Recovering data from a hard drive that failed after water spilled onto Laptop keyboard
I have a Dell Vostro laptop with a 500 GB SATA hard dive
- My client accidently spilled water onto his keyboard but did not pull out the battery while attempting to remove as much water as possible from the keyboard. He let it dry over night before actually pulling out the battery the next day
- He let it dry out a few more days.
- Powered up the laptop and it posted “No Boot Device”. Confirmed the BIOS does not see the HDD
- He brought the laptop to me
- When removing the back cover to view the hard drive, I saw some rust and corrosion on the controller board. I removed the controller board to clean off any corrosion on the board and contacts. Reconnected. Still, the pc post shows no hdd connected.
- I then inserted the drive into a USB HDD dock. The drive would spin, makes a couple of “clattering” sounds but never see the drive
- No backups
- He also stated that the laptop has never been dropped
My question is
- Is it worth trying to locate an identical hard drive and transfer the controller board to the defective hard drive? Like I stated above, the drive does spin up. I’m just wondering if the circuit board is damaged, which I’m sure it is - is it possible to get the drive to be recognizable by the computer?
- If not, I will have to send out the drive to a data recovery center
- My client accidently spilled water onto his keyboard but did not pull out the battery while attempting to remove as much water as possible from the keyboard. He let it dry over night before actually pulling out the battery the next day
- He let it dry out a few more days.
- Powered up the laptop and it posted “No Boot Device”. Confirmed the BIOS does not see the HDD
- He brought the laptop to me
- When removing the back cover to view the hard drive, I saw some rust and corrosion on the controller board. I removed the controller board to clean off any corrosion on the board and contacts. Reconnected. Still, the pc post shows no hdd connected.
- I then inserted the drive into a USB HDD dock. The drive would spin, makes a couple of “clattering” sounds but never see the drive
- No backups
- He also stated that the laptop has never been dropped
My question is
- Is it worth trying to locate an identical hard drive and transfer the controller board to the defective hard drive? Like I stated above, the drive does spin up. I’m just wondering if the circuit board is damaged, which I’m sure it is - is it possible to get the drive to be recognizable by the computer?
- If not, I will have to send out the drive to a data recovery center
Mike Roe
I would not waste my time trying to find a board. If you send it out it is going to be very expensive. The user has that choice.
Personally, I would not send it out. I worked for a company that did that and 10 years ago it cost almost $1000. They do not guarantee that they can get everything, and I believe in that case they did not. You could try some drive recover software yourself. Here is a link to a few free ones.
https://www.lifewire.com/free-data-recovery-software-tools-2622893
Usually they are free to scan and see if they see any files or it will only recover a few before having to pay for it. This would at least let you see if you can see anything on the drive. Getting an identical drive and changing the interface card may work, but I have never tried to do that to recover a drive.
https://www.lifewire.com/free-data-recovery-software-tools-2622893
Usually they are free to scan and see if they see any files or it will only recover a few before having to pay for it. This would at least let you see if you can see anything on the drive. Getting an identical drive and changing the interface card may work, but I have never tried to do that to recover a drive.
ASKER
I am aware that it is costly to send out a drive for data recovery. I've done this before where the company will analyze the drive and not charge you if they believe they cannot recover data. If they can, the charge by the side of the drive
I would like to try the option of replacing the control board. If it doesn't work, I at least still have that good known drive that can be used to rebuild the laptop.
I'm mostly curious if the control board will play a factor in allowing the system to see the drive
I would like to try the option of replacing the control board. If it doesn't work, I at least still have that good known drive that can be used to rebuild the laptop.
I'm mostly curious if the control board will play a factor in allowing the system to see the drive
ASKER
Sorry about the typo, I meant a data recovery company usually charges by the size of the drive.
The chances of gaining data off the drive is probably very slim. As Mike stated it is probably not worth it. The chances of finding the right board for the drive(same firmware, revision, and such) will be slim.
