Recover data from dead hard drive?

CRITICALThinker · Nov 26, 2014

My grandfather has a computer that the hard drive had stopped working to the point that the computer had stopped functioning, is there any cost effective way to recover at least the pictures?

I am planning on building him a new computer with a solid state drive soon anyways, it just would be a shame to have to lose that data.

Thanks in advance for all your help.

scout_03 · Nov 26, 2014

if you could not acces the drive with another system it wil cost a lot for the picture from a recovery company and they may be able to recover all of them .

puttynene · Nov 26, 2014

Don't worry your images and rest of the data will get recovery. Vareity of services and softwares are available for such recovery. Explore them you will sure have good solution.

D_Know_WD · Nov 27, 2014

Hi there CRITICALThinker,

My advise would be just to attach the drive as a secondary one to another computer and see whether it will get recognized. See how does it show up in Disk Management. Even if it doesn't have partitions, you can try using some recovery software in order to retrieve the data.
If it is not recognized by another computer though, you will have to use the services of a data recovery company.

Cheers,
D_Know_WD

CRITICALThinker · Nov 27, 2014

I guess that is the problem, my parents and him have already talked and looked into a data recovery service. Is there any way to make the hard disk more stable for at least a half hour to attempt to recover data DIY?

EDIT: Thanks for the option D_Know. I will have to look at that. What recovery software do you recommend?

D_Know_WD · Nov 27, 2014

You can take a look at this thread: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-1644496/lost-data-recovery.html

Hope this will help,
D_Know_WD

fzabkar · Nov 27, 2014

@CRITICALThinker, there are plenty of DIY possibilities, depending on the nature of the problem. However, we would at least need some basic information such as the model number, SMART report (if possible), and the drive's reported capacity.

Does the drive spin up?

What do you mean by "stopped functioning"?

CRITICALThinker · Nov 27, 2014

I have not tried to plug the drive in, and only looked at it for a couple seconds while (slowly) running a couple virus scans, I believe it was a maxtor, though it may have been western digital. I will Post results as soon as possible.

From what I have been told the computer froze(?) I will gather more info ASAP.

CRITICALThinker · Dec 4, 2014

So I have just gotten hold of the hard drive, it is a 250GB Western Digital caviar drive with serial # WCANKH553802,

the drive was at the point where the computer would not boot, though I do not know to what point. When I get my hands on a SATA to usb adapter I could try plugging it in and getting the SMART report.

scout_03 · Dec 5, 2014

this drive number lead to nowhere .

fzabkar · Dec 5, 2014

https://wdsupport.wdc.com/warranty/warrantycheck.asp?custtype=end

A serial number of WCANKH553802 corresponds to a WD2500KS-00MJB0
250GB WD Blue SATA Hard Drive.

fzabkar · Dec 5, 2014

This appears to be the PCB:

http://ep.yimg.com/ay/yhst-14437584971410/wd2500ks-00mjb0-1335-wd2500ks-oomjbo-250gb-sata-pcb-circuit-board-with-firmware-transfer-4.gif

I'm not certain, but I believe that the MCU (88i6545-TFJ1) sometimes develops a "head mimic" fault which makes the drive appear to have internal problems when in fact the problem is on the PCB. The 88i6745-TFJ1 is similarly affected.

It might be worth trying a replacement PCB, but you will need to transfer the "ROM" chip at location U12 from patient to donor. The following sites (same supplier) include a free firmware transfer service.

http://www.onepcbsolution.com
http://www.hdd-parts.com

You might like to clean any oxidisation from the HDA contacts (J1) with a soft pencil eraser before chancing your luck on a PCB, though.

CRITICALThinker · Dec 5, 2014

Thank you for the help, I definitely would not be able/comfortable replacing the PCB, I will probably just grab a usb to sata converter and maybe the freezer trick(?) and hope for the best.

Paperdoc · Dec 5, 2014

The "freezer trick" rarely works, and is best left to a "last resort" step. You first steps should be simply to try connecting it as you plan and see if it can be accessed at all. After all, the problem with that old computer may not be the HDD itself at all. Let us know what you find.

CRITICALThinker · Dec 6, 2014

Will do, though it may be a bit before I can do any testing.

D_Know_WD · Dec 8, 2014

I also wouldn't recommend putting the hard drive into a freezer. See whether it will get recognized when connected externally. In case it does, you can try using some data recovery software: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-1644496/lost-data-recovery.html
Keep in mind to save any recovered data on another location.
If nothing helps though, it may be a good idea to contact one of WD's Data Recovery Partners: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=WT3s6w

Hope this will help,
D_Know_WD

CRITICALThinker · Dec 8, 2014

So it seems that as well as getting a quote from a data recovery center (too high) there has already been an attempt to remove the data from the drive, which worked for a short period of time then crashed/died. thanks for all of your help, I will connect the drive to a computer and try again, otherwise it is done

Thank you all for your help, but consider the question solved.

Recover data from dead hard drive?

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