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WD HDD Crash --*&(*&(*

E

ericchile

n00b
Joined
May 11, 2005
Messages
17
OK so there is about 3 gigs of data that I would really like to get off my WD 80 gig caviar drive that just crashed. When I try to boot up with it in it just makes a knocking sound and nothing is detected. Is there hope for the drive? Anything i can do myself? Should I send it off to someone? Can I do so cheaply?

Thanks!
 
Sounds like a mechanical failure. You could try running WD's diagnostic tools, but I fear that this drive is beyond recovery unless you send it to a data recovery centre, in which case it could cost you thousands of dollars to attempt to retrieve some of the data.
 
With mechanical problems that severe, the drive is beyond any recovery available to you, and pro data recovery is going to set you back at least $1,000. Seagate DRS will look at the drive with no up front obligation and tell you what, if anything, can be recovered.
 
Old trick put it in the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes, then hook it up It might read again till it warms up again.
 
I've found that on WD's many time its the controller thats gone bad causing the clunking, I've swapped many controller cards and repaired them that way. You can try it if you can find another drive that is the same model.

Of course if its a mechanical problem as mentioned above, thats out of the realm of what a home user can do. Sending it to Seagate like Doug mentioned is a great idea since they don't charge just to look at it, only if they recover.
 
Crazy tech said:
Old trick put it in the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes, then hook it up It might read again till it warms up again.
Click to expand...
Just curious, has that ever worked for you? I have attempted this method on three different occasions and it has failed every time. I would just like it to work once to say it works :D.
 
freezer didn't work.... this is the second WD that has gone bad in 3 years for me... pieces of *&^* . Thanks for the help!
 
ericchile said:
freezer didn't work.... this is the second WD that has gone bad in 3 years for me... pieces of *&^* . Thanks for the help!
Click to expand...
They are.. No need to tell me, that's for sure... :(
 
ericchile said:
freezer didn't work.... this is the second WD that has gone bad in 3 years for me... pieces of *&^* . Thanks for the help!
Click to expand...

Well, the only advice I can give is to try a different brand (Seagate is very popular) and devise a backup startegy that you will stick to for your important data so that you don't have to contemplate professional data recovery ever again.
 
It doesn’t take much to find a Seagate sucks, WD sucks, and Samsung sucks etc post. I probably replace a half dozen drives a week from all companies and no particular brand sticks out.

There is one common thing most of those computer do share though, high temps. Once I replace a drive I take it’s operating temp, usually during a defrag or some other disk intensive use. 130c and above are common, especially on OEM machines and many home built units. Some drives are actually too hot to touch. No drive can take that for very long.

A drive cooler is a good investment. If not a cooler, some arrangement to keep tons of air flowing over the drive from a cool (read outside) source. I won’t warrant my work or the drive without fixing that problem. Data just takes too long or it’s too expensive to recover.
 
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