Great segment ! Makes you really appreciate why the cost of data recovery from a guy like this can be so expensive when your drive fails to that kind of major extent. It's a great argument for not forgetting to always back up your media.
Hey Guys, first of all you guys are amazing what does it take to start up a data recovery service/shop like, i simply recovery formatted or deleted files but you guys take it to a whole new level. So what do i need to get started?
You make it look so easy. The screws holding the platter STRIPPED MY SCREWDRIVER and botched the whole operation. Why on earth are those teeth made so frail, and the screws tightened down so hard?
Awesome work, man! I got a HDD failure today after my PC fell over on the side (silly story!) Seagate Barracuda 320gb single platter. Opened up the HDD and discovered that the tips of both heads were kinda ripped off and loose hanging from the edge. Removed the heads assembly and inspected the platter. The reason was obvious; there is a tiny notch left in the platter surface, and when the notch went by the heads, it caught and ripped them off. No damage apart from that, but the damage is exactly equal on both sides of the platter. It's obvious that the notch needs to be smoothed out in one way or another so that a new set of heads won't catch and get ripped. But the big question remains; is the platter readable when just a tiny part/sector of the is put out of business?
tmbryhn you should check one of the most recent Videos I have on this channel about how I recovered a drive with platter damage using a gluegun to prevent hitting the notch
Thanks for the reply! I've already seen it. My kinda' style fix 😉 Love the creativity. Unfortunately, the notch is closer to the edge. About 2/3 out. I'm still thinking of flattening the area, but then I did some research regarding airflow and cushioning. Getting kinda scared here... Important data.
Hi mate, I hope you’ll be able to read my comment.. I have a wd 4tb, the issue here is that the head is on the landing position and not moving or ticking at all, while the disk is spinning
RAID 6 is the way to go, you can still rebuild the array after two failed drives, but ultimately don't rely on raid. Backups are essential. I keep a rolling backup, and also keep a backup of the backup off site.
I'm trying to find an old program that I might have installed on an old drive, been going through all my old drives looking for it, have one that wouldn't spin up, did some research and decided to try a replacement PCB off an ebay doner, turns out there was a swap at some point that changed the screw pattern on it, ended up pulling the drives apart (single platter, and did a swap one to the other, I'm really hoping it reads something as these old IDE drives are a pain, was surprised to find a magnet so close to the plates on that arm
It's impressive how many things can go wrong but just don't. Regarding tools to recover data I can confirm that they are very expensive. I just started to enter in the field at PROTO professional level and I must be sincere, getting data out from HDDz is really a high precision, high skilled, high complex and you need deep knowledge of the industry or at least of the single HDD you have in hands. Data recovery professionals are at the same level as doctors able to do operations on an ill person. Great swap ;) P.S. It would be great that you had time to make all 3 swaps. I start to understand that any recovery is a universe for it self. :(
it's not to complitated, people who are little experienced with electronics can do it, but not on important HDD first time. After few destroyed HDDs for tests I was able to transplant reading head almost without tools. But it still doesn't work so I gave back that needles to their mother HDD and it worked so I did it correctly but there is another problem with my damaged HDD, probably bad PCB, it has little burned contacts and transplanting bios to similar PCB (with little different number) doesn't work
Excellent knowledge. Thank you. A bit slower might have helped lol! I have a clicking drive from a netgear which had all my compositions on it, plus passwords for software I bought. Talking to the companies I bought the soft from was and is pointless! Very annoyed, I might carefully open it and see if the arm is just stuck. Thank you again.
When doing a platter swap I know the FW version has to be the same both on the donor as on the source drive, but I also know that the serial number also has something to do, what can I look for in the serial number to know that both drives are compatible?
Hi, great video. I'm curious, on WD drives, when swapping platters, the donor drive with the good platter has to have both the same model/firmware AND the same two first digits of the DCM, correct? The first two digits are motor and case. I'm assuming that when swapping motors, both the case and the motor have to match, since the motor doesn't appear to be able to removed on it's own.
they just need to be of the same Family. DCM does not matter, even model does not matter. firmware definitely does not matter. As long as architecture is build the same, they will work. I've used 4TB drive chassis on 2TB latter swaps, and they did not have same model, firmware and DCM at all. But they were both from the same family. Easiest way for you match them is by PCB part number.
@@hddrecoveryservices Wow, that's incredibly informative, thank you. Does the same PCB number tell me more than just an identical motor/case? Will the heads be the same as well? For something like your 4TB>2TB swap, the 2TB might have fewer platters, and thus a different head count, correct? Or, if the PCB is the same are the heads the same? This might be a dumb question, but, I've been looking at a lot of old drives, and it appears that the shaft on ball bearing drives is exposed, and the shaft on fluid dynamic drives is covered by a reflective sticker. There's no chance that the sticker covers a hole where the manufacturer adds the original lubricant, correct?
omfg if this actually works. I have a Hard drive i have kept since I was like 14, im 37 now. But there is some serous personal memories tied to this drive. The platters are fine, but it just has mechanical failure. So if i swapped the platters to a new drive that mechanically worked, that would be amazing but I althought this was a very challenging task because you have the exact PCB board and firmware configuration that is programmed to activate the heads of that paticular drive.
Hello colleague, I always watch your data recovery videos, I always had this doubt as to remove / transport the disks / dishes from the patient to the donor, because those stainless steel sachets have a thicker blade than the space between the block and the dishes. .. watching the video I could learn the form ... but what kind of tape is this one that you use, would it be a double face something like ??? thank you.
another reason for using this method is because most of modern drives in 3.5" format have aerodynamic spacers between disks that will prevent you from grabbing more than one disk at a time with a swap can.
Very excellent video, thank you for taking the time to explain the process so well. I have a 2tb WD (quad platter stack) black drive with good platters and data but the complete circuit board including the data chip has been lost. Can you tell me if it is theoretically possible to swap those platters into a similar drive using that drives circuit board and data chip or is the chip married to the platter(s) the data was written to? I hope I explained that well enough to understand. Thank you for your channel and help.
