Data Recovery DIY
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I have a drive that hadn't been backed up to Crashplan yet.. my only one that hadn't and of course it's the one that failed (and the newest one). I've bought a new one of the same model and plan to swap the platters (it's not worth paying for professional disaster recovery, just a would be nice to have thing). Anyone ever tried swapping platters before? How did it go?
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what are the symptoms?
if the drive is still spinning you can try Spinrite from grc.com. They even offer a money back guarantee.
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@Dashrender said:
if the drive is still spinning you can try Spinrite from grc.com. They even offer a money back guarantee.
That's only for problems with corrupt sectors, something you wouldn't be trying a platter swap to fix because it wouldn't. Software can't fix a hardware issue.
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I would love to see pictures of your disassembly of the drive. I did it once, didn't recover a thing. Didn't know how to remove all platters from the spindle without disassembling the platters from each other loosing alignment
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@Jason said:
I have a drive that hadn't been backed up to Crashplan yet.. my only one that hadn't and of course it's the one that failed (and the newest one). I've bought a new one of the same model and plan to swap the platters (it's not worth paying for professional disaster recovery, just a would be nice to have thing). Anyone ever tried swapping platters before? How did it go?
So you have a 'newest drive' and you have bought a new drive.
Are you going to void the warranty on both? Is the data worth that? And the risk of containment ? If it works and you get your data, My suggestion is not to trust the drive after.. I suppose it is a cheap alternative to shipping to a data recovery company and paying up to $5,000.
But you have to be extremely careful to not get the disks out of order, not to damage the heads or breathe on the disks.....
have you taken a drive apart in the past? I have - not with the intent to retrieve data,.. more of to destroy the disks..
Regardless - Good luck.
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I do not think it will work for DIY. I have done a Click of Death fix before, but it was due to failed headers.
For starter, I would call couple of drive saver companies throughout the states (assuming you live in U.S.). some may only cost you couple hundreds to a thousand.
If not, I would buy 3 identical drives as to the failed one. The PN, model, year, etc need to be exactly the same for best result. Save a file onto one of the new drive. Do a test platter swap with the test drive on one of the remaining 2 drives (save 1 for your failed drive).You will also need something like blow pic with some modification. Although it is not required, but you still need a very clean environment. Remember to wear a mask, goggle, and some thing to cover your hair. Dust on a platter is your worst nightmare. You will need to dust very frequently as well.
Add 2 holes and attach them to a vacuum. Use duster or any high pressure air gun to get rid of as much dust as possible. -
I take drives apart all the time, the ones that have failed. I lack the fine motor control it would take to actually disassemble a hard drive without damaging the platters. Trying to swap platters outside of a specialized shop that deals with that sort of thing is not something I'd expect to work.
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I think maybe I could just move the heads from the new one? The heads are what's damaged. Moving the platers is more risky since you have to tape them to keep the alignment.
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@Jason said:
I think maybe I could just move the heads from the new one? The heads are what's damaged. Moving the platers is more risky since you have to tape them to keep the alignment.
My advice would be to find an old drive that's headed for the bin and take it apart first. It'll give you and idea of what you're getting into. Most drives I've disassembled it's very difficult to remove the heads, and I haven't cared about damaging things even more than what they already were.
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@Jason said:
I think maybe I could just move the heads from the new one? The heads are what's damaged. Moving the platers is more risky since you have to tape them to keep the alignment.
Headers are much much easier. Do it at your own risk!
I take apart a dead hard drive just to try to remove the platter. It is very hard to remove it without proper tool. In the end I did strain the platter with my fingerprint.As for headers, there are 2 screws (may varies) holding the top magnet plate. As for the header itself there are 2 screws on the logic board, and 1 screw from underneath holding the header in place.
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@Jason said:
I think maybe I could just move the heads from the new one? The heads are what's damaged. Moving the platers is more risky since you have to tape them to keep the alignment.
I'm curious, how do you know this?
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@Dashrender said:
@Jason said:
I think maybe I could just move the heads from the new one? The heads are what's damaged. Moving the platers is more risky since you have to tape them to keep the alignment.
I'm curious, how do you know this?
That make me thinking... how come we never ask "How did you know what is wrong with your harddrive?"
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@LAH3385 said:
@Dashrender said:
@Jason said:
I think maybe I could just move the heads from the new one? The heads are what's damaged. Moving the platers is more risky since you have to tape them to keep the alignment.
I'm curious, how do you know this?
That make me thinking... how come we never ask "How did you know what is wrong with your harddrive?"
We never ask because normally we don't care. It's a black box for most of us. When it fails we replace it. It's that simple. Did it fail because it burned up, head broke, spindle is shot... who cares?
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@Dashrender said:
@Jason said:
I think maybe I could just move the heads from the new one? The heads are what's damaged. Moving the platers is more risky since you have to tape them to keep the alignment.
I'm curious, how do you know this?
Heads are sticking.. one is visibly damaged.
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@Jason said:
@Dashrender said:
@Jason said:
I think maybe I could just move the heads from the new one? The heads are what's damaged. Moving the platers is more risky since you have to tape them to keep the alignment.
I'm curious, how do you know this?
Heads are sticking.. one is visibly damaged.
So, you have already opened the drive and observed it in operation? Most likely it's already toast then.
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@travisdh1 said:
So, you have already opened the drive and observed it in operation? Most likely it's already toast then.
They aren't that sensitive to dust.. Thats a myth. They are sensative to dust in that it hurts their longevity. It doesn't erase the data or make it impossible to read. I have a couple friends who work in data recovery and they all say the clean environment is way over stated if you don't plan on keeping using the drive (which you shouldn't do).
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@Jason said:
@travisdh1 said:
So, you have already opened the drive and observed it in operation? Most likely it's already toast then.
They aren't that sensitive to dust.. Thats a myth. They are sensative to dust in that it hurts their longevity. It doesn't erase the data or make it impossible to read. I have a couple friends who work in data recovery and they all say the clean environment is way over stated if you don't plan on keeping using the drive (which you shouldn't do).
Facts? How dare you?
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@Jason said:
@travisdh1 said:
So, you have already opened the drive and observed it in operation? Most likely it's already toast then.
They aren't that sensitive to dust.. Thats a myth. They are sensative to dust in that it hurts their longevity. It doesn't erase the data or make it impossible to read. I have a couple friends who work in data recovery and they all say the clean environment is way over stated if you don't plan on keeping using the drive (which you shouldn't do).
Dust doesn't cause issue with reader, but when dust got under the header and it the speed it spins it can cause a scratch, or shatter.
