and I presume the technology of miniaturisation has moved on since then.

I'm baffled.

...could you just post the whole contraption?

blue moon wrote:...could you just post the whole contraption?

The whole computer?

I'd have to rent a truck.

Tats? You know about these things.

...she'll be sleeping now eddie...it's 2am

pinhedz wrote:You'll probably have to open up the hard drive to get to the disc:

Ah! That looks encouragingly like the flat box I mention above^.

But does it matter that mine is only 4 inches X five-and-three-quarter inches?

blue moon wrote:...she'll be sleeping now eddie...it's 2am

Oh, right. I don't know much about Geography either!

Pinz, do you have a photo of the bottom of this object?



Mine has a small circular protuberance one-and-a-half inches in diamater. If yours does too, then it's almost certainly what I'm after.

eddie wrote:Mine has a small circular protuberance one-and-a-half inches in diamater. If yours does too, then it's almost certainly what I'm after.

Eddie

Yes, that Seagate thingy is your hard drive. Whatever you do, don't try to open the drive to get at the disc!!!!

Disconnect carefully, wrap in bubble wrap and sturdy packaging before you post it.

Good luck with the recovery.

(The disc inside is a magnetic recording device, ie not at all related to CDs - optical recording wotsits)

My boss threw his hard drive in the Thames a while back

felix wrote:Eddie

Yes, that Seagate thingy is your hard drive. Whatever you do, don't try to open the drive to get at the disc!!!!

Disconnect carefully, wrap in bubble wrap and sturdy packaging before you post it.

Good luck with the recovery.

(The disc inside is a magnetic recording device, ie not at all related to CDs - optical recording wotsits)

hello eddie,

just got online now, at 1pm my time.

what felix said. that is your harddrive,
recovery of your data is very easy, 1 simple cable into their pc, then save your stuff onto a portable drive and send it back to you,
i have a cable here that could do it for you.




felix, how i have missed calling you that......

looking back, don't try to open the case eddie.
that is where all of the data is and unless you know what you are doing, you will corrupt it all.

good luck with the new pc, it is good that you were able to have office and norton included

Felix and Tats

Many thanks.

I had indeed considered opening up the box-like thingy, but luckily no screwdriver in my tool kit has a head matching the tiny star-shaped screw-heads on the outer plate- so I didn't.

I'm not at all sure that I disconnected it "carefully", felix- imagine a half-pissed Morlock wearing boxing gloves- but I did manage to think of the bubble-wrap envelope.

I'll get it in the post this morning, and keep you posted on developments on the data retrieval front.

Thanks again, ATU pals.

Nah Ville Sky Chick wrote:My boss threw his hard drive in the Thames a while back

Sounds like a ghastly business. A domestic dispute of some kind?

Was it bubble-wrapped?

You are welcome eddie.

eddie wrote:

Nah Ville Sky Chick wrote:My boss threw his hard drive in the Thames a while back

Sounds like a ghastly business. A domestic dispute of some kind?

Was it bubble-wrapped?

No, not a domestic dispute, he is married and currently has another two women on the side. I think he was embarrassed about the amount of porn that could be found on it

Nah Ville Sky Chick wrote:I think he was embarrassed about the amount of porn that could be found on it

You work for TWOODY??

eddie wrote:I'll... keep you posted on developments on the data retrieval front.

Ha ha. With the aid of "specialised tools" my ex has managed to retrieve the lost data from my "badly corrupted" hard drive and is posting me a CD with all my lost files on it.

I'm sending her an Xmas cheque.

Excellent news, Eddie! Well done your ex.

The CD arrived in the post today, four days late due to the Xmas rush. But better later than never. All the old files for my LU book are now safely installed on the hard drive of my new computer.