Hi Mark, on WD information that would be unique to your drive can easily be rebuilt even without the original board. By getting ROM version "close enough" drive would be able to read modules from service area by ID, and by reading 101+ modules we can rebuild the content of the drives ORIGINAL ROM, and write it to a donor PCB.
That's awesome, got a hard drive with 3 years of my life in it that failed, guess that's why you keep backups right? Anyway I am glad to see platter swapping is a route I can explore, nice video, I understand why a lot of info was left out, you'd be bankrupt if you told us the whole process :P
I am not sure that the helium is really going to be the thing. I can see a lot of people being upset about not being able to recover data they lost due to that. I have not worked on a single helium drive yet, so I dont know
Can I change the laptop hard drive platter to another same hard drive, I have a 500 gigabyte laptop hard drive. His head makes a noise. So, should i change it or not
My 1TB Seagate expansion+ (Model SRD00F1) has the click of death. Is the platter on this model compatible with another other Seagate models? I've searched the web and cant find the SRD00F1 model, and now I'm not sure what to use as a donor drive for the swap. Any advice? Thank you!
+The Northwest Forager I would not recommend to do a platter swap yourself. This is a highly technical peocedure. It may not look hard in the video, but it is. What makes you think that the drive needs a swap like that?
Have a 2008 vintage Samsung that spins but not to full speed - not detected by PC BIOS. NO clicking, etc. "Sounds like a good drive except does not spin up to proper speed." QUESTION: any chance it is the motor or the PCB controller OR is the firmware doing error checks because a head has crashed? NOTE: from memory I believe the Sam drive is a 1tb HD103UJ/D - the OE drive from a Dell XPS 430.
Great videos, thanks for sharing the knowledge. I've watched several clips of yours, but I cannot figure out my case. I have a 2.5" 500GB WD Scorpio Blue, which spins normally, GetDriveGeometry gives me data about the drive. But reading any sectors returns an error. I have exactly the same model of the disk which could serve as a donnor. Do you think replacing heads would help, or more drastically swapping platters ? Or should I try to replace PCB first ?
pawelsokolowski if your drive spins up normally and does not click, than none of these techniques will help you get access to the data. Most likely the issue is firmware related. Something in the system area does not load and your drive does not come ready. We can solve that for you. Please do not open the drive as it will only reduce chances of recovery and will not help.
I have a Toshiba 2 GB drive that has the connectors broken in the back but the drive worked fine...am I able to swap or get data off the drive any other way? or should I throw my drive away?
Got a question for you..I have a WD Cavier Green 1 TB dedktop Drive. I got a Raw Read Error and couldn't access the drive. I ran Stellar Data Recovery software and was able to see my whole drive in the preview window... So,my question is,if the software can access my drive, why can't I? How much do you think they'll charge me to recover my whole drive? Please get back to me..Thanks 😊
Hello Erkin, please tell me what are those adhesive strips seen at 07:14, are they universally usable to extract the platters, or only Samsung disks are thick enough to get fixed with these. Is OK for a startup data recovery business on a low budget to use these, or a proper platter extractor is the way to go? Thank you
I used to use them all the time, but I use a different system now. I will showcase it in the future. To answer your question, platter swap tools would not work on most 3,5" drives that are made today because they have blades between platters. This is a regular maskin tape by 3M
Quick question, accidently dropped by drive today, it was not plugged in, but when I plugged it in to see it if still worked, it would spin up, for about 8 secs and then slow down and stop, no noises or clicking, Device Manager will discover it, but it will not show up in file explorer or Disk Management. What do you think is the issue?
You damaged heads on the drive. Highly recommended not to tinker with it and see a pro about it. Be aware this runs for like 800-1200 on average. We swap heads till March for $500 on drives that have not been previously opened as 2022 special.
I have a Seagate where it no longer recognizes the HDD password, bedsides a platter swap at technical lab can switching the exact PCB get it working to get the data off??
hey man, great video, got some questions maybe you can help. i got a wd 500gb hard drive that was ticking and now it is dead, i wanna know if i can swap any part of that WD hard drive to a another hard drive that i have which is samsung 3.5'' . Also the WD is 3.5'' , how can i recover data from the dead one? thanks!
wait does the donor drive have to be exactly the same as the corrupt one or can I just use my 80GB platters on my 250GB HDD that`s actuator lock doesn't release when it spins? Wait can I just put the platter along with the arm and PCB on the 80GB hdd?
Hi good sir I have a 6TB Western Digital Black that is plugged up to a Sata to Usb adapter. It only has 150 hours of use, its still brand new. It keeps connecting and disconnecting when i plug it up to the pc. Powers on and off over and over. the power on count has went up to 2000. I fixed this when it did it before by taking ownership of everything on the hdd and adding a Everyone user in the security tab. I moved it to a different computer to transfer some data, then it started powering on and off connect and disconnect. Do you have any ideas or any advice. Please and thank you if you can help me out.
Hey i have about 30 drives that have the ribbon that comes out the bottom to the controller cut. Can they be repaired if i take it apart and solder new connections? They are 16tb seagate exos. Seems like they were intentionally disabled.
Does the donor need to have the same storage GB as the broken one? Like, if I have 750 GB HDD and I want to buy a cheap donor with less GB, does it work switching the platter or at least the board?
Hello! I did something really stupid, I have to acknowledge. After I had issues with the hard drive I opened it and screwed the the needles. Do you think it's a loss cause? Otherwise I could really use your services
Luis, it is hard to say if this drive is a lost cause at this point. I would recommend to send it in for inspection. Please fill out your details here: www.hddrecovery.ca/contact-us
I did same shit so I changed needles (from same HDD model) but it still doesn't work, but when I back needles to original HDD it works, so I didn't destroy them, I have little burned contacts on PCB so there is probably another problem. I tried 2 another PCB and it only spin and shut down after 2 clicks, but with older PCB it spin but HDD is recognized as 8GB nonsense. Transplanting bios doesn't work too, disk is not spinning after that. I think I need exactly same PCB or that HDD is definitely dead. PS: it's ST3000DM001, model 2014. It started be very very slow so I opend it and destroyed it totally. :-D
Chassis need to be that same. But if you ask this question with plans to do it yourself and not just curiousity, then take a step back. It's a job for a pro.
