I have a 20.0 gb maxtor 5400rpm hard-drive. When I boot my computer it makes several clicking noises then stops. I removed the hard-drive from my computer and placed it as a slave in a different work-station and same thing occured. I purchased a new maxtor 20.0 gb 7200 rpm hard-drive and was wondering if I can disassemble it and put the disk out of my old drive into the new hard-drive to save my data. Voiding the warranty is not of any concern. Tips and help would be greatly appreciated.
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Hard Drive Issues Please Help
- Thread starter t4ntrum
- Start date
Probability of having it work are in the fractional percentage range. Probably in the .00001 percent area.
Speed problems and alignment problems would cause all sorts of problems.
Best to hand it over to a professional.
Ed Fair
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.
Speed problems and alignment problems would cause all sorts of problems.
Best to hand it over to a professional.
Ed Fair
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.
Sheesh, Ed, we are the professionals ... at least, the ones you can get for free.![[thumbsup2]](/data/assets/smilies/thumbsup2.gif "[thumbsup2] [thumbsup2]")
If I had to choose between swapping hdd disk platters between drives, and just shooting the drive off a post with a high-power rifle, I'd select the rifle since it will get me the same result and be a lot more fun as well.
Here's what I would do with a hdd that clicks and refuses to let me in:
1. KICK-START. Maybe the platters need to be spun a bit manually to get them past some tiny obstruction. The hdd is toast anyway, so I'd open it up to expose the platters. Some other user on this board did this inside a clean plaster bag; good idea! Once the platters and hub were exposed, I'd spin the hub by hand ... once while it was powered off, and then (adjustingly) once again while it was trying to spin up with power applied. If that worked, backup all data to tape or something, and then take the drive to the rifle range.
2. LOGIC BOARD. If the kick-start didn't work, then I'd seek to replace the logic board on the drive. The clicking may be caused by a bad board, so perhaps this would work. I'd go a surfin' eBay to find the make and model of drive, and then take my chances that the firmware is the correct version on it. This is a skilled replacement; it may require splicing ribbon conductors, etc. There's a website of some guy on the net about doing this exact kind of replacement; you might find the link on our beloved Slashdot (
If I had to choose between swapping hdd disk platters between drives, and just shooting the drive off a post with a high-power rifle, I'd select the rifle since it will get me the same result and be a lot more fun as well.
Here's what I would do with a hdd that clicks and refuses to let me in:
1. KICK-START. Maybe the platters need to be spun a bit manually to get them past some tiny obstruction. The hdd is toast anyway, so I'd open it up to expose the platters. Some other user on this board did this inside a clean plaster bag; good idea! Once the platters and hub were exposed, I'd spin the hub by hand ... once while it was powered off, and then (adjustingly) once again while it was trying to spin up with power applied. If that worked, backup all data to tape or something, and then take the drive to the rifle range.
2. LOGIC BOARD. If the kick-start didn't work, then I'd seek to replace the logic board on the drive. The clicking may be caused by a bad board, so perhaps this would work. I'd go a surfin' eBay to find the make and model of drive, and then take my chances that the firmware is the correct version on it. This is a skilled replacement; it may require splicing ribbon conductors, etc. There's a website of some guy on the net about doing this exact kind of replacement; you might find the link on our beloved Slashdot (
mordswixed
Technical User
I work with a lot of people that do harddrive recovery and opening the drive is not really a good idea. The comment that your percent success is .00001 is very true. Without advanced hardware to places the platters in you are hosed.
Most places you send your harddrive do one of two things or both in necessary.
1. Hit the drive on one of the sides flat against a stiff surface such as a table. Don't use the floor might been too stiff. All you are attempting to do it free anything jammed in the drive.
2. Freeze the drive in your freezer inside a plastic bag. Some say an hour is enough others I know do it overnight. You want to make sure the temperature in the freezer is too extreme, placing the drive on the door is best.
Both of these can be tricky but they can yield pretty good results. I know they sound a little strange but I have seen it work.
Now the only additional thing to note is that both of these are destructive and if you do try one of them you have to place the drive into a computer as the Secondary drive and get your data out as quickly as possible.
Typically the drive will completely fail shortly after if this does work.
Most places you send your harddrive do one of two things or both in necessary.
1. Hit the drive on one of the sides flat against a stiff surface such as a table. Don't use the floor might been too stiff. All you are attempting to do it free anything jammed in the drive.
2. Freeze the drive in your freezer inside a plastic bag. Some say an hour is enough others I know do it overnight. You want to make sure the temperature in the freezer is too extreme, placing the drive on the door is best.
Both of these can be tricky but they can yield pretty good results. I know they sound a little strange but I have seen it work.
Now the only additional thing to note is that both of these are destructive and if you do try one of them you have to place the drive into a computer as the Secondary drive and get your data out as quickly as possible.
Typically the drive will completely fail shortly after if this does work.
Ya' know, mordswixed, as long as we're remembering our PC support days ....
I've used the "Interial Spin" method of unsticking a stuck hard disk. This one hdd I had to fix kept sticking. You'd turn it off, and the next morning it wouldn't spin up. I'd remove it from the computer, hold in my hand like a deck of cards about to be shuffled, and twist my forearm back and forth quickly. The drive would spin, and inside the platters would almost spin with the drive chasses ... but would lag a bit since they have interia. Once unstuck in this fashion, the drive would work for some while before it would spin down again (due to power management, etc.) and get stuck.
This is of course a great way to unstick the drive since it's non-invasive, and non-destructive. However, it only worked on that one drive I tried it on, and there have been 3 or 4 others over the years that I tried it on and it didn't work for. So it's probably work a shot to try that first.
I've used the "Interial Spin" method of unsticking a stuck hard disk. This one hdd I had to fix kept sticking. You'd turn it off, and the next morning it wouldn't spin up. I'd remove it from the computer, hold in my hand like a deck of cards about to be shuffled, and twist my forearm back and forth quickly. The drive would spin, and inside the platters would almost spin with the drive chasses ... but would lag a bit since they have interia. Once unstuck in this fashion, the drive would work for some while before it would spin down again (due to power management, etc.) and get stuck.
This is of course a great way to unstick the drive since it's non-invasive, and non-destructive. However, it only worked on that one drive I tried it on, and there have been 3 or 4 others over the years that I tried it on and it didn't work for. So it's probably work a shot to try that first.
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