me = idiot. Can my external HD be rescued?

Skybird · 03-15-11, 11:33 AM

I had a brandnew external HD, a WD MyBook Essential with USB 3.0 and 2 TB. I copied one image to it after clean installation of Win7, then again after having installed all games, and now wanted to install a third image with my complete FS9 installation and finetuning of all options done.

I grabbed the HD - and plugged the wrong PSU into it. It was the one that supplies my FF wheel, the motors in it.

Go figure. Smoke, the smell of burning isolation. Two seconds later it was unplugged again, but it was too late, the spirit in the machine was dead. Thankfully, the HD still was not attached to the computer, no chance that any damage could have sprung over.

What has happened here? Is just the electronics outside the HD damaged, or the data surface itself? I mean can the data on it be rescued? I really would want those two images back, since they are clean and tidy - I can get it like that again only when manually installing it all again. Also, there is some personally sensitive data on it. But if I try something there, then I cannot exchange the device, obviously.

Could I break up the plastic hull and then have a normal SATA2 HD that I could plug into the tower? Does anyone know the specs of these MyBook HDs?

Is there a reasonable chance for any rescue effort, or should I write it off?

03-15-11, 11:33 AM	#1
Skybird Soaring Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: the mental asylum named Germany Posts: 42,614 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	me = idiot. Can my external HD be rescued? I had a brandnew external HD, a WD MyBook Essential with USB 3.0 and 2 TB. I copied one image to it after clean installation of Win7, then again after having installed all games, and now wanted to install a third image with my complete FS9 installation and finetuning of all options done. I grabbed the HD - and plugged the wrong PSU into it. It was the one that supplies my FF wheel, the motors in it. Go figure. Smoke, the smell of burning isolation. Two seconds later it was unplugged again, but it was too late, the spirit in the machine was dead. Thankfully, the HD still was not attached to the computer, no chance that any damage could have sprung over. What has happened here? Is just the electronics outside the HD damaged, or the data surface itself? I mean can the data on it be rescued? I really would want those two images back, since they are clean and tidy - I can get it like that again only when manually installing it all again. Also, there is some personally sensitive data on it. But if I try something there, then I cannot exchange the device, obviously. Could I break up the plastic hull and then have a normal SATA2 HD that I could plug into the tower? Does anyone know the specs of these MyBook HDs? Is there a reasonable chance for any rescue effort, or should I write it off? __________________ If you feel nuts, consult an expert.