www.deadharddrive.com

[Ahhk]

I have a WD2500JD with a seized motor. The spindle wont even turn without a lot of force <sigh>

I obviously have to swap the platters into a 2nd drive (which I have).

Now, I cant afford data recovery or to pay $400 for some company to do the platter swap....or to pay $400 for one of those platter exchange tools.

So, does anyone know a cheap hack way of keeping the platters aligned during the swap? I'm looking for anyone who has pulled it off and can tell what they did.

I really need to get some of the data off some way and would appreciate any constructive help.

Thanks.

Ahhk!

Model: WD2500JD-55H880
DOM: Feb '05

[mcjaaq]

well, as funny as it sounds, some guys use tape for fixing platters. I suppose it has to be just strong enough to hold those plattes in sync and has to have adhesive minimum sticky, so it comes off the edges of the platters without leaving much to them. maybe they use some sort of material under the tape so the glue is not actually in contact with the platters... yeah, that seems logical. something soft enough and not very slippery...

I am in the same situation right now - a dead 2.5" HDD which I already checked, it had no scratches on the platters and I also got the donor HDD (luckily exactly the same model). now, I'm going to the building supply store or similar to check the choice of tapes they have =) without a joke, I am going to see if it is possible not to spend 200+ USD on the exchange tool nor 400+ USD for the service. I spent 70 bucks on the donor HDD and I am willing to spend a couple more for the tape and that's it. that info is not worth a singel penny more! =)


P.S. I'll let you know how it goes later... I'll try to take some pictures too for the "proof" =)

oh, one more thing! I searched for the information about platter exchange everywhere on the net and nobody actually says how the tape method works but they all sure confirm that "avoid the dust or you're doomed" is total bollocks - the cleaner the air the better, but a couple bits of dust means nothing =)


J.

[harddrivespecialist]

Good luck guys!!!!!!!!
_________________
www.datarecoveryne.com

[mcjaaq]

ok, half way there =)

I found a nice 3M store full of tapes for any needs so they recommended this nice aluminium tape which is much more steady than usual office tape for instance. ok, it went over couple of bucks (around 30 to be exact) but I was ready for such sacrifice. now the good thing I realized before making the real exchange was that I can test it on the donor HDD. so there I was, trying to learn how to fix those plates the best with that tape. I'm playing classical guitar, so it wasn't a nuclear science for my fingers, got it fixed pretty nice on the 3rd attempt =) after fixing I opened the screw holding the platters and takes another tool (which I do not have of course) to hold it while turning the screwdriver, but I managed ok with other one. I took the platters off and placed them back and closed everything as originally. it seemed like everything was smooth.

I can not give a correct answer though if it works or not as the adapter I had to connect the notebook HDD to usual pc burnt a little :rofl: ok, it has burnt before, so I need to fix it tomorrow (need to solder it) and then it's quite clear if it went well or not... keep your breath until then =)


J.

[mcjaaq]

ok, got finally some time to go on with the plan =)

well, long story short, I got the adapter fixed but saving the data did not succeed... actually, I did not even place the platers from the dead hdd into the donor device. I relized to test the tape on the donor device before real act and it did not survive it >( either the donor device was really bad (which I doubt) or I let the connectors of the reading head together (I'm afraid that happened). I put too thin paper between the reading head's connectors and I really suspect they went together. as far as I know that makes them useless instantly. the hard disk was not even recognized by the computer, it only made clicking when turned on and that's it. too bad there is no more donor devices available and I'm not willing to spend more to get a new one. so this time I do not sadly have good news about tape method but maybe more dead hdd-s end in my hands, we'll see. I'm not giving up so easy! =)


all the best,


J.