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Old June 15th 18, 06:55 PM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-10
Paul[_32_]
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Posts: 11,873
Default Data from an HD that does not boot.

Bill Ward wrote:
On 15/06/2018 13:19, Dave wrote:
On Thu, 14 Jun 2018 23:27:16 +0100, Bill Ward wrote:

I recently bought a Startech universal dock for 2.5/3.5in Sata and IDE
HDD. I had read that the data on disks that no longer boot can be
retrieved from them. In my case the device does not show the disk. It is
a Seagate Barracuda 2TB. Does anyone have any advice apart from diving a
steam roller over it ?

Bill.


I saw a video on youtube where someone tested whether sticking the drive
in the freezer for a while would help. Sounds crazy, but if all else
fails give it a try. Let us know if any luck.

Why not ! I've heard of other things like that working.
Bill.


I'd stick my ear on the drive, and let the sound
guide my next move.

If the drive is spinning, it's already had a chance
to load the heads. Using the freezer in that situation,
I can't think of a reason it might help. The voice
coil has more than enough power to pull the heads
down the ramp and load the heads.

If the drive isn't spinning, and you hear a strange
modulated tone coming from the motor, then you might
consider the freezer. As otherwise, it's never going
to have a chance to load the heads. FDB motors will
seize up if the lubricant leaves the motor. There
are only two drops of oil inside the FDB chamber,
and to tell lubricant state in the lab, they weigh
the motors on a milligram balance. That's how they
detect all the oil is gone during lab testing. They
test motor designs for longevity. (Some of the drive
motors are provided by Nidec.) They can stop the
test every once in a while, and weigh the motor.
And that helps plot "fuel remaining" versus time :-)

Stiction is no longer a problem on modern hard drives,
because the heads park on a plastic ramp, not on the
platter surface. Maybe back in the stiction days,
the freezer was the right call. Or, give it a smack.

Paul
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