The date on the one tb drive is 04 Dec 2015

(I'm a stoneage layman but get to the CMD or RUN and)

https://appuals.com/chkdsk-f-r-vs-chkdsk-r-f/
The chkdsk /r /f locates bad sectors and recovers readable information and then fixes the errors.
The chkdsk /f /r does the same thing but in the opposite order.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/929833/use-the-system-file-checker-tool-to-repair-missing-or-corrupted-system
The sfc /scannow command will scan all protected system files, and replace corrupted files with a cached copy that is located in a compressed folder at %WinDir% System32dllcache.

I would try this first and see if the drive's dead or it's a software issue.

You need something like this or the equivalent.
https://www.apricorn.com/upgrades/ez-upgrade-3-0

And don't manhandle it !

I think the drives are dead.
I thought I had the cables to hook up the drive externally but have not been able to find them.
I am looking at computers at micro center.
The new specs are confusing at best.
I know I want 16gb of RAM as that helps with working with pictures.
I also think I need seperate video ram, not shared.
Any of you guys want to take a look and make a recco?
Cheaper is better, this computer was a 500 buck one I added RAM to and a 1gb video card just to get it to handle my photos.

A dedicated graphics chip will help if you are editing photos or anything. I am not sure what you use, but our video editing software can make use of Cuda so it is nVidia for us.

For viewing pics or 1080p video, you don't need much.

i am thinking this one might be a good replacement machine...

https://www.microcenter.com/product/615524/acer-nitro-50-gaming-computer

I was using a very basic photo editor which came loaded on the computer. Can't recall the name now. It could do the very basic stuff photo shop can do.

That's actually a pretty good deal.

You'd pay more than that if you sourced the parts separately and built it.

Meaning the sum of the parts is worth more than the cost of the whole.

Doesn't have a lot of expansion room for additional PCIe cards and only two RAM slots but if you upgrade the ram in the future you can get to 16 cheap enough.

It has 4 ram slots, 1 of which is used, I dont know if the video ram would work.

If I took out the optane memory, that would open the M.2 slots for an ssd drive wouldnt it?

Thanks Zeke.
I think the housing I was thinking of was one I bought for a laptop hd I saved when my sons old laptop gave up.
I found it and it is working fine.
I will have to talk to my wife about how much budget I have to work with.

I would send it to a data retrieval shop.

Yes, I will make doubly sure they are dead before I take that step.

BTDT.

Before I knew to back up a million years ago, I had a HD stop working. Took it to a place in Atlanta that gets the data back. They said it was toast.

I still have the HD 10+. years later just in case...

I buy kid/gamer built systems off c-list a gen or two old when they up grade to the newest

current is a 6 core 12 thread i7 with a gtx980 card on a gamer M/B with more slots then I will ever use came with a small SSD and big spinning hd with room and hook ups for a lot more

way way better then any CORPrat built units at less then 1/2 the parts cost

Yes but why.

Optane is caching memory that is meant to make a platter drive as fast as SSD.

m2 ssd's typically see their best performance when pushed hard.

Optane tries to improve throughput at the lower end which is typically what we consider average consumer use.

Other than additional storage, for which there are numerous options that don't require modification, you'd not really gain anything in terms of theoretical performance. At worst nothing you'd even notice.

Don't understand the video ram question.

OK. Thanks for that explanation of the Optane. Makes sense.
I don't know what I was thinking when I posted about the video ram. Of course it will work.
Thanks all for the input. I hope to get a new computer today.

When I was younger I would have done the same thing. Now though it is easier to put it on credit card and know that if it doesn't work I can take it back.

I make them bring the unit to my house and stress test it before payment
programs like CPU-Z will do that and tell you all the bits inside also

avg about 1/2 the cost for better then box store stuff

Find a friend that can build a PC boot drive on a USB stick. When turned on, the PC should look for that drive and boot up. Once "up" check the directory to see if you can access what should have been the old "C" drive. If that works, just transfer the desired files to the USB stick drive. Good luck!