My HD died

[Naem]

If I try and boot up with my secondary HD plugged in, it'll just keep repeating this sound (kind of like "kler-chunk" ) over and over, and my computer will try to read from my CD-ROM drive since it apparently can't read from the HD.

I can boot normally by unplugging the HD. However there's a few text files with data I'd like very much to have back. Do I have any (free) options or is the data lost somewhere in The Void?

[mavrick_kr]

This wont answer your question but, that sucks.  

[Raven]

I think it might be a good idea to take it to a repair shop. In some instances, perhaps if they can't repair it, they could extract certain files from the disk onto something else. Probably a long shot, but worth a shot.

[Camel]

General rule is if you can't read off of a HD, you can't read off of a HD. You may just have to activate the partition or something with fdisk; try that first. If that doesnt work, you may have to format to restore any functionality.

[Adron]

If it says klerchunk, chances are you have a mechanical problem with it, and then I doubt anything but an expensive hard drive recovery company will be able to get your files back.

[Camel]

* Camel wouldn't be willing to pay $2000 for some guy to stare at his text files through a microscope

[Thing]

The controller may be bad.  Before you freak out, plug it into your Primary Controller and see if it still makes the same noise.

[Adron]

Good suggestion. The klerchunk I'm thinking of happens even when you don't connect an IDE cable to the hard drive - it's the drive failing to spin up and do that initial seek that hard drives do. Like, usually a hard drive will say something like wheeeeeeee-click when you turn it on.

[Raven]

Yes, the superhuman genius is correct.

The problem could be as simple as a cable or piece of aluminum getting stuck in the area of the disk, preventing it from being able to spin properly. Have you looked inside yet?

[Thing]

Raven has a good point.  Another thing you can do to help extend the life of your hard drive is some routine maintenance.  Pop the cover off and you will find two oil points where the arms attach to the motor.  A single drop of 3in1 oil will do the job.  Don't put too much though or you may contaminate the platters.  You will want to spray some WD-40 on the platters to keep the nice and shiny.  It also keeps them from rusting in humid areas such as bathrooms, etc.  Here is a photo of a typical hard drive.

[Naem]

I tried your suggestion, Thing... no dice. Same noise after switching the controller.

Also, there didn't seem to be any foreign objects near the HD.

[Eibro]

Seal it in a ziplock bag and stick it in the freezer for awhile.
I don't know, I heard that works sometimes.

[Grok]

Seal it in a ziplock bag and stick it in the freezer for awhile.
I don't know, I heard that works sometimes.

Hehe, what?

[Amphetamine]

What partition is on the main, adn what partition is on the second HD (I ment to say file system, NTFS, FAT32?) And what operating system do you have.

sometimes on my old 98 box where the main file system is fat32 and secondry HD is NTFS it just pauses at scandisk until the end of time, or untill i unplug that 2nd HDD

[Soul Taker]

Raven has a good point.  Another thing you can do to help extend the life of your hard drive is some routine maintenance.  Pop the cover off and you will find two oil points where the arms attach to the motor.  A single drop of 3in1 oil will do the job.  Don't put too much though or you may contaminate the platters.  You will want to spray some WD-40 on the platters to keep the nice and shiny.  It also keeps them from rusting in humid areas such as bathrooms, etc.  Here is a photo of a typical hard drive.

You keep a computer in your bathroom?!