Can u help me My hardisk has single plater 2tb While the head is resting. I changed the plater easily without chamging anything. But when connected it to pc. It shows data cyclic redundancy Disc cannot be initialised. Both hardisk is showing same
Hi I have two hard drives 80 GB and 1tb but the heads on my 1tb hard drive are broken my question is can I get the platter of the 1tb and put it in my 80gb hard drive after removing its platter and be able to access the data/files in the 1tb?
5:15 "What tools are cheap in data recovery?" Probably the tape, at least :P Probably also the "special tape applicator tool" (is that a piece of flat-flex cable)?
I have a hard drive of 500 GB AND it's head is broken by my experiments, can you advice me please how to get the data back photos videos are there of my family etc please note I have opened this hard drive once and broke the head you can say I was trying to be oversmart. Please help me bro please
Is this sufficient to keep platters aligned? How critical is alignment is a mystery, I couldn't find any authoritative info on alignment-tolerance... Anyone? With tape, what's the success rate?
on some drives, the alignment is important, on others not so much. We use a different method now, but tape is a great way to do it, and we've recovered plenty of drives with this technique. Success rate would depend more on other factors in the procedure, and your ability to perform the task. There are so many elements to this job.
@@hddrecoveryservices And what about PCB and bios if you move platters to another HDD? You have to use original parts from dead hdd right? So only one problem was not working motor.
Hello, Very interesting video, tons of nice tips as for me.. I got an issue with Seagate ST3000DM001 (first was very slow copying speed , next day not recognizable in OS, but seen in BIOS ). It spins though. I wanted to try the easiest first and order a new board (100717520 REV B) from Ali, but i broke BIOS leg while unsoldering EEPROM, and now drive does not spin (with new board, and my old BIOS on it - I have managed to solder it, maybe badly...). I guess the only option is to buy a same donor drive (new board, new BIOS ...) and without swapping BIOS install the platters from my drive (i.e. swap the platters ONLY on the donor one). What do you think ?
I had to chuckle because I am in the EXACT same boat....EXACT same drive and EXACT same symptoms. You need to go Google that drive model. There is a class action lawsuit for those. My DIY progress has been it is seen in BIOS as the model number and seen in Windows as unknown drive with no options to activate it through Virtual Disk Manager. Found out - once I got it outside through a USB-to-SATA plug, that the drive is not spinning at all. Since it is either the motor is shot or the board is shot and not feeding motor, I bought a working PCB on eBay for 26-something dollars and got it. Swapped out PCB and still not motor. So it's the actual motor. Emailed this company to see what they would charge to get docs/pics/music/andoneotherfolder off of the drive via platter swap. Will update with their quote here. Same symptoms though - never a bad sector, just was taking a long time sometimes to access data, then the drive was appearing and disappearing randomly from Windows (I have a separate SSD with the OS, this drive was just data only), then suddenly would not ever appear again. Lemme go find the link to the law site where you fill out for whatever they end up settling for (still ongoing lawsuit and didn't see any type of estimated end or estimated amount we may or may not get).
Here is the law firm handling the class action against those drives (specifically that model number) and the spot where you can "sign up" for the case. www.hbsslaw.com/cases/seagate
And the Hard Drive Data Recovery's quote (the one in this video) was this: "If your hard drive is not spinning up, we can recover the data for $400.00 US." Good Lord, I'm in the wrong business. Now I'm going to check and see how much the larger 'multi-drive' tool set is because if that's how much an hour of swapping platters pays, I'm thinking of offering my own local service here in the US. That's a bundle of pay in comparison to the worktime. Not hating...that is a nice gig and mainly based on the desperation of the end user. Bravo I say lol.
@@williegates627 Yes, and the experts will act like it's impossible for the average person to learn to do such a thing. Learning to play the guitar is equally challenging if not more challenging to master yet there's a million people doing it, thanks to TH-cam! Probably more expensive, too and that's usually just a hobby.
My best friends brother died and all the family pictures and videos of him are on this bad drive. So I'm need to get them off and too his family. That would be a blessing for his wife and children. So if you could give me a price or, give me a link to the program I need that would be much appreciated
Need help i swap out the platters and forgot to have them aligned. How how can i get the data to read and write again. What i been doing is opening and turn the top platter to the right, Is that What i have to keep doing til i get it correct ???
Janet Diaz I imagine you already know the answer by now. My drive is not rotating...so I tried to examine the motor/spindle, moved the cap which I think secure the platters. I don’t think I did anything much then put the cap back on . Now realizing how important the alignment is, I feel like all hope is lost, if it moved even a tiny bit. Since data got written on a nanometer level, we cannot hope to keep rotating it till it matches again perfectly. This video demonstrates that the alignment can be kept with the tapes, I suspect a slight nudge can mess it all up.
Hi just filmed right. There is no need to see platters. What the pro had liked to show is the tape that is putted around the platters and HOW to do this.
Ok for a fact i know this is NOT how you recover data. Well not that it's not how but it's not proper. You should never open hard drive in improper (contaminated) environment. The air sealed inside the hdd is more clean than the air inside an operation room, specifically because of dust particles. While they are super tiny they are unimaginably bigger than the read/write head. Not to mention that the space between the platter and the heads is measured in ATOMS. A dist particle is way bigger than that and when such particles get inside the hdd they can cause a head crash. That's why hdd data recovery is done in special facilities where you wear a suit and the air flow is constant to keep particles away from entering the room and containing the HDDs.
