DIY Data recovery from 'dead' drives

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BLinux

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I'm not sure why some of you guys are so against the OP's idea. He doesn't have any expectations of data recovery, this sounds like an educational experience for him. So, why not have at it? It doesn't sound like he's taking out a loan on his house to build a clean room or anything, the risk is minimal. Even if the risk wasn't minimal, aren't we all here because we like to tinker? Seeing the "Great deals" section, many of use throw away money on computer gear we probably don't really need; i'm sure we've collectively wasted more cash on "great deals" than this guy will spend on his mini clean box to take apart a HDD.

to the OP: i'd say, have at it... maybe even document your journey; i for one would love to read about it. i've had similar thoughts, also for the sake of self-education, but haven't found the time with work, family, kids, and other hobbies. the last time I looked into this, there was a youtube channel by a data recovery place that really showed in detail the whole process; i don't recall the channel name, but i'm sure you'll find it.
 
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William

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May 7, 2015
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You could also try swapping the PC board form another drive... if you have another identical hard drive.. ?
 
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vl1969

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Feb 5, 2014
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I'm not sure why some of you guys are so against the OP's idea. He doesn't have any expectations of data recovery, this sounds like an educational experience for him. So, why not have at it? It doesn't sound like he's taking out a loan on his house to build a clean room or anything, the risk is minimal. Even if the risk wasn't minimal, aren't we all here because we like to tinker? Seeing the "Great deals" section, many of use throw away money on computer gear we probably don't really need; i'm sure we've collectively wasted more cash on "great deals" than this guy will spend on his mini clean box to take apart a HDD.

to the OP: i'd say, have at it... maybe even document your journey; i for one would love to read about it. i've had similar thoughts, also for the sake of self-education, but haven't found the time with work, family, kids, and other hobbies. the last time I looked into this, there was a youtube channel by a data recovery place that really showed in detail the whole process; i don't recall the channel name, but i'm sure you'll find it.
I , personally not against it, just doing an overview from a realistic usefulness perspective.

in modern drives, there is nothing inside of the drive itself that anyone can fix or work with without a proper tools and equipment. yes you can take the drive apart to scavenge the magnets :)
or to simply look and admire how all of this works. but nothing you can do for data recovery.
you do not have tools to read the platters them self, unless you have the budget to buy them and they are EXPENSIVE, OP sure does not have the tools, based on the post. so what good is a clean room and all the expanses that come with building it if you only take the drives apart to admire the workmanship?

you can do the same on your desk. no added expenses need.
now if you want to try data recovery , the most you can do is swap the logic board with identical one.
you can do that any time anywhere no clean room needed, unless you are in a very dusty environment.

so most posters here who question the OP goals are simply trying to prevent some one from spending time and money, however small amount of them, on something that simply not needed.
if data is important, than OP is better off trying a less destructive path and maybe spending the money ,he/she otherwise used on building a clean room, on a good data recovery software package. that might yield a much better return on investment.

just IMHO
 

AVD2359

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Jan 27, 2017
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But I was thinking at least HEPA filtration (not sure what it cost to go up to ULPA) pushing into an overpressure box with a plexiglass top and some attached gloves on the side that you reach through and the cleaned tools already in there...
You don't need to seal it with the gloves, etc. You do need clean air going into the box, with enough flow that no air comes in elsewhere.

Youtube has videos of platter swaps that will show you this & more. The job takes an experienced hand 30 minutes or so.
 
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AVD2359

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ok, freezer only works if you can hear the drive spinning up when connected to power.
In my experience, the freezer method has worked for 1-2 drives that would NOT spin up at ambient temperature. Not sure if they'd been sitting too long, had lubrication break down in the motor, or what; but it definitely can work. As a last-ditch effort, of course.

That said, I'll try canned air next time. Good tip!
 
You don't need to seal it with the gloves, etc. You do need clean air going into the box, with enough flow that no air comes in elsewhere.

Youtube has videos of platter swaps that will show you this & more. The job takes an experienced hand 30 minutes or so.
Yes exactly! If other people are doing it why cant I? :)

Any idea what kind of luck people have with those swaps? Even if it doesnt yield 100% recovery, if it gets back something you didn't have before - it's worth more than zero. Like I said i'm dealing with "assumed dead" drives that don't have the finances to be worth a pro recovery anyways. Plus I like tinkering.


When would a platter swap normally be done, when heads are damaged I assume? (swapping the platter instead of the heads I guess) What other "inside the drive" work (beyond logic board swaps) is possible to do, or steps before, or after this? Are there any good websites out there covering a DIY approach to this that someone out there could recommend?
 
Seagate drives [at least used to] store most of their firmware on the drive platters itself

Reallocated sectors come out of dedicated spare area(s) on the drive, not out of the user-accessible space.
Is it plausible that it ran out of reallocated sectors and had nothing left to reallocate though?

What would be the way to try and access a drive that doesn't want to see things like that (or to even test for why it wont see), any ideas?


I'm not sure why some of you guys are so against the OP's idea. He doesn't have any expectations of data recovery, this sounds like an educational experience for him. So, why not have at it? It doesn't sound like he's taking out a loan on his house to build a clean room or anything, the risk is minimal. Even if the risk wasn't minimal, aren't we all here because we like to tinker?

to the OP: i'd say, have at it... maybe even document your journey; i for one would love to read about it.
Thats what I think! :) I'm always baffled why when someone sees an idea that is just for something they wouldn't do why they need to try nudge me away from it. Some things I understand and have changed my mind on (ie - this place singlehandedly talked me away from SATA port multipliers, and towards going all SAS - and is doing a pretty good job of making me consider SAS Expanders instead of my cobbled together alternative plans) but other things I still want to do and have no alternative.

If I ever get a chance I will document it too! Just like I want to document my tape writing server for creating parity tapes (redundant array of inexpensive tape is pretty serious enterprise grade afterall) and i'm confused why most readers seemed to pan that idea... if they dont see the need move on, if they dont understand what i'm doing ask, if they can offer something to help me build it let me build it document it and then see if i can create a use case for others to emulate.

I want to give back something when i've received help on other good advice (incl here, like on SAS everything) even if many of these projects are long, slow, trickle away at them type of things when i'm taking a double full time load of college credits atop part time work for awhile to get a leg up.


You could also try swapping the PC board form another drive... if you have another identical hard drive.. ?
That I can do! I have several HD's that seem dead, that I have absolute clones of (as far as I can tell) which are also old or/and i'm willing to swap from one to get data off the other, going back even to some 40gig IBM Deathstars at this point... once I can credibly learn these skills on even crappier smaller drives that will be the first one I try it with that I wanted to get data back from.
 
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William

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Before doing all that I would give a PCB swap a go first and see what happens.

Sorry, after a page refresh I saw your last post.