Thanks Optimist. I'm now struggling to get the hard disk out from the faulty machine. I don't see any obvious screws holding the drive in place. What I do see are a pair of metallic "prongs." I can post a picture if that helps. Obviously, I don't want to tug hard and destroy something in the process!

Don't try to force it, look for any retaining screws and if there are none, then it will probably slide or swing out when you press the right bit.

By all means post the picture, someone may know the type.

Here we go...

I'm thinking if I can't get the disk out...I'll just bring PC A close enough and connect its IDE cable and power cable! And keep PC B (the bad one) powered off.

Your plan B should work.

The release mechanism should be something to do with the pieces of metal extending back from each side of the disk. Also, there is a metal tab above the HDD on the power connector side.

I bet it comes out really easy once you know how. Have you checked the manufactures web site?

Edit

You may as well find how to get the disk out as it needs throwing away once you have copied the data and safe erased it.

You're right. I'm trying to work it out with what info. I can get from Mesh's website.

Update - I managed to wire the faulty drive to PC "A" but it is not able to see the faulty drive. I tried to go into setup to force it to detect the drive but no luck. What could I be doing wrong? Just to remind, the faulty drive has been connected to the test machine ("A") while still sitting in the original machine ("B").

I've used the IDE cable from the CD drive in "A" with a spare power cable.

There are a few reasons why it is not being detected but possibly I gave you wrong info and you should first try IDE cable or make sure that the jumper settings on the disk drive to master rather than cable select.

The other possibility is that the BIOS of the other machine does not support that drive.

Or perhaps the jumpers on the suspect drive (B) should be set to slave as the master (A) is the one known to be OK

No he is connecting it with the CD cable so that will be on the second IDE chanell and it is better to be a master.

Frustratingly, I got nowhere with my attempts to fix the problem myself. I'm going to get a local technician to take a look at the problem to see if he can fix it. Failing that, I'll remove the hard disk and try a data recovery service - apparently there are some outfits that will do it at a reasonable fixed cost. But thanks to all who here who helped generously.

Be very careful with your local technician. Make sure that he tells you exactly what he is going to do before he does it.

If you are prepared to go to a specialist they will not appreciate someone else messing with it first.

Yes, I see what you mean. I know this guy as he's done some work for me in the past. Will make sure he's competent to handle this or he won't get the job.

Apparently, the hard disk is held in place by those two metal rails. Saw a Youtube video that describes how to remove such a hard disk. Nearly tempted to have another go myself today.

Re: Removing that hard drive....

If brute force doesn't solve your problem then you aren't using enough of it and....

1f u c4n r34d th1s u r34lly n33d t0 g37 l41d

Rule 1. To go forward, you must first backup.

I have an HP Officejet 7130 multi function Printer/Scanner/Copier/Fax machine.

The HP software that comes with it is not really adequate for my needs and I find it extremely un-userfriendly and also difficult to use. Forums tell me that this problem is not unique to HP users, who seem to like their machines for Copying and Printing, despite getting lots of hassle with the HP Scanning software. Neither can one scan and create/save to PDF with it.

I need some software that will allow me to scan mixed documents (text and picture containing) and then save them as PDF Files. I don't mind paying a smallish amount of say, 20 to 30 or so, for something that is deemed to be really worth that bit more than just 'Free'.

Does anyone know of any suitable software or can anyone recommend anything from personal experience?

Thanks

Exec,

I got frustrated with the software that came with my HP 2575.

An upload has produced a version that is better. The version that came with the machine would not scan under Vista - the new one does.

In the meantime I installed this. I needed to create some PDF's and this seemed to do the trick from what I remember.

It did what I wanted at the time and I don't think I paid for it.

TP

I have an HP OfficeJet 7600. I am delighted with it.

It scans direct to PDF over Ethernet to my various computers. It came with drivers for XP and Vista -- not that I needed the Vista ones, of course ;-)

Scanning, including photo to JPEG scanning, is very good.

Claims to be cheaper by far than a laser for colour printing.

Recommended.

Cost was about 195 from Staples.

TP

Thanks for the suggestion. PDF Creator is an excellent program for converting other files, such as Word files into PDF files. I had forgotten I had it. Anyhow, in the meantime I had upgraded to IE8 and my version of PDF Creator was apparently incompatible with IE8 so I had to upgrade it to the latest version.

Unfortunately, it does not appear to be much use for scanning. I would have to scan a document with other software to immediately save it as a PDF file. I could scan a Word document with what I have already and then convert it to a PDF file with PDF Creator but I need to be able to scan Mixed Documents - documents with mixed text and pictures (even a logo headed letter) and to do that it is definitely best to scan and immediately save as a PDF File.

Anyhow, Thank You TP, for your suggestion.

MM

Fancy a straight swap? Your OfficeJet 7600 for my superior 7130? You could always throw in a pair of your better shotguns to make up the difference, I suppose. Say, Purdeys or whatever. Oh, and a box of cartridges too. ;-)