Disconnected while copying and now will not read

Mac's won't read windows format disc, even if it's capable of reading the files wich I believe Newer Mac Operating Systems CAN DO, it can not read the file SYSTEM used to place them on the disc. You need a third computer. Put the files on a nother computer or two if you need the room or on another media or pocket drive. Use a program that VERIFIES the were moved without errors while copying them, the use the Mac to format the now empty disc drive and download Mac Pooler, or File Stuffer, and copy the files back onto the disc. Now the Mac will be able to read the drive they're on.

Let me start with explaining the basic construction of a Harddrive.

This is what the Dell Inspiron 1545 harddrive looks like on the outside,

1) http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins1545/en/SM/hdd.htm#wp1109848

Scroll down to the heading - Removing the Hard Drive
Go down to the second illustration under this heading.
Number 3 points to the Hard Drive.

2) Another look. This time at a basic Harddrive that fits in a laptop computer,

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1455518&CatId=2681

A) See the round shiny disk? This is a Platter.
There may be from 3 to 6 Platters.

Platters resemble CD or DVD disks. They are usually made of metal, or glass. On the Top surface, and Bottom surface they are coated with a magnetic media.

Usually a ferrous substance. (Iron like)

Immediately below the Platter shown, is a Read/Write Head attached to an Actuator Arm.
The Read/Write Head cannot be clearly seen.

The Actuator Arm is the slim triangle shaped part.
(Has three holes in it, and the big end has a round shape in the middle)

There is an Actuator Arm, and Read/Write Head, for the Top surface, and the Bottom surface, of every Platter.

The Read/Write Head does as the name implies. It Reads information off of the Platter, and Write information to it.
{ It arranges the magnetic medium on the Platter, when it is writing to the Platter }

More information on the basic construction of a Harddrive,

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/hard-disk.htm

(6 pages)

The Platters may spin up to 5400, or 7200 Revolutions Per Minute.
(RPM)

The Read/Write Heads are spaced VERY close to the Platters.

(From my understanding, approximately 1/10th the thickness of an average Human hair. An average human hair is 3 thousandths thick.
{ .003 )

Due to the speed of the spinning Platter, and the closeness of the Read/Write Head to the Platter, there is a cushion of air formed in-between the Read/Write Head, and the Platter.

When the computer is not on, the Actuator Arm is in a parked position.
(Seen in the Tigerdirect link)
This means the Read/Write Head is AWAY from the Platter.

When the computer is on however, the Read/Write Head is located right above the Platter.

(Probably to the outside edge, and the Sector/Tracks where the basic Windows Boot files are located)

When you dropped the laptop apparently the Read/Write Head/s wiped off some of the magnetic media on the Platter/s, and damaged the boot sector.

Try this,

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xlob/dtg/en/software.htm#wp1114294

If to no avail buy another harddrive. Set the laptop so that it's ready to have another harddrive installed, THEN remove the old harddrive, and install the new one.

Keep the old one to install into an inexpensive external enclosure, and copy off all of your personal info,

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3195233&CatId=2783

Then plug it's USB cable into any available USB port, on a working computer.

For additional questions please post in a Comment.

Regards,
joecoolvette

Hi,

There are three main causes for this message to display after turning on the computer.

1. The Operating system (Windows XP, Vista, 7, Linux, Mac OS..) is corrupted or is missing. You might have accidentally deleted or formatted the C: drive or the operating system is just unreadable due to corrupted system files.

2. The harddrive is not detected by the computer.

3. The partition on the hard drive where the operating system is located is unreadable due to bad sectors.

Here are the steps that you can try.

- Go to the BIOS (Basic Input Output System) setup by pressing F2 or F10, depends on what make an model of the computer.
- Check if the hard drive is detected. The hard drive is usually labeled as Drive 0 and you can find it either on the main tab or system tab. Again this depends on the BIOS and make and model of the computer.
- If the hard drive is detected, install a fresh copy of the operating system.
- If the hard drive is NOT detected, check harddrive cable/connections. You need to unscrew the hard drive compartment and reinsert the hard drive or put in a new hard drive.

Hope this helps.

1. First power down the computer and the external hard drive.
2. Disconnect the drive.
3. Wait a minute.
4. Start your computer.
5. Connect the Verbatim drive again.
6. Wait a minute. (While waiting, check the screen for popup messages telling you the harddrive is ready and received a drive letter.)
7. Check "My Computer" for the harddrive.
8a. If you see it there, click it and make a copy of the data you have stored on the drive immediately!
8b. If the drive does not show up, you probably have a problem that will take deeper looking-into.

A clicking sound from a harddrive is never a good sign. While it does not mean immanent ***** of the drive, getting the data from it is now a matter of luck. In any case you should not trust the drive and should replace it as soon as possible.

Your Imega external enclosure has malfunctioned. If you can, you need to take the enclosure apart and take the harddrive out and test it with a computer desktop that has sata connectable, if your computer is able to read, then your iomega harddrive enclose suffer malfuction, if the computer isn't able to read the harddrive through the sata connection, then your harddrive is bad.

1. Try creating another folder and coping the content from the original to the new folder on the USB drive.
You may have stopped the coping process inadvertently during the copy process.

ITS virus problem which is playing with the inf file of the usb drive.
also another possibility is 1) the usb port ihas loose connections and disconnects i between drive sensing
2) certain 8 gb drives go back to a capacity of 2 gb drive if one formats it accidentally .

i am afraid that the drive has gone, but you could try to fix it using disk manager application.

i have formatted the hard drive and put in all three recovery discs and it still won't load windows xp home edition.. i thought that was what the recovery discs were for.. maybe the hard drive is bad i don't know but if someone is having the same problem i could sure use some help here..