Maxtor HDD failed. Swapped heads, platters.

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by taktix, Jan 21, 2014.

  1. taktix

    taktix MDL Novice

    Oct 19, 2013
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    Hi,

    I've got an old Maxtor DiamondMax 10 PATA133 250gb that failed with important data on it.

    I kept getting clicking with the heads.



    I bought the exact same model to make it a donor.

    I tested the new HDD. It was reading/writing ok.

    I swapped the PCB.
    Got clicking sound / neverending seeking.

    I opened up the HDD and swapped the heads.
    Got clicking sound / neverending seeking.

    I swapped the platters of the old HDD to the donor hdd casing
    Got clicking sound / neverending seeking.




    Is there something else I could try?
     
  2. Mutagen

    Mutagen MDL Addicted

    Feb 18, 2013
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    I trust you did those operations in a certified clean room. If not, your drive is probably in much worse condition. As for something else to try, I don't know the exact recipe, but I have read of folks wrapping a drive in plastic and placing it in the freezer and/or oven for a short period - the resulting temperature change being just enough to get the drive operational long enough to copy your data.

    Good luck. I know how awful it is to lose data. (Fortunately, like so many others, my first experience was also my last).
     
  3. jellybelly

    jellybelly MDL Member

    Oct 30, 2009
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    the firmware version on the pcb has to be the same as well, and though that's usually the case anyways on the same model you never know..

    as far as physically changing out the heads and whatever else ---- you ruined the drive more than it was to begin with. there is no way you installed the heads as precisely as they need to be.. so the drive is extra dead now and your data is gone, sorry.

    the same goes for the platters.. they are aligned precisely to the thousands of a millimeter type of measurement.. the slightest change, even if you had working heads and pcb, would corrupt the data..

    that freezer thing .. i think is BS.. maybe it works for some types of issues but it didn't work for me when i trashed a drive... so unless it's proven on mythbusters, it's not real :p
     
  4. Wolfeymole

    Wolfeymole MDL Novice

    Jan 20, 2014
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    I'd agree with the two guys above.

    You may have stood a chance if you had sent it off to a professional Data Recovery company but once you opened it up it became well and truly mashed.

    Take a power drill to it and kiss it goodbye Taktix.
     
  5. MrMagic

    MrMagic MDL Guru

    Feb 13, 2012
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  6. LatinMcG

    LatinMcG Bios Borker

    Feb 27, 2011
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