[mopargocar]

This 1 TB hard drive is half full of info that I would like to keep. My laptop does not recognize this hd anymore. (Ive had it for 4 months with no problems until now) I have a video you can see with the link below on what it is doing. If there is a way I could fix this I would be FOREVER gracious to whom could help. I have built computers in the past and have electronics knowledge however I have never had to mess with hard drives before. Anyway...please watch the video and help is MUCH appreciated.

Thank You - Rick

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Hi Rick, welcome to G2G

You neglected to mention in your post (although it is obvious from the video) that the drive in question is in bits & that the disk itself is exposed!
May I ask why is the drive in bits?

In answer to your question, one likely explanation for your drive behaving in the way it is, is that it's head crashed. A head crash occurs when the read/write head touches the surface of the drive. This can occur for a number of reasons, one of which is if a tiny particle of dirt gets caught between the read/write head & the disk surface. Normally this is unlikely to happen as drives are sealed air tight. But in your case it's pretty much inevitable.

[Samm]

Hi Rick, welcome to G2G

You neglected to mention in your post (although it is obvious from the video) that the drive in question is in bits & that the disk itself is exposed!
May I ask why is the drive in bits?

In answer to your question, one likely explanation for your drive behaving in the way it is, is that it's head crashed. A head crash occurs when the read/write head touches the surface of the drive. This can occur for a number of reasons, one of which is if a tiny particle of dirt gets caught between the read/write head & the disk surface. Normally this is unlikely to happen as drives are sealed air tight. But in your case it's pretty much inevitable.

[mopargocar]

The reason why it is apart is because its broke....clicking....unusable....I want to try and fix it. Is it not possible to fix if the head crashes? Any possibility at all?

Thanks for the reply I really do appreciate anyone taking time to help others.

Thanks Again

Rick

[Samm]

It is not possible to fix a head crash I'm afraid as it destroys the surface of the disk & can even damage the head itself.
A head crash may not have been the reason for it failing to begin with obviously, that's that becomes a huge risk once you open the drive up in non sterile environment.

[SpywareDr]

Opening a hard disk in a normal environment can allow airborne dust to settle on the platter and become caught between the platter and the read/write head, causing new head crashes that further damage the platter and thus compromise the recovery process.

The read/write heads in modern hard drives operate extremely close -- tens of nanometers (nm) -- to the magnetic surface of the platters. (For reference, standard copy paper is usually between 70,000 nm and 180,000 nm thick).

One spec of dust, or even a fingerprint on a platter, (which is spinning at thousands of RPMs), can slam into the head and cause extensive damage.

[mopargocar]

Thanks to the both of you for your replys.

Rick

[SpywareDr]

You're welcome.

In spite of the fact the hard drive has been opened, Ontrack may be able to retreive the data that hasn't been damaged.

http://www.Ontrack.com

(Note: It'll probably be fairly expensive).

Edited by SpywareDr, 26 March 2010 - 03:22 AM.