Can you help please?

[Buelligan]

Can you help me please?  I've got an external SATA hard disc reader which I've been using for years (for normal sized  drives). 

Been given a laptop SATA (which also fits the reader) by a friend whose laptop has packed up.  I'm trying to recover the information off of it.  BUT the reader is not reading anything from the drive (it's accessing it, but my computer can't see it).  Any ideas/advice on what I can do to sort this out please, thank you, please.

[Wilbur]

Can you help me please?  I've got an external SATA hard disc reader which I've been using for years (for normal sized  drives). 

Been given a laptop SATA (which also fits the reader) by a friend whose laptop has packed up.  I'm trying to recover the information off of it.  BUT the reader is not reading anything from the drive (it's accessing it, but my computer can't see it).  Any ideas/advice on what I can do to sort this out please, thank you, please.

Can you see it in disk management ? I cant give detailed instructions as you've given no clues to your OS.
http://www.easeus.com/datarecoverywizard/
Works OK although its quite time consuming. If its physically broken your only option may be a recovery company.

[Buelligan]

No, sadly not appearing in disk management.  OS is XP.  I also tried it in a Windows7 machine with the same (no) result).  Thanks for the help!

[AphexDeuce]

Try the easus disk recovery program posted above, it might work.
If not, you may be able to back it up using linux in a virtual machine. Linux will def read it at least & you should be able to find out if it's corrupt or not.
If you haven't worked with linux before it'll take a little time to get on your feet, so I guess if he's a close friend it's worth the effort!

Link: http://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/beginners-guide-run-linux-like-any-other-program-in-windows.html

[Too Many Cochranes]

Go to the ubuntu website and download a linux live CD for free. Then burn it onto a blank CD and boot the computer up from that.

Ubuntu's very much like Windows and easy to use. You should be able to see all the stuff on your old Windows hard drive from within ubuntu.

[biggytitbo]

Have you tried banging it?

[mcbpete]

When my boss' daughters' lappy went up the crapper I used this free data recovery thing - http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk. It's also part of a recovery CD called BootMed - http://www.bootmed.com/bootmed/

[Zetetic]

I'd guess the apparent death of the laptop (what else doesn't work in it?) and the lack of any recognition means that it might be an idea to start the grieving process.

Also, have a quiet but firm conversation that results in sobbing, self-criticism and the adoption of a reliable and useful backup strategy.

[Milo]

I know you've said it's not in disk management but does it show up in Device Manager as an installed device? If not, I'm with Zetetic and would say it's the end.

[SetToStun]

A bit of lateral thinking here: why not take the drive to the local rozzers and say you saw a shifty muslim-type trying to dump it. They'll have every file off that disk in minutes. When they inevitably say "it's just music and photos", ask them if you can have a copy. They're bound to say yes, since they've already done the hard yards.

[James Blunt]

It's fucked.

[The Masked Unit]

^What's more tedious - that or this?