Data Recovery: What NOT to Do!
March 12, 2007 by Jacqui Best
Filed under Data Recovery Software How To's
Data Recovery: What not to do.
I receive a lot of calls where the customer starts the conversation with, My hard drive is clicking, so, I found you guys on the internet. I usually cringe when I hear this because that means the customer has been looking for a “fix” to their problem. So I am going to go through a list of things customers have told me that they did to their hard drive prior to even calling and talking to us.
This is kind of a, geek humor type blog, but, hey, it is Monday and I am feeling saucy. Ok, so let’s call our brave customer Tom, in order to protect the identity of the real caller.
Early Saturday morning, just as I am heading to the office, my cell phone rings. I answer with my usual cheerful morning voice (hadn’t had coffee yet). The following is the conversation to the best of my recollection.
Me: Good morning, DTI Tech support.
Tom: Hi, my hard drive is clicking, and I tried to fix it.
Me: By fix, you mean?
Tom: Well, I was on the internet and I was reading what I can do to fix this problem myself. The first thing I found was, that if I tap the hard drive while it is running in the right place I may be able to knock the heads loose. (After hearing this I am of course more then a little intrigued)
Me: Umm, ok, you read this on a website?
Tom: Yes.
Me: Alright. That more then likely didn’t work did it?
Tom: No.
Me: Ok. That isn’t that bad maybe.
Tom: That isn’t all I did.
Me: Oh, ok. Go ahead, what happened next?
Tom: When that didn’t work, I then read an article that told me if I took the hard drive and held it about 6 inches from my desk flat and then dropped it while it was running, that might jar it enough to knock the motor loose. (Now at this point, I am a little shocked. First, a website would tell someone to do these things to their drive. Second, that someone would do them.)
Me:
Tom: I did one other thing to it.
Me: Did you open it?
Tom: Oh no, I knew I shouldn’t open it.
Me: Good. What else did you try?
Tom: Well I put it in the freezer.
Me: Ahhh. There could be water inside now from condensation.
Tom: Oh, there is, I can hear it in there.
Me: If you like you can send us the hard drive. We will take a look in the clean room and see what’s what. At this point we got into pricing, and Tom never did send the hard drive. Too bad really, I would have liked to see it. But, to be honest, we do get drives like this (maybe not so many “fixes” tried) every day. The recovery rate on them is much less; because more damage then the original clicking is done. The moral of the story is, if you really NEED that data on the hard drive recovered, then call first and get someone who knows how what they’re doing to fix it. We geeks tend to over simplify processes and may lead the average user down the wrong path unintentionally.
I assume that any info on repairing a hard drive found on the net should not be tried on a drive that has data of any value. I am reading alot of blogs with this type of info. However, if my data was very valuable to me I do not think I would try any of this. It is my assumption, tell me if I am wrong, that the heads are not supposed to touch the platters in the hard drive.
I am assuming working on a clicking hard drive could damage the platters where the data is stored magnetically.
Is this correct?
Davedata99-
Yes, you are correct. Working any further on a drive making clicking noise could (very likely) cause more damage and even make the situation worse. If the data is imortant to you it is always best to contact a data recovery house. I would never tell someone to do the things like the customer above if they need thier data.
Davedata99- Is it at all possible that the board on a hard drive could lead to a clicking head? If this is the case, would it be a wise idea to spend 20-30 bucks on a new board and rebuild the drive as apposed to spending the high price for drive recovery. I am an extremely poor musician that will have to scrape just to spend money on a board. I feel fully qualified to replace the board myself. I just couldn’t pay rent or eat for about 6 months if I spent 150-300 bucks on drive recovery. I would have a backup drive and should have even, but like I said ” I’m an extremely poor musician” I only have the computer because it was a gift so I could record an album finally. I have hours and hours in on recording sessions and now I can’t stop crying because I am afraid my music is toast. Give me good news please! Oh and about freezing the drive. I’ve known people to have done it, multiple times. It allows the metal parts to contract and frees up any stuck pieces “sometimes”…. I’ve got a buddy who has done it to recover other people’s data, and he’s about 80% effective with it. The downside is that he usually only gets about 20 minutes work time before the drive gets really ruined. Not enough time for me to get my music files and studio software. Any advice will be super awesome. Save me!
Chris,
I need to know exactly who made the drive and what model it is. freezer technology only works in overheating situations and can foul things up. As a fellow musician I may be able to hook you up with a trick or two. Usually the “click of death” is just that : (