I just downgraded my EX490 from WHS 2011 to Version 1. Before I did the downgrade I pulled all three data drives out of the server and used the HP Server Recover disk to reinstall WHS version 1 onto the system drive. For some reason I was certain (perhaps mistakenly) that I could use a USB hard drive dock to to get the data drives using another Windows computer. Here's the problem. My Windows 7 PC's won't recognize the WHS 2011 data drives when I put them into the USB dock. As a last resort I also tried plugging the dock into a Mac with the same issue. How can I access my data without reinstalling WHS2011 and copying it off the server? Anyone know how I can access the data? Please help! Thanks!

Have you tested other drives with your docking station to make certain it is working properly? Also try the docking station on another computer too. If your picking up issues with the docking station then try connecting one of your WHS2011 drives inside another computer. I would not be quick to point to the drives until you rule out the docking station and try connecting them in another computer.

The other thing that comes to mind is how the drives were setup in your WHS2011 server. If they were setup for NTFS you should be able to read them. If you set them up in a RAID or used an encryption method then they would not be readable.

Having multiple locations to access your data is important and if you have this then you have a backup and should be able to proceed with the reinstallation of WHS v1 and access the data from the other sources. If this is not an option then you have to make every attempt to recover the data it its important to you.

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Exploring the possibilities!

Migrated from WHS2011 to WS2012E: HIGHLANDER

~ Norco 4220 Enclosure
~ Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5
~ AMD Phenom II X4 995 3.2 GHz
~ 8 GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
~ 3 Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8

The drives were set to NTFS, so that's why I figured the I tried them in a second USB HDD dock. The drives don't work in either dock. The drives appear to be dead. In fact, they have the "burned electronics" smell to them. Could the dock somehow have damaged the drives? I popped two other spare drives into my Mediasmart server and it reads them fine, but the bad drives aren't recognized by the server or either dock. Most of the data on these drives backups DVD backups. While I hate to lose them, fortunately it's not like I lost family photos or something. The drive cost has tripled since I bought mine, so hopefully Seagate finds a legitimate defect in the drive and can warranty them.

Hard to say if the docks caused the issue or if there is an issue with the drives themself. Goodluck with returning the drives to Seagate, you may have to call them rather than use the online process to get an RMA on the drives because as I recall the online waranty will ask you for information from their SeaTools software something you will not be able to provide because the condition of the drive boards.

As for the docking station you could examine it for internal damage which may of been caused from the drives or may have caused the drive issue but again its hard to determine what caused what. I would also examine the server backplane for damage as well. If you have a drive you do not care about that is functional you could test it out in your docking stations and if the drives are functional in the docking stations. One thing about the docking stations is to plug in the drives then turn them on and shut them off, allow the drives to spin down before ejecting them. One time I shut a drive off and ejecting it before allowing it to spin down and it actually threw my arm something I will never forget

_________________
Exploring the possibilities!

Migrated from WHS2011 to WS2012E: HIGHLANDER

~ Norco 4220 Enclosure
~ Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5
~ AMD Phenom II X4 995 3.2 GHz
~ 8 GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
~ 3 Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8