Take apart a Hard Drive?

[Lennydude]

Hi there.............

Have an old hard drive that failed. I am thinking about buying another "exact model" working hard drive and taking them both apart. Put my disk with all its info into the working drive.

Is this even possible?

The info that is on the non working disk is not crisis level critical. I am a hack photographer and the disk has tons of my pictures on it along with lots of my music. I would like to get these back but really do not want to pay much. I can buy a used exact model copy of my disk for very little money.

Also, if this IS possible..................what size wrench fits those small "star" screws on nthe hard drive?

Thanks for any help.......

Lenny

BTW................this drive is NOT a boot drive...........it has NO OS on it.......just files.

 

[dBTelos]

Impossible. But you could have a major data recovery company try to fix it for you.

BTW, that can be expensive.

 

[tersome]

That's the craziest thing I've ever heard... the magnetic discs have to be flawless, and taking them out would expose them to fingerprints and pollutants. You could try to change out the control board and see if the board had fried.

 

[bluestrobe]

It is possible but if you are here asking then I wouldn't even consider it. You have to think about how much your files are worth and if they are worth it, a data recovery center would be my next step.

 

[dBTelos]

Originally posted by: bluestrobe
It is possible but if you are here asking then I wouldn't even consider it. You have to think about how much your files are worth and if they are worth it, a data recovery center would be my next step.

I would really like to here about this possible method.

 

[SGtheArtist]

This process is absolutely possible and exactly what some data recovery services have to do in order to recover data from failed hard drives.

The problem is that it takes special tools to carry the read/write heads safely away from the data platters and a clean room free from moisture and pollutants (as already mentioned).

I've never heard of hobbiest doing what you've asked. I have heard of hobbiest opening a HDD to install a window which has worked.

As you may know if you've researched data recovery it can be very costly to send in the data for recovery.

My recommendation is learn a lesson and backup in the future. If its critical then send it in to the data recovery service.

If your going to try your proposal, don't get your hopes up of saving your data.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

*IF* you can find the exact same logic board, these can be switched out w/o opening
the HDD. A bad PSU with 5V spikes will kill the logic board, so use a KNOWN good PSU.

Homework time= http://hddguru.com/ Things will be read in thier forum that will suprise you.
A crazy Russian runs this site and he does not suffer fools

I've only played with a couple dead HDDs.

EDIT: Those are TORX screws. Do not open the drive until you have done your homework.


...Galvanized

 

[dBTelos]

This process is absolutely possible and exactly what some data recovery services have to do in order to recover data from failed hard drives.

I couldn't imagine some random forum member opening up a hard drive and replacing the parts from another identical hard drive. And it working

 

[Rubycon]

IF the data on that hard drive is of any value, STOP. Put down the drive and screwdriver and call a professional. Hard drives are a lot like lasers in that if you mess with them and don't know what you're doing they will never work again! Experience is the best teacher and the most expensive one to boot. :laugh:

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

*tearing at one's hair while screaming the sky is falling* Bwahahaha!

OP, DATA recovery is very expensive. Check up on the cost. It will be about the same as
buying a new low-end DSLR

Do your homework at HDDGuru and practice on a dead drive before touching the unit you need to save.


...Galvanized

 

[Jeff7]

What is the nature of the failure? Odd sounds from the drive? Did it just disappear from the BIOS one day, never to be detected again? Does it spin up? What brand and model?

 

[bluestrobe]

Originally posted by: dBTelos
I would really like to here about this possible method.

Do some research and you could find the answers yourself instead of trying to prove others wrong. I googled and this is the first site that popped up:

http://www.hackaday.com/2005/11/17/hard-drive-resurrection/

I've ran across a few web sites talking about the same methods.

Also it's "hear", not "here"

I still recommend a data recovery service for the OP.

 

[corkyg]

As in another thread - why not give Dave Mason a call and see what he can do for how much, etc. Can't cost much to ask.

DM

 

[dBTelos]

Originally posted by: bluestrobe

Originally posted by: dBTelos
I would really like to here about this possible method.

Do some research and you could find the answers yourself instead of trying to prove others wrong. I googled and this is the first site that popped up:

http://www.hackaday.com/2005/11/17/hard-drive-resurrection/

I've ran across a few web sites talking about the same methods.

Also it's "hear", not "here"

I still recommend a data recovery service for the OP.

