L'Affaire Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 I have two identical HDs. One failed. I got most of my data back from a Time Machine backup, but as it happens an important file hadn't been backed up yet. Judging from the symptoms, I'm pretty sure it's a mechanical issue, maybe with the read/write arm. I'm very tempted to try and open the drives, exchange the platter from the failed HD over to the good one and see if I can get that file back. Has anyone ever tried this? Results? I know HDs are delicate, sealed to keep dust out (although there is a breather hole) etc. and it's probably not easy or impossible to do at home. But it just bothers me to no end to know that my data is still happily sitting on that disk and I can't get to it just because the read arm is broken. I just need that one damn file ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zammykoo Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 This is a very risky procedure as you are probably aware. I think if the data is THAT important to you then you should have it recovered professionally. If you don't have the right tools or proper dust free environment (or even identical hdd w/ identical controller board & firmware) you are limiting your chances of data recovery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3.14r2 Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 Is it a Seagate 7200.11 HD by any chance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L'Affaire Posted May 28, 2011 Author Share Posted May 28, 2011 Is it a Seagate 7200.11 HD by any chance? No, it's a Maxtor DiamondMax 10, 300 GB. After doing some research, I'll try a circuit board swap first. They also had a Maxtor and my drive makes exactly the same sound. If that doesn't work, I'll try the head or platter swap. Found some people who did this before: http://www.deadharddrive.com/stories.html http://www.instructables.com/answers/Homem...Y-hard-drive-r/ (plenty of links to other success stories in the comments) There's also this helpful Q&A: http://hddguru.com/articles/2006.02.17-Cha...dstack-Q-and-A/ That site has a whole forum dedicated to HD repair. We'll see how it goes. At this point it's almost more the challenge whether I can do it. I can live without the data on that drive if I have to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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