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Roger_Doger

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USB Hard Drive not in Windows Explorer

I have a hard drive that I pulled from a failed computer, and I am looking to pull important data from it.  It is now being connected via USB interface to another computer.  At first the computer recognized the drive and I was able to move around the file system.  I eventually got an error about a failure to write data and that the data is lost... although I hadn't begun to backup or move data.  I unplugged and plugged in the USB drive and returned to the files in the USB hard drive, and the error reproduced itself.  After unplugging and plugging the USB drive again, my computer "sounds off" that it was conected, but I don't see it in Explorer; it used to be listed as Drive L:.

I have Windows XP Pro OS

Any Ideas
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Callandor
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If the computer you got it from failed because the power supply blew, it may have damaged the hard drive.  Your best chances for recovery are hooking it up as a slave IDE drive and accessing it without the USB interface.  The fact that it initially worked and now doesn't indicates it may be dying, in which case you will have to pay big bucks to a service like OnTrack to pull data off.
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Roger_Doger

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I tried to slave it from the IDE, and upon rebooting it found the hardware, displayed the name of the hardware, and said it was installed and ready to use.  I did not see it's drive letter in Explorer, however.
It may not like having two bootable disks with an active partition; try changing the slave drive partition to not active.
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DabRain

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When I turn on the hard drive (either in IDE mode or USB) it sounds like a normal hard drive at start-up and it spins with a quiet hum.  Is it possible that the disc is corrupt?  Is that possible with a bad conroller board?  Any other thoughts about the relationship between the board and the actual disc?
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