LAPTOP HARD DISK FAILURE

It has been a while since I last wrote and published an article here in my blog, thanks to writer's block, and also, the death of my father on 23rd February.

Now onto something that is highly catastrophic for any computer users: a hard disk failure.

I have used a Sony VAIO E series laptop, the SVE14A15FG, for nearly three years. I first bought it on 2nd October 2012 in order to replace my old VAIO B66GP laptop, which its power board (according to the service centre) has damaged. So far, the only problem that the SVE14A15FG has is none other than its hinge, where it will break after more than a year of use. I have sent the laptop for a hinge and screen bezel repair once, but the same thing happened after more than a year I got it repaired. Despite this, the laptop still functioned normally, but I cannot close the lid. If I was going to close the lid, I need to tape up the damaged area, as moving the hinge would break the bezel holding the LCD screen.

Unfortunately, on 8th March, at about 11:50 p.m. to 11:55 p.m., the hard disk, a Hitachi Travelstar 5K750-640 (640GB capacity), failed.


HOW IT ALL HAPPENED

It all started when I was browsing the Internet using Google Chrome. The browser hanged for almost a minute, and I tried to minimise Google Chrome several times at this point, and I couldn't hear any unusual sounds from the hard disk. The browser did manage to minimise, only to cause a 'Blue Screen Of Death' to show up. Although it showed up for almost one second, I can only remember the message claiming that I forced the computer to abort an operation while another process is still ongoing.

As the laptop was set to restart automaticaly when a Blue Screen Of Death occurs, it was here that the worst thing happened. The laptop did restart, but Windows 7 didn't boot up. Instead, a message says 'Operating System Not Found' showed up.

I restarted the laptop again using the CTRL+ATL+DEL combination and tried listening to the hard drive, and I eventually discovered the 'Click of Death,' where the hard disk's read/write head is clicking, but failed to read the data on the hard disk's platter. I also opened up the laptop's BIOS, and the BIOS shows the Hard Disk Drive as 'None.'

What caused this hard disk problem? Probably because of overheating, as I have a tendency to use the laptop for a long period of time. I tried putting the hard disk inside the freezer (interestingly ridiculous!), but nothing changed. I even bought a 2.5 SATA external hard disk casing for it and connected the hard disk to my Toshiba LCD TV's USB port, but the TV doesn't detect the hard disk, and the clicking sound is still there. Lastly, I tried connecting the hard disk to the current laptop I'm using to write this article (this shall be revealed at the end of this writing), and the same problem happened. Which means, the hard disk cannot be used, and the data inside needs to be recovered somehow.

Take a look at the photos below for more proof:

The laptop's BIOS. See the 'Hard Disk Drive' part? It says 'None' (marked in a red oval).

This message shows up after the VAIO logo shows up, and it was this same message appeared after the laptop restarts automatically due to a Blue Screen error.

The laptop's hard disk.

REPAIR COST

To repair a hard disk and recover the data inside is like buying a new computer. Why I said this? It's because the price can reach as high as RM3000. The reason for the costly repairs is because the hard disk platter is extremely sensitive to dust and can only be opened in a totally clean and dust-free environment, which is why hard disk repair companies have a cleanroom with a Class 100 rating. Trouble is, with my currently unemployed status and my family's current financial troubles, I could not afford to repair the hard disk and recover the data inside. The cheapest possible service is at MyDataRecovery, located at The Gardens North Tower, Mid Valley City, but I am still couldn't afford to repair it.

So which computer I am currently using to write this article? It was my late father's old Toshiba Portege R150. Sure, it was old and slow, but I was able to fix it to a working condition.

This is the laptop mentioned. It was old and slow, but I managed to fix it to a working condition.

RemainUnknown522 Out.