Crying a driver / please Help!

[Digital Paul]

My 2-month old Western Digital WD2500 Serial ATA
hard drive stopped working and I lost all my digital family
pictures (from the last seven years).

WD people will replace the HD under warranty, but only if I don’t
open it or if I choose one of their service partners
for a data recovery service. I just found but they charge
no less than $1000 just to recover the 30 gig folder where my
pictures were stored, so it is a no win situation for me.

I’m running Windows XP Professional in a Pentium-4 PC, and
the damaged driver was working as a NTFS file system “slave”.

Last Saturday I was adding some more pictures to it, and
suddenly without making any noise nor previous problem
at all, the driver froze and stopped working. After several attempts
restarting windows, trying different computers, etc. Windows “saw”
the driver for one last time. I saw my precious pictures folder there,
but I couldn’t retrieve a single file, as after a couple of
minutes the driver stopped working for good.
All attempts that followed were not successful.

My dilemma is that if I open the drive with the hope that
I can free the disk to make it rotate once again just to retrieve
the picture folder, then Western Digital will void
the warranty. This won’t matter if I succeed
recovering my pictures, but if not?

My questions are:

Do I have a chance to make the drive spin, at least
for a while if I remove the cover?

Does anyone know if there is a less expensive service
to retrieve my data, even if doing so I loose the
WD warranty?

I have found some software designed to retrieve lost data
from damaged drives, like HDD Regenerator, but I can’t
try anything because my PC does not even boot when the drive
is connected.

I’ll appreciate any help regarding this matter.

Thanks in advance.
Paul

 

[Jan Alter]

Your chances are slim to say the least. Some folks suggest taking stopped
hdds and sticking them in the freezer for a couple of hours. Maybe that
shrinks parts. I've taken a stopped drive and brought it down sharply on a
stack of magazines. That worked for me. I'd be more than reluctant to take
it apart though expecting to get it to work without a clean room available.
Certainly give the above a shot, before making your $1,000 decision.

 

[kony]

My dilemma is that if I open the drive with the hope that
I can free the disk to make it rotate once again just to retrieve
the picture folder, then Western Digital will void
the warranty. This won’t matter if I succeed
recovering my pictures, but if not?

My questions are:

Do I have a chance to make the drive spin, at least
for a while if I remove the cover?

Does anyone know if there is a less expensive service
to retrieve my data, even if doing so I loose the
WD warranty?

They're all expensive, might as well inqure with WD
authorized centers.

I have found some software designed to retrieve lost data
from damaged drives, like HDD Regenerator, but I can’t
try anything because my PC does not even boot when the drive
is connected.

Software is good when it's a user error, not a hardware
failure. Likely it's a waste of time and $.

I’ll appreciate any help regarding this matter.

If the drive has seized (hence your attempt to open and free
it) your bearing is shot and even if you managed to get it
spinning, it won't be working long enough to get any data,
will be tearing the bearing to shreads and probably lock up
violently. Best chance is to freeze it in a ziplock bag and
try immediately after removal from freezer.

 

[Wayne Stallwood]

Do I have a chance to make the drive spin, at least
for a while if I remove the cover?

The tolerances in a modern hard drive would make your head spin, If I told
you that even bacteria on the platter surface could collide with the head
and cause potential damage, would you rethink that option of opening it
up ? We are talking of a head to platter gap of 5-20 nanometres here.

Worse than that the head gap is maintained by an aerodynamic artifact of the
disk spinning, if you wind it round by hand with the heads un-parked then
the drive is already shot

Does anyone know if there is a less expensive service
to retrieve my data, even if doing so I loose the
WD warranty?

No they are traditionally expensive, methods described by other posters may
get you out of trouble or they may cause further damage to the drive thus
removing the option of a third party attempt at recovery, you take your
chances.

The main issue you may have is that in your case it sounds like more of an
electronic issue than a mechanical one. Board swapping only works rarely as
I think modern drives store geometry information unique to that drive on
the board.

W

 

[Jon Danniken]

My 2-month old Western Digital WD2500 Serial ATA
hard drive stopped working and I lost all my digital family
pictures (from the last seven years).

Just get a new drive and reload the data from the backups you took. You did
backup your data, right?

Jon

 

[yak]

My 2-month old Western Digital WD2500 Serial ATA
hard drive stopped working and I lost all my digital family
pictures (from the last seven years).

WD people will replace the HD under warranty, but only if I don=3Ft
open it or if I choose one of their service partners
for a data recovery service. I just found but they charge
no less than $1000 just to recover the 30 gig folder where my
pictures were stored, so it is a no win situation for me.

I=3Fm running Windows XP Professional in a Pentium-4 PC, and
the damaged driver was working as a NTFS file system =3Fslave=3F.

Last Saturday I was adding some more pictures to it, and
suddenly without making any noise nor previous problem
at all, the driver froze and stopped working. After several attempts
restarting windows, trying different computers, etc. Windows =3Fsaw=3F
the driver for one last time. I saw my precious pictures folder there,
but I couldn=3Ft retrieve a single file, as after a couple of
minutes the driver stopped working for good.
All attempts that followed were not successful.

My dilemma is that if I open the drive with the hope that
I can free the disk to make it rotate once again just to retrieve
the picture folder, then Western Digital will void
the warranty. This won=3Ft matter if I succeed
recovering my pictures, but if not?

My questions are:

Do I have a chance to make the drive spin, at least
for a while if I remove the cover?

Does anyone know if there is a less expensive service
to retrieve my data, even if doing so I loose the
WD warranty?

I have found some software designed to retrieve lost data
from damaged drives, like HDD Regenerator, but I can=3Ft
try anything because my PC does not even boot when the drive
is connected.

I=3Fll appreciate any help regarding this matter.

Thanks in advance.
Paul

You have one choice if you want to save your data: Pay the 1000 bucks
and from now on do backups regularly...

 

[Paul]

Many thanks to Jan Alter, Kony, Wayne Stallwood Yak,

and to all for your help.



I have tried everything you suggested me, but the %#$#%$*

WD does not work. The only option left is what Ed Wurster

recommended, to find someone local who can apply non-destructive

techniques before sending the drive to WD, thanks ED.



After going through all the data I have backed up to several CD-Rs during

the last years, I have recovered several of the files

the bad WD lost, and I believe the only files still missing

are RAW pictures I shot with my new Nikon D70. At this

point I have to decide if to start spending over $1000 just to

get back these RAW pictures, or perhaps

better use the money to buy a ticket to the French Polynesia

just to shoot the pictures again.. What do you think? ; )



Many of you assumed that I have never made back ups but in fact

I regularly do; but after the WD failure I went to check for the backed up

pictures on my second computer and there were just some folders and most

of the files have disappeared.I cannot explain that. Fortunately there were

older backups on CD-R



Although it's not normal for a brand new, well-known

hard disk to die after just 2 months of regular use,

I have learnt my lesson well and from now on I'm going to back up

to different media and redundant devices.



Once again, many thanks to you all for your valuable help.





Regards,

Paul.