Fried a working HD?

So I was formatting a forty gig, under windows, and I moved it. Suddenly the computer restarts, and the drive is not being read anymore. I reinstalled the DVD drive to ensure that the issue was not the IDE connector, and the DVD drive works fine. I think I may have fried it? I really hope not...

Any suggestions or solutions. I was thinking of getting a new PCB for it from eBay, if the issue is that the circuit board is fried. They are available and cheap and come with instructions.

Could it just be something else causing the drive not to be read. It was in perfect working order before. I checked the drive after the computer restarted, and the power and IDE connector were still firmly in place, so I do not think it disconnected? What could be happening?

I tried it on both available IDE's on the computer.

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Microsoft = Catholiscism-Mainstream!
Mac OS X = Orthodoxy-Secluded!
Linux = Protestant Denominations-No standard!
Conclusion: Religion has no place in computers!

The HDD's spindle system relies on air pressure inside the enclosure to support the heads at their proper flying height while the disk rotates. If the head gets too close to the disk, there is a risk of head crashes and data loss.

Head crashes can be caused by electronic failure, a sudden power failure, physical shock, wear and tear, corrosion, or poorly manufactured platters and heads.

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A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer. ~Bruce Lee

So most likely it is mechanical?

Well, the movement was barely enough to actually cause a spinning disk to move out of place, I mean the disks are supposed to handle movement quitte well, unless it is extreme force. It is a Maxtor, so I highly doubt any thing in it is poorly manufcatured.

The matching case might be power failiure, but as I said before, even after I moved it, quite gently mind you, the cables were intact. The computer just suddenly restarted. I really do not know what happened.

__________________
Microsoft = Catholiscism-Mainstream!
Mac OS X = Orthodoxy-Secluded!
Linux = Protestant Denominations-No standard!
Conclusion: Religion has no place in computers!

If it was a head crash it would have been heard. Simply put, a head crash sounds like metal rubbing metal. Last time one I heard one I knew before I started troubleshooting.

On the other hand, there are far more mechanical issues inside a hard drive that could cause that issue that throwing mechanical error away is a bad move.

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"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."-Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.
"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."-Ken Olson, founder of DEC, 1977.

Sounds like you accidently grounded it and destroyed the electronics. If the mechanics had died there would have been a screech or something of that sort.
Replacing the PCB would probably be a waste of time-when the electronics failed, it probably damaged the motors.

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Ya I thought as much. I originally purchased on eBay for about 24 $ US. Looking around on eBay again, the price I would pay for a PCB anyway, would cost me just as much as buying another 40 GB, and since I have no data on it, I damaged it formatting it, then it would be a waste of money to go for a PCB. I will play around with it see if I can fix it. If it is mechanical than there is no chance in fixingg the issue, since it is impossible to calibrate a mechanical issue, and the fact that it has pressurized gas means I cannot open it.

I still do not think I fried it per se, becuase the connections were still firmly in place, when this happened. I did not have a power outage in my place, since my other machines were still running, so I dont know.

Maybe since it was formatting, it was rotating at maximum speed, and the slightest twitch to the drive could have cause the head and the platters to move out of place.

__________________
Microsoft = Catholiscism-Mainstream!
Mac OS X = Orthodoxy-Secluded!
Linux = Protestant Denominations-No standard!
Conclusion: Religion has no place in computers!

I'm thinking that the heads are out of alignment, like you said. The head crashing was not what I had meant to post, but it was too early in the morning remember the word alignment. (as you can tell with my copy and paste of an explanation in my post)

I never move a HDD or computer while it is formatting. Like you said, the HDD is running maxed out during a format and too many things can go wrong with the slightest bump.

__________________
A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer. ~Bruce Lee