I agree with you on the importance of maintaining clean air during our work. However, it's essential to remember that we don't need the drive to last for years after completion. Our goal is to obtain one single clean image of the drive, and after that, the original is no longer needed. Ensuring clean air is crucial, and the method we use to achieve this goal is entirely acceptable. Perhaps you believe that data recovery can only be done in so-called "class 100 clean rooms", but it's essential to consider other possibilities. In fact, 99.9% of the industry employs laminar flow benches. Moreover, these laminar flow benches are very easy to keep clean, and allow us to work without needing to wear any suits :)). Laminar flow benches can be either vertical with filters on top or horizontal with filters in the front. Mine is a massive 8'x4' vertical unit so you don't see any filters at all (maybe it can be caught in the reflection of disks sometimes). Flow hood provides clean, Class 100 laminar flow air for process protection by utilizing two-stage filtration. Room air first passes through an electrostatically charged pre-filter followed by a HEPA filter resulting in ISO 5 clean air.
WD My Passport external hard drive is 4 years old & physically damaged. I want to use platters of this hard disk in new hard disk .Please confirm , these platters can be shifted to my passport new hard disk & confirm the compatible hard disk to change the platters.
Rashpal, please do not take this in a negative way, but if you are asking if platters can be swapped to recover data, then I would highly advise you find a shop to do this for you. If your data is important - do not try to do this.
Hello bro what tools i need to bye for HDD remove and platter,Head how to bad sectors are recover also what software tool is good for Data recovery ......!!!!! Thank You
Those tools are very expensive, the PC-3000 you see in this video is hardware base data recovery tool cost alone 5K US dollar and the head extraction ranging around 300 to 500 US dollar so if you are planning to become a professional in this field that will be a good investment.
Please help./ Recently I accidently knocked portable HD over to its side. Took it to data recovery. Was informed the spindle and bearings broken. Platter cannot rotate. Was told there is no use fixing it. I even suggest getting a donor HD and have platter swap. Was told it will not work.... and that I need to ask for second opinion. Please help if this is still a possible. All the stuff from the broken HD is MOST valuable. I cannot accept all is lost. Please someone......any information please?
Are you in North America? Request our services here www.hddrecovery.ca/contact-us You will need a platter swap if the spindle is bent, I don't see a reason why it would not work. When drive is seized, it can't harm itself further because nothing is moving inside. For data recovery it is the best possible scenario
Hi, I have a 2TB WD Elements. problem is that I can see my data but can't copy that. I scan through stellarphonix data recovery software but it takes too much time to save. very time system pause or hang. what can I do to get those data.
Animesh Maji you have a problem known as a "slow response" due to failing head. Software like stellar or any other software that is available for download is not going to be able to solve a problem. The issue is on a firmware level which requires vendor specific access to drive's service area. Best thing would be to mail it in for recovery. If this is a 2.5" elements we currently have a promo until the end of October where we recover any issues related to these drives for one flat fee of $400. Let me know if you are interested. There are 10 more days left for this promo
![[MV] A leap of faith...ความเชื่อใจครั้งสุดท้าย (From "Petrichor the series")](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/U1piZH2CNXA/mqdefault.jpg)
Great segment ! Makes you really appreciate why the cost of data recovery from a guy like this can be so expensive when your drive fails to that kind of major extent. It's a great argument for not forgetting to always back up your media.
this guy knows a thing or two about hard drives.
Hey Guys, first of all you guys are amazing
what does it take to start up a data recovery service/shop like, i simply recovery formatted or deleted files but you guys take it to a whole new level.
So what do i need to get started?
Thank you for showing us your gloves
You make it look so easy. The screws holding the platter STRIPPED MY SCREWDRIVER and botched the whole operation. Why on earth are those teeth made so frail, and the screws tightened down so hard?
so platter is swapable? **applause**
atleast you showed it did work and your method is what ill use to do the same as soon as i locate an exact twin to the one down
Cool. I can do this too. All I need is a state of the art clean room.
Awesome work, man!
I got a HDD failure today after my PC fell over on the side (silly story!) Seagate Barracuda 320gb single platter. Opened up the HDD and discovered that the tips of both heads were kinda ripped off and loose hanging from the edge. Removed the heads assembly and inspected the platter.
The reason was obvious; there is a tiny notch left in the platter surface, and when the notch went by the heads, it caught and ripped them off. No damage apart from that, but the damage is exactly equal on both sides of the platter.
It's obvious that the notch needs to be smoothed out in one way or another so that a new set of heads won't catch and get ripped. But the big question remains; is the platter readable when just a tiny part/sector of the is put out of business?
tmbryhn thanks! It all depends on where the notch is. If it's not close to the center then this drive is dead
tmbryhn you should check one of the most recent Videos I have on this channel about how I recovered a drive with platter damage using a gluegun to prevent hitting the notch
Thanks for the reply! I've already seen it. My kinda' style fix 😉 Love the creativity.
Unfortunately, the notch is closer to the edge. About 2/3 out.
I'm still thinking of flattening the area, but then I did some research regarding airflow and cushioning. Getting kinda scared here... Important data.
Hi mate, I hope you’ll be able to read my comment..
I have a wd 4tb, the issue here is that the head is on the landing position and not moving or ticking at all, while the disk is spinning
That is why I hate RAID... Nice job on the drive! You make it look easy.
RAID 6 is the way to go, you can still rebuild the array after two failed drives, but ultimately don't rely on raid. Backups are essential. I keep a rolling backup, and also keep a backup of the backup off site.
What's the worst that could happen when you handle the platters with bare hands? Like not touching the surface but the sides.
contaminate it, scratch it, make it unrecoverable. DO NOT REMOVE DISKS IF YOU ASK THIS QUESTION
@@hddrecoveryservicesman props for keeping up on comments on a 7 year old video
hey, what the main requirements swapping Platters? Does the hard drive must be with the same capacity, model, version? or not really?
thanks
you need mainly your old bios, bios is calibrated with platters, with firmware from another hdd it can't work or can but you have to format it
Bad repairers will say you have to buy a new one it's completely spoilt ,good one :let's replace the platter with different hard disk it will spin
when you do a platter swap do you have to remove the BIOS chip into the donor?
did u find an answer
I'm trying to find an old program that I might have installed on an old drive, been going through all my old drives looking for it, have one that wouldn't spin up, did some research and decided to try a replacement PCB off an ebay doner, turns out there was a swap at some point that changed the screw pattern on it, ended up pulling the drives apart (single platter, and did a swap one to the other, I'm really hoping it reads something as these old IDE drives are a pain, was surprised to find a magnet so close to the plates on that arm
It's impressive how many things can go wrong but just don't.
