i replaced a bad seagate 60GB SATA hard drive (sn: 3PJ15M4H) (model: ST96812AS) in a macbook. On the bad hard drive is a very important file that i need to retrieve for the client but the drive is not mounting it will spin for a moment but will not mount. we don't have the funds to send it out, starting quotes are ranging around $500 to $600 level 1 retrieval process, i have attached 3 images of the drive for your review but the audio file extension (.m4a) of the sound it makes will not upload if you wish to hear it i can email it to you at your request. My question is are there and utility programs that will repair the drive via usb or sata connections or allow access temporarily so i can extract the file, i was thinking about replacing the back plate or circuit board with an identical board to see if that might help or are there any other methods i can try or anything i can do. Code word - HELP!!!
view of hard drive connector
front label of hard drive
bottom view of hard drive circuit board
This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.
Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.
If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.
Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.
Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.
Access the answers to your technology questions today.
30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.
Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.
Try it out and discover for yourself.
30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.
Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.
I have had success with the following.
put the drive in the freezer for a couple of hours, in a sealed plastic bag
take it out, plug it in and get the data off ASAP.
sometimes getting it very cold can adjust the size/mechanics of things and get it going.
As long as you dont let any moisture build up on it when you take it out - ie dont breathe on it, then you wont do any damage.
This doesnt work all the same - but once is enough.
Old field service trick: Tap the middle of the drive with the handle of a screwdriver a few times, mount the disk and get the data off..quick. If this is the boot disk, you are probably asking too much to get the Mac to actually boot the disk up. Get a caddy (Ebay, £5) and attach it to another PC / Mac to try and salvage the data.
Try DataRescue II: http://www.prosofteng.com/
There is a free demo that will allow you to recover one file without payment for the software. If it doesn't work, try it in combination with the suggestions above.
The freezer trick is great, but warning .. check the humidity on a weather site for your area. this is VITAL, better to even wait if it is a humid day then to let small drops of water condense on it. If you leave near the ocean, then don't even consider this.
But if you do post sounds, then some of us could tell you if it is bearing (fixable with freezer or a good tap), or head crash (not fixable). If it is a head crash, then do not tap the disk, it can make it worse, assuming you plan on sending the drive off with $500+ to get data recovered.
Clicking is an indication that the read write head arm is failing.
Further details here:
http://www.tech-faq.c
ht
This page will help you with data recovery.
http://www.experts-exchang
If you can see the drive but can't copy files from it you could try GetDataBack for recovery There's a free trial version which shows what can be recovered:
http://www.runti
Unfort
If you have critical data (i.e. the great 21st century novel or your Ph.D. thesis and no backups) on that HDD do not use it at all except for recovery of data. As dlethe has mentioned, every time the drive starts you risk a MORE catastrophic failure.
Depending upon how critical those data are, if you don't want to risk data loss you shouldn't use the drive. In that case you need to pay big money to someone like http://www.gillware.com/ for forensic data recovery.
«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«
You may get more help if you ask to list this in the Computer Hard Drives zone rather than Displays and Monitors.
:)
http://www.experts-excha
Unfortunately, those suggests are all PC programs. DataRescue II (linked above) is a Mac data recovery program, and is excellent. If the disk will spin, DataRescue will likely recover the file.
As others have suggest above, do not attempt to boot from this drive. Put it into an external case and attempt recovery from there.
Going back to what I said before, all of those software programs won't do squat if there is hardware issue. The software will do things like reconstruct files from inodes, rebuild partitioning, reconstruct RAID, skip over bad blocks and do best it can
but ...
if your disk isn't spinning at proper RPMs, or the circuit board is blown, voltage is off, heads are damaged, media is damaged, then it is a waste of time. Click-click noises almost always mean hardware fault, with rare exception that it is a power supply. So as strung said, if you want the data back enough to pay $500+ for it ... then just ship if off, most all recovery companies will give you a free quote. Powering on the disk can make recovery impossible, or just a lot more expensive. Your decision.
Thank you all for the record i will try tapping the middle then the freezer method which will be my most eco solution at the moment. Vallis i got a quick quote from gillware approx. $600 - $1000 so at a last resort i will consider them coming from an experienced IT i figure why not go with them. Thank you and i will let you all know the results.
Business Accounts
Answer for Membership
by: dlethePosted on 2009-10-14 at 07:21:29ID: 25570791
no utility program can possibly get a stuck bearing to turn, or a head crash to repair itself. If you can, please post the sound it makes. Some problems are obvious based on the sound, if it is a motor, bearing, or something mechanical that can be fixed, you will pay less ... conversely if it sounds like a head crash, then pay the money or lose the file.
Note, you run risk of making problem worse every second the drive is powered up. (Don't kill the messenger, just giving you the cold, hard facts).
Does the BIOS see the drive at all? This is also helpful to know and pinpoint problem.