Please forgive me, I was a bit upset this was not constructive ...

This forum is a bit strange, some peoples say it's impossible, even for a pro, other says that they can easily do it. BlackST clearly said that there were several solutions to the head alignment problem.

If I can keep the position of all the screws I have more chances to get the same head position after putting back all the pieces. This could be done by filling the gaps between the screws and breastwork (? don't know if it's correct English translation) with something.

I will also get a sampler card from my work, I hope I can do picking on head connections during "track zero" search. I would like to compare a good drive and my bad one during this period.

Fennec, nothing is impossible, but I can clearly said it will be almost impossible FOR YOU. Anyway your willing to experiment, even if this will most probably end into nothing , is to be appreciated. And it is impossible to assist you / guide step by step in your experiments because simply all the pros here have something more interesting to do, for example make a living.

I don't expect a step by step guide. I already had many tips here, mostly on what not to do but this is really good info !

Hi all,

I finally went with DR conpany, I choosed Ontrack because they have an agency in France and it was easier for delivery.

On the technical side everything was perfect, I got all my 500GB data back, minus 24 photos. Since the drive was refurbished I even got data that was not mine !

On the logistic side ... it was totally ridiculous. I sent the defective drive and a brand new drive to put recovered data on it. After one month I got both drives back, but new one was empty. I had to send it back, and got another drive, but it was not mine, however my data was on it. I copied everything, and had to send it back, and finally got my new drive back. It took two month between the moment I sent my drives and when everything was ok.

I paid about 1000€, but I should be refund on the two additional postages.

Ontrack is technically good (they sucessfully changed heads) but management is a joke.

Hope it helps,
bye !