Clicking noise of DEATH! HELP!

[davidawbrown]

Hi everyone I need help.

1st -
This is not my hard drive its a friends -

2nd -
She needs the information its irretrievable!

3rd -
NO she did not have it backed up

OK the story so far -

She came to me when I wouldn't turn on -
A heard the clicking noise and suggested sending it to a recovery center as I thought it was the head.
The data Recovery center said it was the head and replaced it for €200 + €45 fee to look at the harddrive.

They then informed her that there were scratched on the platters and to send then away for polishing would cost €1,500 (still no garantee)

So I said to her - "If they replaced the head ill talk a look and see what I can recover... (using http://geekyprojects.com/storage/how-to-recover-data-even-when-hard-drive-is-damaged/)

She told them she didn't have the money for the polishing and paid them up to date.

I got the hard drive and its still making the clicking noise and is not recognised by the BIOS.

I was wondering -

If they changed the head would the clicking noise not stop?
Did they swap the replaced head with the old head when they gave it back?
Was it the head at all? (Maybe it was the PCB?)
Did they scratch the platters while changing the heads?

Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks again
Regards Dave

(PS. I told her ALWAYS BACK UP!!)

[drc]

Sorry but it sounds like your friend got scammed (imho)

There's no such thing as "sending it away for polishing"... once the media is scratched the data is gone regardless of how shiny you can make it again

[BlackST]

What's 'POLISHING' ?

[davidawbrown]

I presume polishing is to remove scratches -

polishing aside -

should it still be clicking?
After the head was supposidly replaced?

[chinopk]

yes, if there is scratch, even after changing the head, it should click ..

[davidawbrown]

There telling me the service area has to be re-done -

I looked into it and its the part where the hard drive info and OS goes -

Is there any way I could do that?
Buy a piece of kit maybe? -
If not anyone know any cheap places in Europe?

Thanks everyone -

Regards
Dave

[drc]

No

None of this makes any sense

IMO your drive is probably unrecoverable at this point, but on the off chance that it isn't I would strongly recommend getting a second opinion from someone like pcimage.

[davidawbrown]

When power is applied to a hard drive its microprocessor loads "boot" code from the flash memory and internal memory to the RAM chip. This code is just enough to spin the drive up to speed and start reading data off the disk surface. The disk is broken up into "tracks" or "cylinders" . Tracks are cylindrical rings of magnetized particles on the disk surface. A disk can have several thousand of these rings. These tracks (rings) are numbered from negative 20 and up to several thousand with negative 20 being the closest track to the center of the disk. Tracks negative one through negative 20 are used exclusively by the hard drive. This is called the "service area". This is where the hard drives main operating system is stored. Also stored in this area is a translator table (which tells the drive where the tracks are) and The "P-List & G-List" which is a list of the bad sectors on the drive. This information is unique to each and every drive. Tracks zero and and above is called the "user area" this is where all your data goes when it is saved to the hard drive. Only the hard drive can access the service area. You computer can only access the "user area".


There telling me the service area needs to be rewritten.

A bit clearer?

Quote from http://www.datarecoverynj.com/how.html

[CK]

Sounds like you've been scammed. Not the first time I've heard this story of "polishing". Shame this type of story brings our industry into disrepute.

If you'd like to PM me, we can take a second look at no charge.

[CK]

btw....do you have this "platter polishing" quotation in writing?

[drc]

A bit clearer?

It's not that anyone here is unclear as to what you are saying.

It's that what you are saying is the HD equivalent of "I took my car to the mechanic and he charged me $250 to adjust the flux capacitor but then said that my fricative reduction valve is out of alignment but I'm in luck because he knows a guy who can fix that for only another $2000"

[CK]

@drc: I'm not going to get into this too much here but I have heard this story from many of my customers who I believe have sent their jobs previously to this "data recovery center". I'm getting tired of this as it's tarnishing us all with the same brush. I'm shocked to hear that a customer could potentially have been emptied of €45 + 200 + 1500 for a job that probably had 0% chance of recovery in the first place. This idea of "sending platters to be polished" is outrageous and is preying on vulnerable customers. These cowboys should be ashamed.

[davidawbrown]

Just to update a little:

I got the harddrive back - (€245 down) with a replaced head (yea thanks) and no working hdd -

The hdd is not recognised by the BIOS -

I rang http://www.repairtech.ie/info and they will look at it no charge -
If its the HEAD its (€350) and the service sector needs rewriting its (€650) -

Its no recover no fee which is good -
Repair Tech are aware of the last firm I used and he said "I wouldn't be surprised if the switched platters on you!"

They said there charge will be no more than €650..... here's hoping.....

I am thinking it sounds like the service sector is corrupted because its not being recognised by the BIOS -

Am I right in this??

Happy Good Friday...

Regards
Dave

[CK]

It should be the case that a System Area repair would be a lot cheaper than a head replacement.

When choosing a DR company, you should ask to see their cleanroom - otherwise you are wasting more time and money here. Stay away from people doing PC repair and data recovery as a side business. You've been warned.

Also, you need to find somebody who knows what they are talking about. If you've been told that the platter is scratched, then a system area repair or head swap is not going to work.

[CK]

It should be the case that a System Area repair would be a lot cheaper than a head replacement.

When choosing a DR company, you should ask to see their cleanroom - otherwise you are wasting more time and money here. Stay away from people doing PC repair and data recovery as a side business. You've been warned.

Also, you need to find somebody who knows what they are talking about. If you've been told that the platter is scratched, then a system area repair or head swap is not going to work.

[pcimage]

CK is right about companies offering data recovery as a "sideline".

I know CK well, and would recommend his company without hesitation

[fzabkar]

Why did the DR company change the heads if they could see that the platters were scratched?