Regarding tools to recover data I can confirm that they are very expensive.
I just started to enter in the field at PROTO professional level and I must be sincere, getting data out from HDDz is really a high precision, high skilled, high complex and you need deep knowledge of the industry or at least of the single HDD you have in hands.
Data recovery professionals are at the same level as doctors able to do operations on an ill person.
Great swap ;)
P.S. It would be great that you had time to make all 3 swaps.
I start to understand that any recovery is a universe for it self. :(
it's not to complitated, people who are little experienced with electronics can do it, but not on important HDD first time. After few destroyed HDDs for tests I was able to transplant reading head almost without tools. But it still doesn't work so I gave back that needles to their mother HDD and it worked so I did it correctly but there is another problem with my damaged HDD, probably bad PCB, it has little burned contacts and transplanting bios to similar PCB (with little different number) doesn't work
Excellent knowledge. Thank you. A bit slower might have helped lol! I have a clicking drive from a netgear which had all my compositions on it, plus passwords for software I bought. Talking to the companies I bought the soft from was and is pointless! Very annoyed, I might carefully open it and see if the arm is just stuck.
Thank you again.
Thank you for video, very nice information shared.
Whis is best tool to recover data from RAW format drive. Mechanically drive is ok and spinning.
you're a freaking genius!
muzik makes me want to chew on 100 grit sand paper. and grind left and right while holding semi tight with my teeth....lol
Finding the right parts, how do you do it??
When doing a platter swap I know the FW version has to be the same both on the donor as on the source drive, but I also know that the serial number also has something to do, what can I look for in the serial number to know that both drives are compatible?
Hi, great video. I'm curious, on WD drives, when swapping platters, the donor drive with the good platter has to have both the same model/firmware AND the same two first digits of the DCM, correct? The first two digits are motor and case. I'm assuming that when swapping motors, both the case and the motor have to match, since the motor doesn't appear to be able to removed on it's own.
they just need to be of the same Family. DCM does not matter, even model does not matter. firmware definitely does not matter. As long as architecture is build the same, they will work. I've used 4TB drive chassis on 2TB latter swaps, and they did not have same model, firmware and DCM at all. But they were both from the same family. Easiest way for you match them is by PCB part number.
@@hddrecoveryservices Wow, that's incredibly informative, thank you. Does the same PCB number tell me more than just an identical motor/case? Will the heads be the same as well? For something like your 4TB>2TB swap, the 2TB might have fewer platters, and thus a different head count, correct? Or, if the PCB is the same are the heads the same?
This might be a dumb question, but, I've been looking at a lot of old drives, and it appears that the shaft on ball bearing drives is exposed, and the shaft on fluid dynamic drives is covered by a reflective sticker. There's no chance that the sticker covers a hole where the manufacturer adds the original lubricant, correct?
Amazed that the sticky tape managed to hold the platters in exact alignment.
Stephen2929 the roll I used in this video finished on Friday. It lasted me a really long time :)
@@hddrecoveryservices which sticky tape is that
omfg if this actually works. I have a Hard drive i have kept since I was like 14, im 37 now. But there is some serous personal memories tied to this drive. The platters are fine, but it just has mechanical failure. So if i swapped the platters to a new drive that mechanically worked, that would be amazing but I althought this was a very challenging task because you have the exact PCB board and firmware configuration that is programmed to activate the heads of that paticular drive.
Hello colleague, I always watch your data recovery videos, I always had this doubt as to remove / transport the disks / dishes from the patient to the donor, because those stainless steel sachets have a thicker blade than the space between the block and the dishes. .. watching the video I could learn the form ... but what kind of tape is this one that you use, would it be a double face something like ??? thank you.
single sided masking tape 3m brand
another reason for using this method is because most of modern drives in 3.5" format have aerodynamic spacers between disks that will prevent you from grabbing more than one disk at a time with a swap can.
Very excellent video, thank you for taking the time to explain the process so well. I have a 2tb WD (quad platter stack) black drive with good platters and data but the complete circuit board including the data chip has been lost. Can you tell me if it is theoretically possible to swap those platters into a similar drive using that drives circuit board and data chip or is the chip married to the platter(s) the data was written to? I hope I explained that well enough to understand. Thank you for your channel and help.
Hi Mark, on WD information that would be unique to your drive can easily be rebuilt even without the original board. By getting ROM version "close enough" drive would be able to read modules from service area by ID, and by reading 101+ modules we can rebuild the content of the drives ORIGINAL ROM, and write it to a donor PCB.
Ok I will call for a price thank you.
That's awesome, got a hard drive with 3 years of my life in it that failed, guess that's why you keep backups right? Anyway I am glad to see platter swapping is a route I can explore, nice video, I understand why a lot of info was left out, you'd be bankrupt if you told us the whole process :P
I wonder how helium filled drives will change this. Will you no longer be able to recover them through transplantation in a normal shop?
I am not sure that the helium is really going to be the thing. I can see a lot of people being upset about not being able to recover data they lost due to that. I have not worked on a single helium drive yet, so I dont know
Nothing but the best most expensive precision tools:
Uses scotch tape.
Scotch tape is the best tool :)
dp u need any hardware changes or u just swat the heads?
Can I change the laptop hard drive platter to another same hard drive, I have a 500 gigabyte laptop hard drive. His head makes a noise. So, should i change it or not
fresh fade and fresh goat.
Lol
My 1TB Seagate expansion+ (Model SRD00F1) has the click of death. Is the platter on this model compatible with another other Seagate models? I've searched the web and cant find the SRD00F1 model, and now I'm not sure what to use as a donor drive for the swap. Any advice? Thank you!
