Resolved hard drive crash

This is really a follow up to a previous post that was thought to be hardware but now turns out to be system. In this case win2000.
I had a slow internal d drive that I have now tested in various ways and it turns out that it is working fine copying from any other source but the c drive. Tested on the network and from an optical drive and the write speeds were correct.
So I went to check on any bios updates and there was one, so did it and computer rebooted fine. Did another for the Intel 850 chipset and rebooted fine. The last update was to the Intel ultra ATA controller and when rebooted, got the blue screen and since, can' access the c drive. Says it needs formating. Tried to fix the boot but it wouldn't work and did the MBR and still no luck. The drive has been currupted so there's no boot area to ID.

I moved it to the D slot and put a c hardrive that works into C and tried to see if I could salvage anything but the d drive (formerly c, doesn't open).

Before re-formating the drive with the problem is there anything anyone can suggest. I have all my data backed up but re-building the programs and updates will be lengthy. Is there no way to open that currupted drive to take a few things off before redoing?

Any ideas.

 

tried other machine

tried the currupted drive in another machine and it sees it but can't open it.
Tried safe mode but using it as a c drive, no luck. As a d drive in another machine. It shows up but can't be opened.

 

answer

When I put the HD in another computer as a D drive, the computer recognises it but won't open it and I get a "drive not formatted" message. until all else has been tried i don't want write a new drive. FYI: I don't think this is hardware as this happened after a software update and the reboot failing. The software was the Intel Ultra ATA controller and as that does work the drives, that's when it went out. Up to then it was fine and about 6 months old. A WD 320 gig Caviar Blue drive. I know it could be the drive but I'm not so sure.
I was able to do one test to be sure the ATA controller itself wasn't a mechanical problem. I had an old C boot drive that still works, so put it in and could use it and the D drive that always has worked.
If there's no way to recover at least my data is backed up. It's the programs and updates that will take a lot of time to rebuild.
I will keep trying ideas today and give in to re-write tomorrow. Thanks for thinking it through. We'll see what happens.

 

Thanks Evan for the input. That's exactly what I'm doing next.
Also, checkdisk gave me a not formated message. It appears that I lost the partition structure of the disk so it is not recognized, however, am using it as a d drive with an old working c drive and try every test and recovery program. I'll post again shortly.

 

The final outcome was that I could recover most files but since the partition and boot sector was damaged, after the recovery, had to reformat the drive as reinstalling windows wouldn't work on the drive. I back up most but some things will be a pain to redo but it's not too bad. I add the following feedback for others.
1. Do not casually update bios, chipset, etc. files, just because Dell or whoever has a newer version. This crash happened immediately after such an update which included the ATA Intel ultra IDE controller. Coincidence -- I don't think so because both almost new WD Caviar Blue drives went down and C was a real mess and even D was effected.
2. File recovery works but some better than others. File Scavenger couldn't read any file larger than 1 kb although it could see the files by title.
3. Best recovery tool was NovaStor which I use for Image making of my C drive. Even when i couldn't relaod the image due to the drive damage, I could create an image of the files to copy.
4.Tech support is very spotty. Dell is 24/7 but not everyone is that sharpe.
Appreciate the posts trying and be helpful.