You can try tho, at the customer's cost. Here's a link to a how to, and what to look for. They also suggest using Hddzone.com for replacement boards.
https://www.hddzone.com/fix_hard_drive_pcb_board.html
https://www.hddzone.com/hdd_pcb_resources.html
You can try tho, at the customer's cost. Here's a link to a how to, and what to look for. They also suggest using Hddzone.com for replacement boards.
https://www.hddzone.com/fix_hard_drive_pcb_board.html
https://www.hddzone.com/hdd_pcb_resources.html
Well, that is the interface from the drive to the connector on the motherboard, so if it did get wet while powered on, it was probably damaged. Theoretically, I would think that if that is the case replacing it would allow the system to see it. Personally, if that did work I would get the data off of it and not continue to use the drive. I would move the card back to the drive you purchased.
IF the drive is not detected in bios or by an operating system, no software will help you recover data.
ASKER
I found the identical drive online. Either way, I need to replace the hard drive in the laptop whether or not I can recover the original data of the old hard drive.
The plan is to at least attempt swapping out the control board and see if the system can see the drive. Then as Rodney mentioned, I would definitely recover all data and replace the drive with the new drive
This would be the very first step and is far more economical and obviously not a waste of money for I will use the new drive.
I will post back once I receive the drive and try this option.
The plan is to at least attempt swapping out the control board and see if the system can see the drive. Then as Rodney mentioned, I would definitely recover all data and replace the drive with the new drive
This would be the very first step and is far more economical and obviously not a waste of money for I will use the new drive.
I will post back once I receive the drive and try this option.
ASKER
I found and ordered the identical drive: “Seagate Momentus ST9500423AS 500 GB 2.5" Internal Hard Drive”.
Wakeup pointed out "same firmware, revision," I can only hope its the same exact model when I get it. as far as same firmware, I won't know till I get it.
Thanks
Wakeup pointed out "same firmware, revision," I can only hope its the same exact model when I get it. as far as same firmware, I won't know till I get it.
Thanks
With controller boards they need to be the same version numbers,logic firmware, etc. It it doesn't match you may destroy the new controller board and not be able to use the drive it came on. This would mean it will cost you double to replace one drive.
ASKER
I always push getting a backup in place. I do so for all my business clients but residential clients hardly ever follow up with me till its too late
ASKER
Thanks Mike, I will check this information when I get the drive
Yeah if you follow the link I showed, you'll need to match everything if not mostly everything.
Wishing you the best of luck.
Wishing you the best of luck.
In my experience, it is virtually impossible to match the drives exactly. Unless you purchased 2 of the same drives at the same time from the same vendor and batch (even then it is a hit and miss). I would tell the client this and let them decide.
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Thomas, the client has no computer skill sets. He is basically relying on me to make the best decision. It is 100% obvious that there is no choice to recover any data without attempting to swap out the control board or send the drive out for data recovery.
If the drive I am purchasing is the exact same model and perhaps has different firmware, I can only assume the most damage I would do, would be damage the new drive. The client has Artie told me it's worth the $40 to try.
The client wants the best effort to recover his data. If the client tells me "let's not spend the 700+ dollars" to send the drive off, then we just move forward and replace the hard drive and start over with a fresh rebuild.
Davis, what the drive comes in, I'll check to see if the firmware is identical. I appreciate your input. This is valuable information - specifically, "P.S. Using a USB adapter cripples attempts at data recovery as the O/S cannot issue native ATA commands to the drive". I was not aware of this and I will keep that in mind next time I attempt to recover data.
If the drive I am purchasing is the exact same model and perhaps has different firmware, I can only assume the most damage I would do, would be damage the new drive. The client has Artie told me it's worth the $40 to try.
The client wants the best effort to recover his data. If the client tells me "let's not spend the 700+ dollars" to send the drive off, then we just move forward and replace the hard drive and start over with a fresh rebuild.
Davis, what the drive comes in, I'll check to see if the firmware is identical. I appreciate your input. This is valuable information - specifically, "P.S. Using a USB adapter cripples attempts at data recovery as the O/S cannot issue native ATA commands to the drive". I was not aware of this and I will keep that in mind next time I attempt to recover data.