+The Northwest Forager I would not recommend to do a platter swap yourself. This is a highly technical peocedure. It may not look hard in the video, but it is. What makes you think that the drive needs a swap like that?
Have a 2008 vintage Samsung that spins but not to full speed - not detected by PC BIOS. NO clicking, etc. "Sounds like a good drive except does not spin up to proper speed." QUESTION: any chance it is the motor or the PCB controller OR is the firmware doing error checks because a head has crashed? NOTE: from memory I believe the Sam drive is a 1tb HD103UJ/D - the OE drive from a Dell XPS 430.
Great videos, thanks for sharing the knowledge. I've watched several clips of yours, but I cannot figure out my case. I have a 2.5" 500GB WD Scorpio Blue, which spins normally, GetDriveGeometry gives me data about the drive. But reading any sectors returns an error. I have exactly the same model of the disk which could serve as a donnor. Do you think replacing heads would help, or more drastically swapping platters ? Or should I try to replace PCB first ?
pawelsokolowski if your drive spins up normally and does not click, than none of these techniques will help you get access to the data. Most likely the issue is firmware related. Something in the system area does not load and your drive does not come ready. We can solve that for you. Please do not open the drive as it will only reduce chances of recovery and will not help.
how expensive is such a repair ?
all price request has to be done on the website www.hddrecovery.ca/contact-us/
Any software needed after changing the platter or the hard drive itself is detectable
do you have to align the platter's....?
cheers
why do you need to hold the heds in exact alignment? cant you just align them afterwards?
If you do a platter swap can you use the drive straight away or do you need to do some more recovery procedure?
Depends on how it launches. Always image it after the swap
@@hddrecoveryservices I want to fix my seagate, thanks for the reply I guess its worth to try, what image sf do you recommend?.
I have a Toshiba 2 GB drive that has the connectors broken in the back but the drive worked fine...am I able to swap or get data off the drive any other way? or should I throw my drive away?
Wut kind of tape did you use,? Would I be able to use double sided tape?
actual video starts 7:07
Where we get all tools? And what the price sir
Acelab the deepspar and Apex and hddsurgery
Got a question for you..I have a WD Cavier Green 1 TB dedktop Drive. I got a Raw Read Error and couldn't access the drive. I ran Stellar Data Recovery software and was able to see my whole drive in the preview window... So,my question is,if the software can access my drive, why can't I? How much do you think they'll charge me to recover my whole drive? Please get back to me..Thanks 😊
Hello Erkin, please tell me what are those adhesive strips seen at 07:14, are they universally usable to extract the platters, or only Samsung disks are thick enough to get fixed with these. Is OK for a startup data recovery business on a low budget to use these, or a proper platter extractor is the way to go? Thank you
I used to use them all the time, but I use a different system now. I will showcase it in the future. To answer your question, platter swap tools would not work on most 3,5" drives that are made today because they have blades between platters. This is a regular maskin tape by 3M
Quick question, accidently dropped by drive today, it was not plugged in, but when I plugged it in to see it if still worked, it would spin up, for about 8 secs and then slow down and stop, no noises or clicking, Device Manager will discover it, but it will not show up in file explorer or Disk Management. What do you think is the issue?
You damaged heads on the drive. Highly recommended not to tinker with it and see a pro about it. Be aware this runs for like 800-1200 on average. We swap heads till March for $500 on drives that have not been previously opened as 2022 special.
I have a Seagate where it no longer recognizes the HDD password, bedsides a platter swap at technical lab can switching the exact PCB get it working to get the data off??
What are you using to lift the platters out? Thanks.
right now I use suction cup tool. here is what it looks like th-cam.com/video/XC_RLy6hQow/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=HDDRecoveryServices
hey man, great video, got some questions maybe you can help.
i got a wd 500gb hard drive that was ticking and now it is dead, i wanna know if i can swap any part of that WD hard drive to a another hard drive that i have which is samsung 3.5'' . Also the WD is 3.5'' , how can i recover data from the dead one?
thanks!
wait does the donor drive have to be exactly the same as the corrupt one or can I just use my 80GB platters on my 250GB HDD that`s actuator lock doesn't release when it spins? Wait can I just put the platter along with the arm and PCB on the 80GB hdd?
I have a WD Cavier Green 1 TB and getting a Raw Read Error, I'm thinking that I need to rebuild this drive, can you offer some advice?
Which Recovery program do you use . I have 1TB HDD need to Recovery and I need a good and fast program .
Hi good sir I have a 6TB Western Digital Black that is plugged up to a Sata to Usb adapter. It only has 150 hours of use, its still brand new. It keeps connecting and disconnecting when i plug it up to the pc. Powers on and off over and over. the power on count has went up to 2000. I fixed this when it did it before by taking ownership of everything on the hdd and adding a Everyone user in the security tab. I moved it to a different computer to transfer some data, then it started powering on and off connect and disconnect. Do you have any ideas or any advice. Please and thank you if you can help me out.
to swap platter WD 3.5" at center of platter there is circle with 6 screws and 2 of that 6 not able to unscrew
WD hardly ever needs a platter swap. What are you trying to do?
@@hddrecoveryservices to recovery data
Hey i have about 30 drives that have the ribbon that comes out the bottom to the controller cut. Can they be repaired if i take it apart and solder new connections? They are 16tb seagate exos. Seems like they were intentionally disabled.
inside? no
My flatter is fine, whats not working is the read/write head. Is there any way I can just swap that part out?
I cant know that. I would need to see it.
what can you use to clean a smudge of (fingerprint)?
The reggae instrumental is fire 🔥🔥🔥
Thanks, it's a local SKA band :) owner let me use it
Can Seagate platter fit in WD hdd? I have problem with motor, same as your case1
Nope. architecture is critical
Can we do platter swap with same hardisk model but different firmware and recover data with data recover software?
I've a Samsung hd103. Do you need to swap the bios chip with this platter swap. Cheers
Did you ever figure this out? I have the same drive and am considering attempting a swap.
