i was starting to suspect funny wiring in this room and may be right - when i switched outlets, the chkdsk completed very quickly on my data drive and it seems like it's actually ok. why it won't mount is another question, but i'm starting to think it might be a windows "security" thing. have to see if i can load it with a linux live disc....

this is the only outlet in the apartment that's not on a surge protector. i'm not giving up yet, though...

i'm getting the impression i may be able to do a sort of blind copy. i mean, i can't read the partition, but i can read that there's data on the partition. if i can read that there's data, there has to be a way to read the data.