Q. Freezer Trick

[Ice Czar]

The Freezer Trick is employed to rescue data from a HDD that is other wise inaccessable, typically because it is seized, or in an endless "click of death" cycle
(Keep in mind the occassional click is normal)

the cold contracts the components, and allows them to spin freely
or at least until they heatup again, its a trick of last resort and there are potential problems you need to address, namely condensation and Electro Static Discharge (ESD)

Place the HDD is an ESD protective bag, and then in a Ziplock bag, then place the HDD in the freezer for an hour (if you allow it to get too cold, it could also be an issue and any condensation problem will just be that much worse)

Then remove the HDD from the freezer and attach it to the computer, its best if you have a second reliable HDD with its own OS to access the "cold" HDD and immediately transfer the data to, or if neccessary to run data recovery programs from.

Condensation occurs when the water vapor within warm air comes into contact with a cold object and the surrounding air drops below the dewpoint, at which point water will form on the surface, never a good thing for a circuit board

review Dewpoint Temperature and Humidity , you might need to take extra steps to keep condensation from occuring, especially if the relative humidity is very high, like force feeding your computer heated dry air
(an AC actually condenses moisture quite well too)

Id advise checking your local humidity, and the ambient temperature in the case\room before embarking on this



Feel free to PM me any corrections or additional info for this FAQ