Hi, I had a major power surge last week which caused well over a hundred volts AC to hit the mainboard via a USB port, it was an amateur mistake to make I know and the motherboard is basically fried, I can see one component that has basically disintegrated. Amazingly my CPU survived in perfect working order and so did my dvd rewriter, however my 500Gb Seagate pipeline HD .2 SATA drive didn't take it so well and now makes a repetitive noise which lasts about a quarter of a second. This happens 8 times before there is no more activity. It sounds like it is trying to activate itself but it sounds pretty serious.

My bios won't find it after hesitating but my other drive initialises and Windows will load with the Seagate Hard drive plugged in. Does anybody have any advice, or any software programs that can try to detect it even though my bios can't?

Also would buying an exact same model of drive help if I took the circuit board off and replaced it with the new one, can you do that? Is it possible to swap the spinning discs over?

Please help

listen closely when you apply power to the drive, is the sound more like a "click" or a "buzz"?

Swapping PCB will not work no matter what the problem is.

FORGET about swapping the platters. Do not even consider doing something like this. Please read the Stickies in this forum before you go any further.

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Data Recovery Ireland

Most important is Does it Spin Up? If no then PCB may need new IC's or TVS, maybe lots of them and someone has a job on there hands. Heads may be stuck on platter. Send Photo of PCB and fried components.

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HWHacker
Smiles

We can almost certainly help in UK in this case.

PM me if interested.

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PC Image Data Recovery
http://www.pcimage.co.uk

New!! HDD-PCB.COM for all your PCB and donor HDD requirements!

Someone asked if it sounds like a click or a buzz, it is definitely a short buzz lasting 0.25 seconds, but after 8 times it stops

Also I am stunned that my CPU survived as if nothing has happened. How did the surge bypass the CPU and blow the Hard Drive? That doesn't make any logical sense! My ram survived too! But the power supply also took a direct hit and a diode was fried inside.

So why was the surge selective in it's damage?

Usually this indicates a spindle motor seizure, but if the drive hasn't suffered any physical trauma, then this is less likely.

I'd firstly look at electronic issues with the drive, but simply swapping the PCB will not work.

Post good quality photos of the PCB here, or if the data is important, seek help from a Pro.

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Data Recovery Ireland

Well the hard drive had everything I had accumulated over a few years, but it was my entertainment hub, with all my games on it and none of this was backed up because in all my 15 years on PC's a hard drive has never failed on me especially a recently purchased one. But as for life or death data I can survive, it's just the wasted time gathering all that stuff - 400 gigabytes is a lot of stuff.

I am the kind of person who would have a go myself rather than pay the high price of data recovery, although i believe they are justified in charging every penny of their fees.

I will post the PCB images in a couple of hours, thanks man, but if the worst comes to the worst, i'm buying a replica and attempting the impossible, after all a hard disk is just a glorified dvd/bluray isn't it?

You could not be further away from reality


Dobre

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Murphy was an optimist

Datarecovery in Belgium, Holland, France and Germany
Datarecoverytools http://www.drtools.eu

Your attitude some what contradicts the title of your post - "Desperate to retrieve"

Please read the stickies about DIY efforts because you clearly lack the knowledge to diagnose the fault, let alone attempt to repair it.

Comparing a HDD to a DVD is like comparing a monkey to a chicken - they are both animals after all, right?

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Data Recovery Ireland

Id say the following. Get a new PCB in and just for a test put it on. If ur drives spins and clicks after - good.
If it keeps buzzing - the problem is internal. Buzzing sound and no spin in most cases are ether a siezed spindle or the heads griping on the surface of platters. And unfortunately none of those 2 is easy DIY ( well, siezed spindle is in no way DIYable, gonna be like winning a lottery if u make it )

If you want the data back, contact pcimage. If you want to play, buy a donor drive, rip it apart and destroy both drives.

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Luke
Recovery Force Data Recovery

I am not trivialising the skill it takes to recover data from todays hard disks, the last one I ripped apart was 4 gigabytes. What I am saying is that within 30 minutes of typing this I can download at least 5-8 comprehensive ebooks regarding Hard Drive data recovery. I am just a layman but I can use the Internet to get the specialist documentation required to give me the best chance of succeeding. That is what makes the internet so special.

But data recovery experts are worth their weight in gold, I think we all know that!

Good luck you really need it.

Good luck you really need it.

Your cpu didn't get fried because it was not the shortest route for the voltage to go through. It is strange how ever your hdd fried and not your DVD writter. CPU is controlled via all those pins on low currents so the surge would have to be direct to the CPU. Your hdd is plugged into a main phase +12,+5,-5,-12 (3.3volt on sata-but generally unused). If the surge came from your usb port it most likely fried all your +5volt components went into your psu and whatever was in between that on your hdd.

I think you have a good chance to recover this at home if...
-You have some electronic knowledge, a good soldering iron and de-soldering pump
-Voltage meter and diode tester built in
- books will help-but not much

But if your rom is fried- best send it off to a professional who has £10k+ tools to reprogram a new one, and knows how to do this. So dont mess with your rom chip- a word of caution only

good luck; maybe you can post a step by step tutorial when you done- and make the internet a better place.

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It seems that the unluckiest people in the world are those that don't backup.
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Good point... and makes sense. You wanna see what happens when you open your hard drive in your living room.
Check this out .

http://pkula.blogspot.com/2010/04/hard- ... s-and.html

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It seems that the unluckiest people in the world are those that don't backup.
Free Solutions
Picasaweb- Pictures and movies | Dropbox - Documents and other..

See this thread:
http://forums.seagate.com/t5/FreeAgent- ... 242#M11384

You decide if the risk is worth it.