Data recovery and disk repair questions and discussions related to old-fashioned SATA, SAS, SCSI, IDE, MFM hard drives - any type of storage device that has moving parts
January 8th, 2026, 12:23
Dear Forum
I have a HDD that does not work anymore, the PC does recognize it's adapter but it does not work. I also tried to put it into a external SATA reader - without success. The inside looks like in the video. The arm basically goes onto the disk and back multiple times.
Is there any hope for it and how would you proceed? Thanks a lot for your support!
Oli
Somehow I did not manage to add the video to the forum, here is a link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1m4RZD1 ... sp=sharing
January 8th, 2026, 20:04
Likely a heads issue with (now) surface damage.
You can't run a drive without the lid otherwise you will make the problem much worse.
January 9th, 2026, 7:21
It's 2026 and people still open up their drives (expecting to find what?) and they still power them up without having a clue what they're doing. It's sad. I was hoping ChatGPT would put an end to this insanity.
The scratching sound you hear is the sound of your data turning to dust. In fact, it's the sound of the SA turning to dust.
January 10th, 2026, 12:06
Hard disks are sealed to keep dust out. Opening a disk in a clean room is how recovery shops work.
January 15th, 2026, 10:01
Samsung ST1000LM024 are my favorite drives to work with but after your actions recovery might be impossible
January 15th, 2026, 13:51
I believe a good chance of recovery is still availabe friends.
And I mean in a professional DR firm for sure.
January 16th, 2026, 3:14
Maybe possible but certainly expensive
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