Hello!

I have this hard disk which is very old, maybe 12 years old! I was trying to get the data by using an ide to sata convertor.

Everything seemed to be going well, some of the data was transferred but then the disk started to make a clicking and beeping noise. One website says it is a bad head.

I knew that this drive may not be very healthy, since its so old and the computer it was in, was not starting every time.

Anyway I found some videos on youtube which showed how to open the disk and unstuck the head.

I opened it and dragged this thing outwards but it keeps returning inside and doing the same noise.

I tried to raise it, to move it further away but the clicking and beeping does not stop.

Should I say Goodbye to my data? Or is there anything else I could do?

Thanks for reading!

What a sad story! A drive lasted for 12 years only to be killed by youtube.

How would you have repaired it? The only option I was given by the computer techs, before I opened it, was to pay 2500 euros to have the data recovered by a company. And I couldn't afford that. So you had another solution?

You could have searched for alternative quotes from other companies before giving up, but you don't have to worry about it any more, your data is gone forever I'm affraid.

I've even managed to get data off a drive that made a clicking noise. If the damage is not THAT bad, it will sometimes suffice to press the Pause key at POST (i. e. after the drive has been recognized) and then wait patiently one whole minute or even longer - until the drive has finally "settled".
But I would NEVER dare open that drive. (Not even me, with some experience)
OK I once did, standing at my balcony, with a drive that was to be ditched anyway.
Oh my. Even though it was a crystal-clear winter's day, the uppermost platter was full of dust particles in no time!!! (read: 15 secs)
This is why clean rooms exist, and this is why they're so inevitable.


Tell me about it.

AFAIK stuck heads don't click. I think it hit a very bad area on the platter and that made it click. You could have tried reverse cloning. But now that you have opened it, it will be more difficult to save your data.

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