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Posted

Hey Guys, A few days ago my Dad's laptop Hard drive stopped working and just makes a clicking noise whenever you try to power it on. I figured the read/write heads are toast so my question to you is if you know of any methods to retrieve data from the physical platters themselves that I could do at home. I know there are send off services for this kind of thing but the data is not quite that important to justify the cost.

Posted

You could buy an identical drive and exchange the platters, but you're more likely to destroy the data than to get it off the frankensteined drive.

Posted

Put the hhd in a freezer safe ziplock bag and remove the air from it, then place it in the freezer for an hour. Take it out and immediately hook it up to a external reader and copy data. You will only have a few mins but its easier than Coopers method, however his would work WAY better.

Posted
Put the hhd in a freezer safe ziplock bag and remove the air from it, then place it in the freezer for an hour. Take it out and immediately hook it up to a external reader and copy data. You will only have a few mins but its easier than Coopers method, however his would work WAY better.

this method does work great, saved the data off a clients computer.

saved me and them losts of money!

Posted
Put the hhd in a freezer safe ziplock bag and remove the air from it, then place it in the freezer for an hour. Take it out and immediately hook it up to a external reader and copy data. You will only have a few mins but its easier than Coopers method, however his would work WAY better.

if i leave it in longer would I be able to get enough time to do a dd image of the drive? or should I just ask where the most important files are and try to grab as much as I can. (Id have to double check but I believe it is a 20gig drive.)

Posted
Put the hhd in a freezer safe ziplock bag and remove the air from it, then place it in the freezer for an hour. Take it out and immediately hook it up to a external reader and copy data. You will only have a few mins but its easier than Coopers method, however his would work WAY better.

I'd also try to do this in a cold room (as in server room cold) or if this isn't available have a room fan blowing over the PCB. These additional steps are to reduce the condensation building up on the surface of the PCB.

My actual answer is: Restore from your latest backup.

Posted
My actual answer is: Restore from your latest backup.

Unfortunately the Backup concept is still beyond my fathers grasp... Although hopefully this dead drive will help change that.

Thanks for the reply's so far, I had heard about the freezing but wasn't quite sure if it was a serious option. I would prefer the platter replacement method but I am unsure if I can create a static free clean room in my apartment and i don't have access to any kind of clean room.

Posted
I'd also try to do this in a cold room (as in server room cold) or if this isn't available have a room fan blowing over the PCB. These additional steps are to reduce the condensation building up on the surface of the PCB.

My actual answer is: Restore from your latest backup.

The fan is an excellent idea. I didnt think of doing it in a cold place, maybe find access to a walk-in freezer :P?

Posted
The fan is an excellent idea. I didnt think of doing it in a cold place, maybe find access to a walk-in freezer :P?

There is too much water in the air in a fridge or freezer, with a fan it might be ok. If you had a dehumidifier along side that would be ideal. A cold normal* humidity room should be fine.

*Normal = England, not the Amazon rainforest.

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