Hi all,

A few weeks ago my computer would not start up when I pressed the power button. I tried a few things like switching the PSU on and off, resetting the CMOS, etc. and it did eventually turn on. Unfortunately it didn't stay on but instead started turning on and off repeatedly. I quickly unplugged it from the wall but not before one of my HDs started smoking. Fortunately, it was my older HD, and I had already moved all the important data from it to my new 640GB Seagate. One of the TVS chips on the old drive had a circular bulge in the top and the leads looked burnt. The 640GB Seagate, though, looked perfectly fine and when I attached it to my SATA-USB converter it started up fine and I was able to read the data.

This near miss convinced me to buy a large external drive and setup regular backups for the PCs in my house. I recently got the new PSU to replace the one that died and got everything set back up and have had the PC running for 4 days. Unfortunately, I hadn't yet backed the 640GB drive up to the new external when earlier today my PC randomly shut off. The PC will not turn on with the HD plugged in and when I tried to hook it up to my SATA-USB adaptor, the adaptor's power brick won't turn on but instead makes a high pitched buzz. I'm assuming there is a short in the HD (perhaps the TVS chip?) but the PCB and all components look fine to me and it seems weird that the drive was fine for 4 days with the new PSU and then randomly died. Unfortunately, I don't have a DMM to test the TVS chips.

Could you take a look at the photo I took of the PCB and tell me if you still think it might be the TVS chip and if so, what kind of DMM (what functions) I need to by to check this out.

Thanks!



Lesson learned: don't tempt fate, even if only for a few days.

A drive just came in for recovery : the PSU has most probably failed, TVS triggered. The original user most probably have read on the net that the removal of the TVS could bring back to life the drive and send those greedy DR specialists to f...k off. Hell yeah !! Result : the drive effectively worked for a short time - enough to ID but definitely not enough for a backup. Unfortunately, working without further protection on ONE RAIL only , on uncontrolled environment , made further damage - latent damage was probably started by first incident. And now a professional recovery is needed. Long live internet. Welcome money. Period.

Send it in to a Pro while it's cheaper to fix. Juno-ATA or HDDspecialist should be able to help you or go Google or Ebay for a discounted physical data recovery if you want to save money.

Right now, it shouldn't be around $400 - $800 for your problem, it may go up to $1000 if you really killed your drive by attempting to fix it on your own. It's not cheap but still within an expensive lesson range to get your data back on the low end quote. (Don't take it to the Geek squad guys though, they'll charge you for just that amount for a logical recovery and you need a physical recovery)

What I pointed out is the danger in DIY and rumors and internet bullshit. Luck and knowing what to do are two different things.