Does the donor need to have the same storage GB as the broken one? Like, if I have 750 GB HDD and I want to buy a cheap donor with less GB, does it work switching the platter or at least the board?
Don't open your hard drive if data is important. This is not a DIY task
Hello! I did something really stupid, I have to acknowledge. After I had issues with the hard drive I opened it and screwed the the needles. Do you think it's a loss cause? Otherwise I could really use your services
Luis, it is hard to say if this drive is a lost cause at this point. I would recommend to send it in for inspection. Please fill out your details here: www.hddrecovery.ca/contact-us
I did same shit so I changed needles (from same HDD model) but it still doesn't work, but when I back needles to original HDD it works, so I didn't destroy them, I have little burned contacts on PCB so there is probably another problem. I tried 2 another PCB and it only spin and shut down after 2 clicks, but with older PCB it spin but HDD is recognized as 8GB nonsense. Transplanting bios doesn't work too, disk is not spinning after that. I think I need exactly same PCB or that HDD is definitely dead.
PS: it's ST3000DM001, model 2014. It started be very very slow so I opend it and destroyed it totally. :-D
just wondering what software do you use, after you do the repairs? Is there any way a computer tech like myself can get it? thanks
it called PC3000 From ACE laboratory, its combination hardware, and software you can get it if you afford to pay around 12K Euro
The platter swap only work with the same hdd driver identically or i can swap with any hdd driver ?
Chassis need to be that same. But if you ask this question with plans to do it yourself and not just curiousity, then take a step back. It's a job for a pro.
Ur from
I wonder how much he charges to do this?
hi, please where can I get HGST harddisk read write heads to buy?
Can we use different size of hhd for swap of platter
No only same hdd only at move the bios chip
I have one question, is a clean room environment better than a workstation for HDD recovery?
We don't fuckin care ... Take off those shitty platters with "dustproof gloves" and swap them, it will work ! 😉👍
(I never tried it yet)
Hello, Hitachi 5k 750 GB HDD not available in market , how can I change platter for recovery
Can u help me
My hardisk has single plater 2tb
While the head is resting. I changed the plater easily without chamging anything.
But when connected it to pc. It shows data cyclic redundancy
Disc cannot be initialised. Both hardisk is showing same
Hi I have two hard drives 80 GB and 1tb but the heads on my 1tb hard drive are broken my question is can I get the platter of the 1tb and put it in my 80gb hard drive after removing its platter and be able to access the data/files in the 1tb?
You will end up with 2 dead drives if you do that
5:15 "What tools are cheap in data recovery?"
Probably the tape, at least :P
Probably also the "special tape applicator tool" (is that a piece of flat-flex cable)?
Tape is the cheapest one...
I have a hard drive of 500 GB AND it's head is broken by my experiments, can you advice me please how to get the data back photos videos are there of my family etc please note I have opened this hard drive once and broke the head you can say I was trying to be oversmart. Please help me bro please
Is this sufficient to keep platters aligned? How critical is alignment is a mystery, I couldn't find any authoritative info on alignment-tolerance... Anyone?
With tape, what's the success rate?
on some drives, the alignment is important, on others not so much. We use a different method now, but tape is a great way to do it, and we've recovered plenty of drives with this technique. Success rate would depend more on other factors in the procedure, and your ability to perform the task. There are so many elements to this job.
@@hddrecoveryservices And what about PCB and bios if you move platters to another HDD? You have to use original parts from dead hdd right? So only one problem was not working motor.
Hello,
Very interesting video, tons of nice tips as for me..
I got an issue with Seagate ST3000DM001 (first was very slow copying speed , next day not recognizable in OS, but seen in BIOS ). It spins though.
I wanted to try the easiest first and order a new board (100717520 REV B) from Ali, but i broke BIOS leg while unsoldering EEPROM, and now drive does not spin (with new board, and my old BIOS on it - I have managed to solder it, maybe badly...).
I guess the only option is to buy a same donor drive (new board, new BIOS ...) and without swapping BIOS install the platters from my drive (i.e. swap the platters ONLY on the donor one).
What do you think ?
I had to chuckle because I am in the EXACT same boat....EXACT same drive and EXACT same symptoms. You need to go Google that drive model. There is a class action lawsuit for those. My DIY progress has been it is seen in BIOS as the model number and seen in Windows as unknown drive with no options to activate it through Virtual Disk Manager. Found out - once I got it outside through a USB-to-SATA plug, that the drive is not spinning at all. Since it is either the motor is shot or the board is shot and not feeding motor, I bought a working PCB on eBay for 26-something dollars and got it. Swapped out PCB and still not motor. So it's the actual motor. Emailed this company to see what they would charge to get docs/pics/music/andoneotherfolder off of the drive via platter swap. Will update with their quote here. Same symptoms though - never a bad sector, just was taking a long time sometimes to access data, then the drive was appearing and disappearing randomly from Windows (I have a separate SSD with the OS, this drive was just data only), then suddenly would not ever appear again. Lemme go find the link to the law site where you fill out for whatever they end up settling for (still ongoing lawsuit and didn't see any type of estimated end or estimated amount we may or may not get).
Here is a news article about it. www.extremetech.com/extreme/222267-seagate-faces-lawsuit-over-3tb-hard-drive-failure-rates
Here is the law firm handling the class action against those drives (specifically that model number) and the spot where you can "sign up" for the case. www.hbsslaw.com/cases/seagate
And the Hard Drive Data Recovery's quote (the one in this video) was this: "If your hard drive is not spinning up, we can recover the data for $400.00 US." Good Lord, I'm in the wrong business. Now I'm going to check and see how much the larger 'multi-drive' tool set is because if that's how much an hour of swapping platters pays, I'm thinking of offering my own local service here in the US. That's a bundle of pay in comparison to the worktime. Not hating...that is a nice gig and mainly based on the desperation of the end user. Bravo I say lol.
@@williegates627 Yes, and the experts will act like it's impossible for the average person to learn to do such a thing. Learning to play the guitar is equally challenging if not more challenging to master yet there's a million people doing it, thanks to TH-cam! Probably more expensive, too and that's usually just a hobby.
