Disk is an Hitachi 120GB IDE 2.5 inch model HTS541612J90AT00 dated March 07
It has been in an external enclosure but now when attached via USB it runs up for few seconds then stops. I can see some of the files but can't copy them over in time.
Get a click as if the heads are parking but no continually clatter.
Tried different PCs, USB enclosures and cables but same problem.
Does this sound like the pcb problem in which case what numbers do I have to match to try to find another drive and swop over the pcbs.
Model nbr I guess but also P/N, MLC, any other?
Many thanks for any guidance.

Not a PCB problem.
Degraded media more than likely, high chance of firmware/mechanical issues.

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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

Hi labtech,
Thanks for your reply.
Is your diagnostic based on past experience? Not doubting you but just trying to understand how you come to this conclusion. If it is a firmware issue is that not fixable by replacing the pcb?
Appreciate your help.

Based on experience and logic. For ex: Say your computer/laptop, if the motherboard was damaged, then your computer will be dead/or act strangely. Same with the HDD. Since you have access to files, though just for a little while, the PCB does it's job, hence more than likely nothing wrong with it.

In Hitachi, some firmware resides on the PCB, while the bulk resides on the disks themselves.
Since it is an old drive, I am assuming it has been used quite a bit, which further supports the theory of wear and tear and failure expectancy.

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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

Once again thanks for your help
It's much appreciated.
RIP Hitachi disk and all that data.

Well, if you have important data, you could at least find somebody who offers a free evaluation to see what exactly the problem(s) are and get a quote. Perhaps the risk for you is paying for shipping depending on where you are located.

You have a couple of good options your way: pcimage is one example, who is a member here.

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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

This seems very unusual to power for a short time and allow access to data in this time also. I would guess your USB enclosure is not doing you any favors either, but there is clearly some issue that you should get resolved if data is important. If data is disposable, trash the drive and replace it.

Hi hddguy,
As I mentioned above I have tried several different enclosures, USB cable and PCs but still the same issue.
To be clear the enclosures have an led which lights red and I can see the file structure on the disk, then a few seconds later the light goes green and I can not move or copy any files and it's as if the disl has frozen. Tried Windows and Linux PCs as well.
JFYI

Hi. have you tried connecting it directly to a pc motherboard? Also some older drives can sometimes draw a higher current than usual. You could try a higher wattage power supply just to make sure.