The organization I volunteer with called because the computer would not boot up. I realized the power supply was not working ( and then tested it by placing it in a good computer and using a meter). I replaced the power supply but the pc could not see the hard drive. I tested the pc with a good HD and the pc had no problems auto detecting that one. They have no paperwork, no cd's and the mbd is an unknown. I checked it for any names or numbers and don't see a thing. There is a chip on it with SIS; could this indicate the name of the MBD? I can't complete a boot up with another HD as it wants me to load MBD drivers which I don't have!(on the original HD) They really need files on the original HD which of course they never backed up. I hate to tell them this is a lost cause since they have little money to replace the pc. Is there a way to extract files from a bac HD? Could whatever did in the power supply also have done the damage to the HD? any suggestions on what to try next would be greatly appreciated.

Try connecting the "dead" HD as a slave in a working computer, and see if it is recognised, and the files are there. If nothing, then the drive is probably dead. It is possible for specialists to read the data, but be warned this is VERY, VERY, VERY expensive!

It is possible that the drive was killed by the power supply,. It is equally possible that the drive died, and took the power supply with it!.

I did try the slave idea and it wasn't recogtnized. Looks like the HD is beyond hope.

There is a chip on it with SIS; could this indicate the name of the MBD?

That's probably the chipset, or it could be a video chip if video is onboard.

The only other thing I know of is to try the drive manufactorer's installation software and see if it also has utilities you can check its condition with.