Failed Hitachi HTS541612J9SA00 SATA 120GB - opinion

[toba23]

Hello All,

I have a HDD from my Macbook that failed - the machine could no longer start up at all.

Unfortunately the drive had quite a few photographs other files that have a high sentimental (if not commercial) value to me.

I plugged the drive in to another computer via USB and tried scanning it with a recovery program, Stellar. I looked in various places on the drive, but unfortunately it could only find system files like folder icons etc. So I thought I'd leave it to scan the whole disk in its entirety.

After over 24 hours of scanning I came back to the computer and the drive was making a high pitched whine and the occasional light grinding sound. Now when plugged in via USB it's not even recognised as a hard drive.

Is there any chance that data might still be recoverable from the drive? And if so, does anyone know of any companies or contacts (around London UK) that might be able to have a go at recovering the data. There was a company recommended by Apple but they gave a quote of about £500, which is over my price range relative to the contents of the drive.

Any expert opinions or diagnosis would be greatly welcomed!
Thanks

[networkpc3000]

and the drive was making a high pitched whine and the occasional light grinding sound. Now when plugged in via USB it's not even recognised as a hard drive.

perhaps got problem on platters and head. you should stop try on it right now. and send it to DR pro for help.

Last edited by networkpc3000 on May 17th, 2010, 21:38, edited 1 time in total.

[dobrevjetser]

If its a seagate with FW 7.01 or 3.CAE then its game over.
If its not seagate, then perhaps a pro can still help, but according to the description you gave i'm afraid its allready to late.


Dobre

[hddguy]

The Hard Disks in Apples are generally not good to work with. At this point you do need professional assistance. What company did apple recommend? For £500 I would consider it. Your disk is not recognised, and very probably has some physical damage requiring donor parts, clean room time etc.

this is not a job you can do yourself.

[dobrevjetser]

Sorry, i did not see its a hitachi.
These types often have problems also with the magnetic layer.
500 pound is a very reasonable price for this kind of problem.

Dobre

[toba23]

Sorry not to get back sooner. Thanks for the replies, I appreciate your opinions - looks like I will have to decide whether my photographs are worth £500+...
Many thanks.
Toba

[toba23]

P.s. the company recommended by the Apple Shop was ontrackdatarecovery.co.uk.

[pcimage]

I can certainly take at look at it for you, but due to the fact that it could have been clicking and scraping for the unattended 24 hours makes recovery pretty unlikely at all to be honest

Cheers

[msurgeon]

... but they gave a quote of about £500, which is over my price range relative to the contents of the drive.

Any expert opinions or diagnosis would be greatly welcomed!
Thanks

That would be a very reasonable price based upon the symptoms you describe. Unfortunately, your efforts at recovery have caused additional damage to the disk surfaces (the grinding noise you heard). Matters will only get worse if you persist in powering up the drive.