Resurrecting a dead hard drive?

Is there any sort of "software" or boot software I can use to try to restore integrity to a hard disk.



I have 2 hard disks which aren't recognized by windows. And 1 is sometimes recognized by the bios, and sometimes it isn't.



What can I do to fix this?



Thanks

-Hans

google 'ultimate boot disk'

and do a low-level format

it wont erase your data

The one that's not reconsized by the BIOS is probably shot. Normally, even if the platters are bad, the BIOS will at least see it. Perhaps a bad board on the drive?



I agree with the LLF suggestion, but...it will erase your data.

if the gears are not damaged, you can try swapping the boards with an identical drive.

i ran the western digital hard drive tools on the ultimate boot disc, and did a low level format, and my files were still there.....



the computer wouldn't even boot up with the hard drive mounted, so i did the low level format, and the computer mounted, and i was suprised to see there was still 60gb worth of video/mp3 on the drive



kind of neat, it was a drive out of a computer i had 4-5 years ago, almost like a time capsule

http://e-comm.webopedia.com/TERM/F/format.html

Where do you think the term zero-fill comes from You didn't do something correctly because when you LLF a drive, not only is everything gone but you have to reformat(high level, like windows normally does)

well, it did something different entireley

whatever it did, it made the drive work again.

ok. Thanks i'll try that when I get home. I really don't care if the data gets erased. I just need to get the hard drive to work again.



Thanks for the help

-Hans