Thanks for the link, and I know it is 'hear', I was just typing fast at the time.

 

[PianoMan]

Data recovery center - only option, unless you try to TSR the HD w/o a case open.

My mother-in-law worked at a clean room at a semiconductor company, and at home, there's almost no way to duplicate the controls at achieving a clean environment like you find there. We're talking one speck of dust, and micrometers of space between the air cushioned HD head and the rapidly spinning platter. Not to say you physically can't do it - I'm sure you can swap the parts out, but no telling how long it'll run without a catastrophic HD crash.

If it's data you want to save, hand it over to a professional - but even they say it's not guaranteed to be successful.

PM

 

[Netopia]

Originally posted by: bluestrobe

Originally posted by: dBTelos
I would really like to here about this possible method.

Do some research and you could find the answers yourself instead of trying to prove others wrong. I googled and this is the first site that popped up:

http://www.hackaday.com/2005/11/17/hard-drive-resurrection/

I've ran across a few web sites talking about the same methods.

Also it's "hear", not "here"

I still recommend a data recovery service for the OP.

Also, it's "I've run" not "I've ran".

Joe

 

[bluestrobe]

Originally posted by: Netopia

Also, it's "I've run" not "I've ran".

Joe

I looked over that post for a couple of minutes before posting it. Good catch.

 

[Exterous]

Depending on the problem there are two programs out there that are pretty helpful:
GetDataBack and Recover My Files. Both let you try them for free (and see if they will actually work for your situation) but you have to buy them to actually recover the files. All you need is a working HDD to run the programs from. They don't always work but if you have the time its a free download - you only have to pay if it will work

 

[zephyrprime]

I'm surprised that none of you remember the thread where I described how I did exactly what lennydude is asking about.

It can be done and I have done it successfully before. In fact, I even know of another person in real life that has done it before also.

I would recommend a head transplant rather than a platter transplant because of alignment issues with the platters.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Originally posted by: zephyrprime
I'm surprised that none of you remember the thread where I described how I did exactly what lennydude is asking about.

It can be done and I have done it successfully before. In fact, I even know of another person in real life that has done it before also.

I would recommend a head transplant rather than a platter transplant because of alignment issues with the platters.

Link that thread please


...Galvanized

 

[zephyrprime]

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...threadid=972710&enterthread=y&arctab=y

 

[JEDIYoda]

I usd a data recovery service several years ago when the harddrive my wife was using for the book she was writing in a different language crashed, it was making a horibl sqealing noise..lol
Even though we had bits and pieces of her book backed up on floppy disks we decided it was better to spend the money and attempt to get the information back using a data recovery service.


Define expensive?
We paid a one time non-recoverable fee of $150 just to have them look and determine if the information was in fact recoverable. Then we paid an additional I believe $200 dollars when they did recover the information.


YES-- it can become very expensive very quickly. If I remember at the time a few years ago we paid based on the amount of information that was recovered. NOT a flat fee for recovering the information.

Good Luck!!

Those programs that supposedly will recover data for you are based on the assumption that nothing has been over written and If I remember correctly if your harddrive is messed up internally they do not work at all!! As in broken parts!!

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Thank you sir..*tips hat*

I will be sharing your work with the repair techs at http://www.badcaps.net/ if you don't mind.
PM me if you do mind.


...Galvanized

 

[Exterous]

Originally posted by: JEDIYoda
Those programs that supposedly will recover data for you are based on the assumption that nothing has been over written and If I remember correctly if your harddrive is messed up internally they do not work at all!! As in broken parts!!

I am not sure about overwritten but they can recover information from a low level formatt and even if the drive is not recognized in the BIOS or windows. I am sure there are problems if there are physical malfunctions but I do not know where the line of no return exists. Still worth a shot in IMHO

 

[Maxspeed996]

First thing...good luck OP!! That sucks...
Just take you time and do your homework like Galvanized said....(he knows what he's talking about) this isn't like opening up a cd drive as I'm sure you know. The link that Zephyrprime sent is cool , and I remember it...I also have heard of this being done in the bathroom...where the hot shower would be ran to generate enough moisture in the air to take the dust out of it...problem is , you are working with cool objects which means condensation....the "clean room" environment that Zephyrprime set up with the Aquirium may be the cheapest way to do it. If you can afford to lose your data!!
:beer: