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When trying to initialize hard drive i/o device error.
When trying to initialize hard drive i/o device error.
- I am running windows vista home edition with service pack 1. I am using an eMachine. I have an AMD athlon 2.60 Ghz processor. I recently connected a western digital 250 gb hard drive that was previously used in my old xbox. I was hoping to not have to lose any data currently on the drive, but that's not as important as making it work for storage on my computer. The WD drive shows in both the BIOS and in my computer management, but not in my computer. After searching, i found that i needed to initialize and then set up partitions on the drive. When i try to initialize the drive however, i get the I/O device error. I have tried going into the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers and then changin settings to PIO only, then to DMA. It does not say Transfer Mode though. I am wondering if I am missing something, or maybe if there is a way to format the drive in hopes that it will initialize without problem? Or hopefully there is just something I am missing curently and i won't have to format the drive?1 person got this answerI do too
Answers
- If the drive isn't recognized in other computers, then either the case it is in has died or the drive itself has died, or both. Contact Western Digital for data recovery methods if the drive is still under warranty. Alternatively if the drive is out of warranty, crack the case and put the drive into a different drive enclosure. This will answer whether it's just the WD enclosure that has failed. If you are lucky and that's the case, just keep the drive in the substitute enclosure.
OTOH, if the drive isn't seen even when in another enclosure then it has died. If the data is crucial and expense is not an issue, in order to retrieve the data the drive needs to be sent to a professional data recovery company. This is a fairly expensive step. I use Drive Savers .
MS-MVP - Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!- Marked As Answer byJason H. - Support EngineerMSFT, ModeratorFriday, November 13, 2009 4:42 PM
All Replies
- You don't want to format the drive or create partitions on it because you'll lose your data. Attach the drive to another working computer. Is it seen/working correctly?
MS-MVP - Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic! - Okay, the other computer did not recognize it at all. Not in the Bios or device management. I brought it home and tried again, but i am still getting the Device I/O error. I am going to try to put in a 40 gb, however anymore suggestions would be welcome... 40 gb vs 250 gb....
- If the drive isn't recognized in other computers, then either the case it is in has died or the drive itself has died, or both. Contact Western Digital for data recovery methods if the drive is still under warranty. Alternatively if the drive is out of warranty, crack the case and put the drive into a different drive enclosure. This will answer whether it's just the WD enclosure that has failed. If you are lucky and that's the case, just keep the drive in the substitute enclosure.
OTOH, if the drive isn't seen even when in another enclosure then it has died. If the data is crucial and expense is not an issue, in order to retrieve the data the drive needs to be sent to a professional data recovery company. This is a fairly expensive step. I use Drive Savers .
MS-MVP - Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!- Marked As Answer byJason H. - Support EngineerMSFT, ModeratorFriday, November 13, 2009 4:42 PM
