I asked above : appart from shorting the points and the actions carried out by the software , are there other hardware interactions required . if not I will get a probe of whatever type advised , as listed above bare wire might damage hd . I have one to test it on , one I need to unlock . some ppl have a vested interest in keeping it expensive .

In the PC3K example you use the probe and then the PC3K software sends and receives some particular data to and from the hard drive. I am unaware of any available software that exists for doing this that is not tied to some piece of hardware (such as PC3K or SD). But of course with the correct knowledge someone can create their own software.

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You don't have to backup all of your files, just the ones you want to keep.

ok so to clarify the probe just shorts the hdd and the software does the rest . so then if you can aquire the software or software that carry's out the same functions and a probe to short the points you can unlock the hdd ?

The probe is not just a simple short, there are some resistors etc built into it as I remember.

It is no longer necessary to use this probe to unlock these drives AFAIK.

And yes, it's proprietary to the PC3000 complex so no good without that.

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what's the other method without probes ? surely if the software or similar software that carry's out the same functions with a probe with resistors + ? it will work .