Hey guys

Have an old Seagate ST31000333AS 1TB drive which I would like to recover. Years ago when I sent it for quote the last recovery company quoted me an unaffordable price and I decided that I will get it done when I was better off which I am today. Here's the problem. The company that did the evaluation back then changed/swapped the PCB with the PCB of another drive ST31000528AS. Why they did that? I have no idea. They now claim they did not do anything of that sort. I think it may have happened accidentally or unintentionally and now its been 3 years and they just don't know where the original PCB is. Big question is, is data recovery possible without the original PCB? The drive has pictures of many years of the family!

Any inputs would be greatly appreciated!

Is posible but is hard and maybe not recoverable.

Why you know they change PCB?
Can you report us simptoms, HDD identification, FW, p/n, ..? Can you show pics from HDD, from PCB 2 sides.?

You can connect your drive to terminal and see the serial number of the drive which the PCB belongs to. So if it reports that the PCB belongs to other drive than yours, then ask that company to find the drive with that s/n and give you back your PCB.

Your drive, if original PCB is missing, can be recovered, but expect it to be very painful for your pocket. Plus, whatever the original problem of the drive was.

I would pursue the chances of getting the original PCB back.

_________________
http://www.northwind.gr
SandForce SSD Recovery
Ransomware Reverse Engineering - NoMoreRansom! partners