Drive information:
Manufacturer: Seagate
Model: ST31000340AS
Firmware: SD1A
Speed: 7200
Size: 1000 GB

Yesterday my computer crashed while it was idle. Upon booting it would only display a solid black screen after the BIOS. I rebooted it numerous times and the HD would sometimes be detected by the BIOS and sometimes not. So, I put in a Windows installation DVD and ran the Startup Recovery through the Setup. This showed many bad sector errors. However, I'm not sure if it even ran properly since upon reboot the HD was again not visible in the BIOS.

I proceeded to install Windows on another HD I had lying around and I got lucky and was able to occasionally connect to and see the data on my original HD. I updated the HD firmware from SD15 to SD1A. I then promptly transferred about 15GB of data from the original HD to the new HD with no errors. That completed around 4AM so I went to bed.

The next morning, today, I was unable to access the original HD and the BIOS was not detecting it even after many reboots. I used a different SATA power cable and data cable and different SATA port, but was unable to even hear it spin up.

I googled some information and found that the controller board might have been dead. So, I went to my local store and found a similar Seagate drive, ST31000528AS. I swapped the controller boards and plugged the original HD back into my computer. This time the HD made a clicking sound that I have heard before on previous HDs. I made the mistake in continuing self-repair and decided to open the HD and swap the platters to the new HD. I followed a document online that didn't show the person preserving the platter alignment or use any special tools. I put the platters in the new HD, put the old arm in the new HD and went to power it up. The HD made a low/quiet beep for a few seconds after spinning up and then shut itself down.

I gave up after that. I decided that I didn't want to risk any more damage than I may have already caused. I swapped all the parts back into the original HD but noticed that now the little heads on the arm were damaged.

Questions:
1. I want to take this to a professional to recover the data. Is it likely that they will be able to recover it?
2. Does the misalignment of the platters mean that I totally killed the drive?
3. Should I put the damaged arm/heads back into the HD? I am afraid that they will damage the platters.
4. If this drive is recoverable, is there any ballpark price range that I should expect?
5. Is there anything I can do without further damaging the drive?

I've been reading some of the topics on this forum the last couple hours and you guys are genius'! Thanks in advance for any help you may provide.

No longer recoverable

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Hard Disk Drive (HDD), Solid State Drive (SSD, SATA, NVMe, etc), USB Flash Drive and RAID Data Recovery Specialist in Massachusetts

Are you serious?!? If you are, then it's one option left...the bin.
You have destroyd all chance to recover your info....sorry to say.

Regards/ Bosse

_________________
Rescue IT Datarecovery service Sweden
Rescue IT Dataräddning Göteborg AB
http://www.rescue-it.se

Kind of self diagnosed hart problem without a proper diagnosis from pro.

The self made operation didnt work out, you definitely died,

No doctor to correct that.


+++

I am close being speechless

Platter alignment is not an option. The tolerance level is zero point zero point zero!

I have another opinion, but the OP most probably doesn't have the necessary money... So, the answer is negative.

What's the option and estimated amount? Would Seagate be able to repair it?

No.

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Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily.
Data Recovery Cape Town

Question 2, put the nail in the coffin

wow

_________________
Data Recovery Ireland

Sadly this sort of thing is becoming more common all the time, thanks to YouTube and "know it alls" offering advice on various forums

_________________
PC Image Data Recovery
http://www.pcimage.co.uk

New!! HDD-PCB.COM for all your PCB and donor HDD requirements!

Unless you have a DeLorean that can go back in time... you are SOL. Removing the platters destroyed your chance of data recovery. You can use the platters as ornaments if you want.