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I'm not very optimistic either that it's going to work. I'll keep my fingers crossed. I got lucky twice (out of 100 or so drives I tried) by sticking a failed hard drive that would not spin, into the freezer overnight and got it spin the following day and retrieved all data.
Thanks, nobus, I keep you posted.
Thanks, nobus, I keep you posted.
What recovery company did you go to? What state was the previous drive? Some of those companies aren't really good, because they just buy off the shelf recovery equipment and don't actually know the electronics. You need someone that will know how to take apart the device and reassemble them as well as know how to program the controller.
DriveSavers https://drivesaversdatarecovery.com/
DriveSavers https://drivesaversdatarecovery.com/
ASKER
serialband, I have not yet sent the drive off for recovery. Thanks for your suggestion. I am familiar with this company
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Some firms will swap the ROM for you, for example https://www.hdd-parts.com/
ASKER
Sorry for getting back so late.
Just wanted to let everyone know that I did receive the replacement drive. The new replacement drive had identical firmware.
I was not successful getting the drive recognized after swapping out the controller board.
I ended up using the new drive and rebuilding the operating system.
I appreciate everyone's input him
Just wanted to let everyone know that I did receive the replacement drive. The new replacement drive had identical firmware.
I was not successful getting the drive recognized after swapping out the controller board.
I ended up using the new drive and rebuilding the operating system.
I appreciate everyone's input him
ASKER
Even after swapping out the PCB board, the drive was still not recognized by the PC or from a docking station.
Fortunately replacing the good PCB board back onto the original new drive, worked perfectly fine. But the laptop was rebuilt with a new operating system I'm working fine now.
The owner of the laptop was able to find an older backup of his Quicken database updated March 2018 that he saved to a flash drive. This was his most important data. I was able to restore the Quicken data and he was able to make that work for his needs. At this time, he doesn't feel the need to send the drive off for any other data on the drive. Its not that important
I now have the laptop set up on an automated cloud-based backup.
I want to thank everyone for their input and help.
Fortunately replacing the good PCB board back onto the original new drive, worked perfectly fine. But the laptop was rebuilt with a new operating system I'm working fine now.
The owner of the laptop was able to find an older backup of his Quicken database updated March 2018 that he saved to a flash drive. This was his most important data. I was able to restore the Quicken data and he was able to make that work for his needs. At this time, he doesn't feel the need to send the drive off for any other data on the drive. Its not that important
I now have the laptop set up on an automated cloud-based backup.
I want to thank everyone for their input and help.
Did you swap the ROM that holds the disk/head parameters?
This may be you board but we don't know the board ID, just the disk model no. https://www.hdd-parts.com/17082904.html
NOTE it says BIOS* swap is a must.
*There are three bits of code on a disk that can be loosely referred to as "firmware". There is a fixed boot code in the onboard processor, then the firmware which the boot code reads off the platter and most importantly for board swap there is a ROM with a table of disk parameters that the boot code and firmware both use to apply the correct head amplification and actuator movements to use the specific HDA. hdd-parts refer to that ROM as the BIOS, others may refer to it as "firmware" or parameter ROM. Without changing that the drive will behave like a headless chicken.
This may be you board but we don't know the board ID, just the disk model no. https://www.hdd-parts.com/17082904.html
NOTE it says BIOS* swap is a must.
*There are three bits of code on a disk that can be loosely referred to as "firmware". There is a fixed boot code in the onboard processor, then the firmware which the boot code reads off the platter and most importantly for board swap there is a ROM with a table of disk parameters that the boot code and firmware both use to apply the correct head amplification and actuator movements to use the specific HDA. hdd-parts refer to that ROM as the BIOS, others may refer to it as "firmware" or parameter ROM. Without changing that the drive will behave like a headless chicken.
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andyalder, I did not do that but this is very interesting and I will keep it in mind if the situation ever happens again. As you may recall in my post, I did swap out the entire PCB board. I can only imagine that there may have been other damage to the original board and if just swapping out the chip from the old board and placing it on the new board would have done the trick.
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Thanks again!
i still have to see one that succeded here