I wanna to know what program will I need to use to complete the swap
My best friends brother died and all the family pictures and videos of him are on this bad drive. So I'm need to get them off and too his family. That would be a blessing for his wife and children. So if you could give me a price or, give me a link to the program I need that would be much appreciated
Need help i swap out the platters and forgot to have them aligned. How how can i get the data to read and write again. What i been doing is opening and turn the top platter to the right, Is that What i have to keep doing til i get it correct ???
Janet Diaz I imagine you already know the answer by now. My drive is not rotating...so I tried to examine the motor/spindle, moved the cap which I think secure the platters. I don’t think I did anything much then put the cap back on . Now realizing how important the alignment is, I feel like all hope is lost, if it moved even a tiny bit. Since data got written on a nanometer level, we cannot hope to keep rotating it till it matches again perfectly. This video demonstrates that the alignment can be kept with the tapes, I suspect a slight nudge can mess it all up.
if your hand is in the way 50% of the time is not a good idea, maybe if the camera was filming from the top down
Hi just filmed right.
There is no need to see platters.
What the pro had liked to show is the tape that is putted around the platters and HOW to do this.
Ok for a fact i know this is NOT how you recover data. Well not that it's not how but it's not proper. You should never open hard drive in improper (contaminated) environment. The air sealed inside the hdd is more clean than the air inside an operation room, specifically because of dust particles. While they are super tiny they are unimaginably bigger than the read/write head. Not to mention that the space between the platter and the heads is measured in ATOMS. A dist particle is way bigger than that and when such particles get inside the hdd they can cause a head crash. That's why hdd data recovery is done in special facilities where you wear a suit and the air flow is constant to keep particles away from entering the room and containing the HDDs.
I agree with you on the importance of maintaining clean air during our work. However, it's essential to remember that we don't need the drive to last for years after completion. Our goal is to obtain one single clean image of the drive, and after that, the original is no longer needed.
Ensuring clean air is crucial, and the method we use to achieve this goal is entirely acceptable. Perhaps you believe that data recovery can only be done in so-called "class 100 clean rooms", but it's essential to consider other possibilities. In fact, 99.9% of the industry employs laminar flow benches. Moreover, these laminar flow benches are very easy to keep clean, and allow us to work without needing to wear any suits :)).
Laminar flow benches can be either vertical with filters on top or horizontal with filters in the front. Mine is a massive 8'x4' vertical unit so you don't see any filters at all (maybe it can be caught in the reflection of disks sometimes).
Flow hood provides clean, Class 100 laminar flow air for process protection by utilizing two-stage filtration. Room air first passes through an electrostatically charged pre-filter followed by a HEPA filter resulting in ISO 5 clean air.
WD My Passport external hard drive is 4 years old & physically damaged. I want to use platters of this hard disk in new hard disk .Please confirm , these platters can be shifted to my passport new hard disk & confirm the compatible hard disk to change the platters.
Rashpal, please do not take this in a negative way, but if you are asking if platters can be swapped to recover data, then I would highly advise you find a shop to do this for you. If your data is important - do not try to do this.
i have same problem how can i solve it.
Bro will you do my WD scorpion blue laptop hardisk.
from INDIA
Hello bro what tools i need to bye for HDD remove and platter,Head how to bad sectors are recover also what software tool is good for Data recovery ......!!!!! Thank You
Those tools are very expensive, the PC-3000 you see in this video is hardware base data recovery tool cost alone 5K US dollar and the head extraction ranging around 300 to 500 US dollar so if you are planning to become a professional in this field that will be a good investment.
5600USD for basic UDMD 2 channel with data extractor.
hello sir can i replace platter between different company 1tb same dimension hdd.
no
@@hddrecoveryservices why not it need to be same drive or not why problem
I accidentally bumped my machine off my desk and now My scci drive stopped spinning 😵💫!!! Ya hat can I do
i want to look it from upside not from left side
Please help./ Recently I accidently knocked portable HD over to its side. Took it to data recovery. Was informed the spindle and bearings broken. Platter cannot rotate. Was told there is no use fixing it. I even suggest getting a donor HD and have platter swap. Was told it will not work.... and that I need to ask for second opinion. Please help if this is still a possible. All the stuff from the broken HD is MOST valuable. I cannot accept all is lost. Please someone......any information please?
Are you in North America? Request our services here www.hddrecovery.ca/contact-us
You will need a platter swap if the spindle is bent, I don't see a reason why it would not work. When drive is seized, it can't harm itself further because nothing is moving inside. For data recovery it is the best possible scenario
Hello, What MRT means ??
I really couldn't find it anywhere
MRT Labs is the company that makes a tool for data recovery. I dont know what their letters stand for
lol, scotch tape to maintain platter alignment?
yep. works like a charm.
how does it work so well? youd think youll need specialized equipment to keep alignment on the scale of nanometers
Can I swap 1tb platter with 128 gb reader. Wìll it work?
no
Any option to extract .bin file
i cant understand how you hold the platter and remove it.
Tape and another strip of tape to lift it up by the edges
Hi, I have a 2TB WD Elements. problem is that I can see my data but can't copy that. I scan through stellarphonix data recovery software but it takes too much time to save. very time system pause or hang. what can I do to get those data.
Animesh Maji you have a problem known as a "slow response" due to failing head. Software like stellar or any other software that is available for download is not going to be able to solve a problem. The issue is on a firmware level which requires vendor specific access to drive's service area. Best thing would be to mail it in for recovery. If this is a 2.5" elements we currently have a promo until the end of October where we recover any issues related to these drives for one flat fee of $400. Let me know if you are interested. There are 10 more days left for this promo
I have a wd10jmvw with board 2060 771961 001 rev a. Bios IC2 is broken, and maybe the R/W head dont working. Is it possible to save the data?
Yes
@@hddrecoveryservices can i contact with you on your web page?
Nice try but the camera is in the wrong place my friend.....
Alex Spinoulas recent once we do have overhead rig
Can you help me