Heartland

I have an HD in an external enclosure that connects to the mains with a powerpack. Recently the powerpack overheated and no longer works. I've tried the HD in a different enclosure but nothing happens, not even any sounds of the drive trying to work. Presumably the power socket's fried too.

Is there any possibility that the data (which includes a lot of SOM boots) is still okay and recoverable? If so, how would I go about it (without sending it to one of those companies that charges a small country's national debt for the service)?

It's possible that your drive is still ok - you could try using a drive dock (like this) which would be an inexpensive way to check it - enclosures die on me with sickening regularity but the disks don't appear to suffer. If the drive can't be read because the interface is fried, then the only alternative is to drop $1000 or so on a professional service like DriveSavers.

Sounds like the power circuit's frazzled, but the disc could still be intact.
It shouldn't be a biggy to have the power circuit board fixed (if you know any electronics buffs, they might be able to coax it back to life) & once you do, get all the data off the HD & onto a new one (or alternative storage medium) as there's no telling when it's going to go again.
I had a HDD & plugged the wrong AC lead into it one day & "bzzzt.....smoke.."
Luckily I was working for an electronics company & one of the techs was able to get it back on its feet in under an hour.
I went straight to the shops & bought a new HDD & spent the night moving all my stuff (a lot of The Cure shows) before ditching the old drive.

Thanks guys.

@EvilBastard
If the power socket on the HD is fried, would a drive dock be aby use?

@Pista
Can I buy a replacement power circuit or do I need to find someone who can repair it for me?

Pista wrote:"bzzzt.....smoke.."

The reason for this is that contrary to the theories of modern physics, all electronic equipment actually runs on magic smoke. This can be demonstrated by the fact that once the magic smoke escapes, your equipment won't work any more.

markfiend wrote:

Pista wrote:"bzzzt.....smoke.."

The reason for this is that contrary to the theories of modern physics, all electronic equipment actually runs on magic smoke. This can be demonstrated by the fact that once the magic smoke escapes, your equipment won't work any more.

stufarq wrote:Thanks guys.

@EvilBastard
If the power socket on the HD is fried, would a drive dock be aby use?

Ah, if the power interface on the HD is toast then the dock won't be any use at all. Figured the dock would be a cheap way to work out what you fried and whether you needed to take the disk to the comupter hospital.

I'm with Pista - if you do manage to get the data off the disk, replace it ASAP. My preference would be to use Networked Attached Storage, maybe one that has a streaming media facility so you can play your boots over the network, backed-up on a USB-powered drive like the WD Passport.

markfiend wrote:

Pista wrote:"bzzzt.....smoke.."

The reason for this is that contrary to the theories of modern physics, all electronic equipment actually runs on magic smoke. This can be demonstrated by the fact that once the magic smoke escapes, your equipment won't work any more.

So where can I buy some magic smoke. Do they stock it in PC World?

stufarq wrote:So where can I buy some magic smoke. Do they stock it in PC World?

Front row of a Sisters gig is normally a good source for magic smoke - perhaps you might prevail upon them to tour, and then bring along an empty jamjar or similar to collect some...

EvilBastard wrote:

stufarq wrote:So where can I buy some magic smoke. Do they stock it in PC World?

Front row of a Sisters gig is normally a good source for magic smoke - perhaps you might prevail upon them to tour, and then bring along an empty jamjar or similar to collect some...

Good call. Clearing some of that smoke will allow more people to actually see the gig. And possibly hear it too.