Background: I have 3 year old sata desktop hard disk (w10 upgraded from w7, then reformatted w10 after it crashed) (a Seagate ST1000DM003 1TB in a Dell 8500). After reformatting, while accessing some folders in partition E:, windows asked to click for full permissions (can't remember exact message). After that PC froze for a while. Restarted and was greeted with \bcd error. Inserted a w10 usb to repair, but that also showed a \bcd error. Bios saw the hard drive. After another restart, bios could no longer detect hard disk. (FWIW, the CPU was placed in a poorly ventilated location after being moved)
Tried other cables (didn't work), now booting from an ssd (using the same power/sata cables), and the hard drive still cannot be detected by bios or windows. Hdd is spinning, but seems too quiet for there to be any head activity.
I would like to recover the data (photos... yes will do proper back ups after this...). Would like to try DIY repair first before going to the data recovery services.
Advice needed: 1. how to troubleshoot cause of problem? 2. Is it a PCB issue, and how to verify? (no burnt smell, but have not taken PCB out to check) - if yes might try getting replacement pcb. 3. will be ordering a usb enclosure to test (will that help?)
Thanks!
