I lost everything on my computer

Data on a hard drive is never completely gone, unless you "scrub" the drive by over writing ones and zeros.
A good data recovery service will help you. Makers of some drives even do the service, like Western Digital.
Be sure to back up all of your data next time to a cloud or extra USB drive as you go, daily. Google has a cloud service that is not expensive at all.
Google Drive has free cloud space and you can buy extra space for $10-$100 per year.
 
Like others have said Mark, the data is still there. If you can't get the drive operating by yourself, there are services that can retrieve the data. No way that that data is gone, just depends on how bad you want it back.
My guess is that the read/write arm may have been damaged or as others have said, the circuit board might be cracked/broken. Heck, it could even be as simple as a connector internally that came undone (if it has such connectors inside). The platter that your data is on is still good.
 
Have any connections with LEO's? They usually have a IT Forensic Dept and they would help you out. I know some people but don't think I could get them to do it for you.

If it is a SSD, you could purchase an identical one and swap the main chip. That's why I asked.

When I do such things I usually just slave the old HDD into the new box and make the transfer. But nowadays with not most everything being one of the many standards (SCSI, IDE, SATA or SAS, etc.) it's not always practical to use an old disk in a new box.
 
I know the frustration of hard drive issues. I have had more than my fair share of hard drive failures. In my case something went wrong either with the drive or the controller board over time.

An external drive is normally formatted with UNIX to save the Microsoft license for their common file format. The board then translates the as-stored file format for Windows to be able to read the drive.

You do not state the exact nature of no longer working. Is the box completely dead or can you hear the drive spinning but the computer cannot read the drive?

I am at the other side of PA. Happy to take a look if you want to send the box to me.
 
Recovery services are quite expensive, we use them quite often for Medical Imaging data. Aside from using RAID, sometimes stuff happens that requires we still get the data recovered.

If your old computer is not available, take advantage of whatever you can.
I was carrying my laptop in one hand with it opened and it flew out of my hand (don't ask). Destroyed the screen, AND THE HARD DRIVE.. all was not lost as I back up regularly. I ordered a new computer same model , and it came with Windows 8.. formated it to 7 and restored from my backup... WHEW...
Backups are always nice.
 
First...... Thank you all for the suggestions, all of which are good ones. BUT, :( this is mostly my own fault. When I bought the new Lenovo computer, a female friend wanted my 6 year old Dell laptop. Not wanting to leave any of my files on it, I moved them to the external hard drive. Once I was sure a complete backup was on the external drive, I erased the Dell and gave it to her. Next, I transferred all my "important" files to the new laptop. I was planning to transfer selected machine shop related files and photos, and a batch of irreplaceable family photos after setting up what was transferred earlier (I wanted to select only the files I wished to keep and not all the duplicates and trash). While carrying the drive in my hands to do this , I dropped the damn thing :eek: on the floor ( I am 6' 4" tall so this was about a 4 foot drop). When I hooked it up it connects to the computer BUT it won't spin anymore :(. I was lucky I already copied my banking, checkbook, and a few photos. But the rest is still on the hard drive that won't spin. I got the bright idea to download some recovery software that says it will restore 1 gig of data for free ( yea right) to the old laptop. After three hours of scanning , All the files were listed in the software :dancing banana:Now to save the desired files. WHAT!!!!! I have to pay $199.95 to save my files :bawling:. I dont have $ 199.95 :( ..... ( Unless some how I can do without food this month)....... And that is the rest of the story!
 
I dont use any of those " clouds " . I never liked the idea of my s**t floating around in space . Just doesn't seem like a good idea.
 
mark_f said:
[about an external disk drive that took a fall] ... it connects to the computer BUT it won't spin anymore :(.
Click to expand...

That leaves open a single happy possibility: the external drive uses both +5V and +12V
power, and connection (digital logic) uses the +5V power. Spinning the drive uses
the +12V power. So, if the +12 is damaged or disconnected, the drive might still
be workable in a dock or other external drive casing.

This is not true if the hard disk is of the 2.5" type (those, only use +5V power for
both logic and spindle motor... or 3.3V for logic... but, not +12).
 
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