Help with crashed/faulty HD please.

[mr_jason]

My secondary HD (Maxtor Diamond Plus9, 60GB) which I have been storing all my pictures and mp3s in decided to crash a few days ago, and I have been at my wits end ever since trying to retrieve my data.

The problem with it is that it can boot sometimes only, maybe 1 in 10 times, and most of the time when it can't, this will cause the whole pc to not be able to boot up. When removing it, my primary HD with the OS is able to boot up perfectly. I have tried this with another of my PCs, and same problem. The HD can be detected from the BIOS, but it just can't boot up with the PC 90% of the time, the screen will just be blank after the BIOS loads.

On the times when it is able to boot up, I can see the secondary HD in the Windows Explorer, but after accessing the files from it like trying to copy over, the HD will just crash again and disappear from Windows Explorer.

I called up the distributor, e-SYS, and they said they don't do HD repair, just replacement if the HD is faulty. Anyone here knows how to repair HD, because all my data is still in there, just that the HD cannot remain activated/detected. I was quoted from $600-$1000+ for data recovery from the HD, which I will not pay as essentially these are not life or death files, but just my own personal stuff I would like to have.

If you guys know any shops which can do a repair for HD or something which will be able to help me get back my data, please PM me. All replies are greatly appreciated!

 

[jbma]

Data recovery is never cheap. Seriously I don't think there is any shop that repair hard disk. Diamantling a HD is a tedious job and needs to be done in a dust free enviroment e.g. clean room. Your problem seems to be caused by the faulty seconday disk. Try to use some third party software to retrieve your data but then I think the electronics on the hard disk or the drive read/write head or even the spindle could be at fault.

 

[awongkk]

you can try to get similar model of the hd, it's better if you can find the same firmware as well, normally it's stated on the piece of paper or cover.( :dunno: about your model) I normally try to switch the PCB from the other same hd and try on the faulty one. Might be the PCB faulty. :think:
The disk won't spoilt easily, unless you can hear the cranking sound. :sweat:

 

[mr_jason]

you can try to get similar model of the hd, it's better if you can find the same firmware as well, normally it's stated on the piece of paper or cover.( :dunno: about your model) I normally try to switch the PCB from the other same hd and try on the faulty one. Might be the PCB faulty. :think:
The disk won't spoilt easily, unless you can hear the cranking sound. :sweat:

Wah this process you're mentioning dosen't sound very simple at all. Requires knowledge of electronics etc etc?

 

[awongkk]

Wah this process you're mentioning dosen't sound very simple at all. Requires knowledge of electronics etc etc?

not really-lah, you can see the pcb with three or four screws, just unscrew them and you'll be able to remove the pcb. I've tried a few and it works, at least I can copy out the data i needed, :sweat:

But... If the hdd is still under warranty, then :nono: , cos' this will void the warranty liao. :cry: