.. Hello im new with data recovery tools. Im writting because last tuesday, my computer started alone (probably a electric discharge) and now my hard drive (a WD200EB) (i think) is nearly dead. Ok this is my situation. When i start my computer i get the following error: Primary Hard Disk Fail...Ok so i put the damaged hard drive in another system (i plug it directly to the ide drive when windows XP is running, other way the Bios recognize the drive but i cant acces it in any other way (i have used some WesternDIgital utilities (safeguard), but it doesnt recognize the drive), but Windows XP can see the drive . So when im in windows XP, the problem is that when i try to copy the data, i always obtain errors, and i can hear some noise like a click (it take long time to access the drive (about 1 minute) and a lot more to try to copy something (about 1 minute only to open a folder, and the copy always give me an error). One of my friend have a software called R-Studio, so i tried it (i tried to make a image, but i think the drive have millions of sectors damaged because it always says (cannot read (data redudancy) in a lot of sectors. So i started searching for myself.

1) I have read that i can make an image of my faulty drive using DDrescue, because diferently of the other software it tries hard to recover every sector ( but i havent try it, because is difficult to use, i need to format other drive to put the image, and it takes days for be sucessful (but my drive is small (about 20gigs.)

2) So i discovered this site, and it appears to be fully of people with knowledge, so i made some search before, and i found that some tried this program "check_wd" with a WD400EB, and it produced a log. Ok i tried to run the program (i have put the drive in the secondary master as stated in the instructions, but i always obtain that: Error: !!! Drive Busy Time Out Expired !!

So i don know what i need to do, there is recommendations?

Thanks a lot.

Burnt pcb and/or preamp. Got enough money, want to try on your own to revive it or discard?

Well i only want to save some data from the drive (some baby photos, and some word documents), i don want to fix fully the drive, only to recover some data.

Can i use DDrescue (or it will not work)? (there is some tutorial)Thanks.

Drive is partially inoperative. Any tool won't see it properly. The more you try the more the possible damage. At your choice.

The problem could be either bad heads and/or media damage. If the data is not critical and you want to try your hand at a head swap this drive is a good place to begin practicing. It's not particularly difficult to work on since it has only one platter with two heads. (You should always try a PCB swap first with an identical board to eliminate that possibility.) You need to find matching drive by matching several label identifiers. If the data is critical, however, then you should send it out for professional recovery.

Thanks for the replies. I think i can make the Msurgeon advise.

1) for that i need to find a similar hardrive (same model and that things) and then move the plates (or the head?) to the new hard drive? im new in that so i want to learn how to fix it (because my work is related to computers). There is any tutorial to do that?
2) If not, how much money a proffesional can charge to recover my data?

3)So i can discard any other procedure (ddrescue, or R-studio)?

...Thanks.

You would swap the heads, not the platter. Don't bother with any software tools. They will not work in this case. Professional recovery (based upon our pricing) would certainly be at least $400US. To answer your question about free tutorials, to my knowledge there really is no such thing. This is something you really have to learn by doing. I'm sure there are seminars somewhere you could pay to attend if you were serious about entering the business. Good luck.

There is a good tutorial for that? i need to swap the PCB too?

Swap the PCB before doing anything else to see if that's the problem. Most likely it's not. If not, replace the original. Be sure to match exact drive model and try to get data of manufacture as close as possible to original. I can't answer your question about tutorials.

Thanks a lot. I will go find the same Hard Drive and then replace the PCB, if not i will repalce the heads, if not the platter. I will let you know how it works.

Also if there is another possible solution let me know. Thanks.

Well im nearly clear of what i will be doing with the drive. But i had made some other searchs, and i find that it can be caused by the Preamp. How i know that the preamp is bad ( i have read that in the WD drives when the preamp is bad the disc does not rotate)....its that true? What is the preamp, it can be swaped too from the donor? Thanks.

That's beyond help.

When you swap the heads you'll also be swapping the preamp.

Platter swap:

A drive fails, then looks on the internet for the solution for fixing it. Finds a video saying they must do a platter swap

Where is this bad advice coming from utube !! ? !! or another forum.

The best is yet to come.... I wonder why I haven't heard about the FREEZER yet.... BTW did they also say how to do a platter swap ? I still haven't found the link to this genial video, just to take a look. Anyway, I think I can give you a final advice and a request: if you don't trust us, please get everything from youtube, the net and so on and do the experiments on your own at your own risk , but don't ask us more. This forum is not a help desk, that way.. In any case, if you do what you are thinking, you are going to destroy donor and patient for sure. Your data, your choice. Good luck and so long.

Doomsday theories aside, ddrescue would probably work if the drive is still recognized by BIOS.

I wrote one such tutorial and promptly got banned for it. If you are smart enough, you can probably find it on the Net somewhere. For very obvious reasons it's not on my own websites.

Don't even think about opening the drive. The drive is still readable and we would grab an image before opening it, if we were in your shoes.

You are welcome to send the drive to me here in California.

A forum banning you for giving a working recovery guide. What is that forum name, so we never go there.

Ban? It depends on posting...

I read it as, the tutorial was for ddrescue. Reading again it may not of been so.