HDRC UPDATE: Read Write Head Change Tools Review

[rchadwick]

I could be wrong, but from what I've seen, Salvation is the cheapest on their own tools, which likely means they give little, if any discount to resellers.

[pcimage]

I ordered the HDRC platter tools as above, and found them to be absolute crap.

Like rchadwick says "friction fit". Or not, as the case seems to be.

The "fingers" at the back holding the platter seem to grip well enough, but the larger one at the front seems not to grip properly at all. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but the complete lack of info from HDRC (at least Salvation give you a video) makes for no confidence in the tool at all. I'v eonly been practising on a broken 7200.7 Seagate, and would NEVER trust them on a clients drive.

I actually find the Salvation tool very good, and have never had platters fall out. But it has the downside of not being able to handle drives with spacers, we've had to develop our own technique for those. Looking forward to seeing the new version on the Salvation tool.

Having said this, I ordered the head tools from HDRC and found them to be very good indeed. They might look a bit "Mickey Mouse" but they actually work very well indeed.

Sean

[irs]

hi, i read on SD website they're going to sell a new version of platter exchange tool that fits to hdd's with spacers too.... we patienly wait

[pcrecovery]

I've had mine for a week or so, but haven't tried it yet. I've been very busy and I haven't had time to examine it yet...

[hddguy]

I've had mine for a week or so, but haven't tried it yet. I've been very busy and I haven't had time to examine it yet...

Is that through choice? lol

[pcrecovery]

Actually, I have nearly a hundreds drives I could try it on...just no time...I've been working extremely long hours and weekends for months. I've often not had time to check my email. I am sort of a tool junkie. I love tools. I tend to buy too many. Some prove worthy, some don't. I actually still use some of my oldest tools the most. I love my old COS6100M for instance...old, only 100mhz, but I like it....

[HDRC Team]

We would first like to thank all the forum users who provided their honest feedback on HDRC tools. At HDRC, each time when the production unit is asked to design,modify and update a tool, all the problems listed by users on hdd forum are considered.

To share something specific...we got to know that our previous platter exchanger tool was unable to grip the platters and many a times platters used to fall .Those tools were based on friction mechanism. HDRC's new platter exchanger tools have been designed to overcome all such issues. The new tools are tested upto 90% with hard drives of almost all manufacturers. They are built up with manual tightening mechanism & are capable of working with hard-drives upto 3 platters & with metallic or plastic spacers.

Also,earlier there was not enough information for the usage of each tool. A video for almost each tool can now be found on the website. Latest and revised Manual along with the usage flow chart for Platter exchanger and Read write Head Change Tools are also provided for the users for a better understanding of how to use these tools.

We will continue considering all the concerns faced by the users of HDRC tools so that a lot better & advanced version of data recovery tools can be used by everyone interested in data recovery .

Through this forum , we would like to encourage our tool users to please write to us about any problem(s) that you face while using our tools.We will try to rectify the same as soon as possible.This forum has by far been the best means of knowing the capabilities of our tools....the abilities that can be improved with time...

[HDD Spaz]

does that mean all those customers who purchased the crap non working tools get a free upgrade?

Also I can't seem to find a video for the new platter exchanger. Also what use is the spindle motor repair tool?

[HDRC Team]

Well, yes we do provide upgrades to our existing clients , though not free but at a very less cost compared to the actual cost of the tools. Earlier we used to sell only 1 unit of platter exchanger tool (universal).Now, we sell 4 units of platter exchanger tool (1 set for Western Digital & Seagate Hard Drives , 1 set for Samsung Hard Drive , 1 for Maxtor hard drive and 1 for laptop hard drives).

The video for the new platter exchanger tool is there on the website only with the label Platter Exchanger tool premium..

Spindle motor replacement tool is used for :

A) Hard drive creating humming noise.
B) Replacement of damaged bearings of spindle motor.
C) Replacement of seized ball bearings

[scratchy]

Well, yes we do provide upgrades to our existing clients , though not free but at a very less cost compared to the actual cost of the tools.

What sort of discount? Considering, that in my opinion, the old ones are of no use whatsoever, I would be very hesitant to pay anything except shipping costs for a sample.

<itch>

[hddguy]

To share something specific...we got to know that our previous platter exchanger tool was unable to grip the platters and many a times platters used to fall

It is a coincidence that you admint your product is flawed onyl when you have a new updated version?

How are we to know that you wont reveal the flaws of this version when the next one is released??

[HDD Spaz]

I think the salvation data platter exchanger will be better than HDRC's. Neither will be as good as my own solution.

[HDRC Team]

We are releasing our new products with time in order to have improvements over the already existing ones.As and when we come to know about a significant dimension or feature which we didnot consider during the design phase of our tools , we simply try to advance our tools with that. This very process is followed by each customer oriented industry and the improved products donot mean in any way that the previous ones were crap.

We recommend all our clients to practice working with our tools on a damaged hard dive before working on the client's hard drive.This way the tools can be used in a better manner.

The manuals/videos/flow charts of the tools provide the right procedure of working with our tools.We suggest the tool users to please go through these and follow the instructions for working with these tools.

Our hardware team consists of 1 Sr. Engineer & 3 other Engineers in Research and Development ,2 designers , 8 Technical Engineers in Tool Room , 3 Quality inspectors for quality control & testing and 2 persons for dispatch.The tool which you use is the joint effort of all our team members.

We design our data recovery tools based on our ideas, knowledge , experience , client's requirements and feedback . All other data recovery companies also take a lot of relevant factors into consideration while designing their products.Since we all do a lot of research in our respective areas , we all are providing different products to the data recovery market so that none of the data recovery demands remains untouched.

At HDRC, we believe in client satisfaction and this very thought motivates us to update our tools regularly in accordance to the requirement of our prestigious clients. We are constantly looking for the feedback and suggestions of our respected forum members and clients so that the hard work of our team can fulfill all your data recovery needs in all respects.

[hddguy]

But with all the negativity, and bad experiences with previous HDRC products, maybe you should give away one of your tools to a respected member of the forum, who has many posts and much experience who can report back here with the results.

If product is as good as you say, the comments will be positive and I am sure it will result in lots of custom for you.

If comments are negative, I guess its back to the drawing board.....




p.s. When you release products, are they tried and tested on actual failed drives? Do you have any DR firms or engineers to beta test products and give you feedback? This would probably be a good idea....

[HDD Spaz]

This is an excellent idea. If your products are good, you got nothing to worry about and a lot to gain.

[MANDR]

Our hardware team consists of 1 Sr. Engineer & 3 other Engineers in Research and Development ,2 designers , 8 Technical Engineers in Tool Room , 3 Quality inspectors for quality control & testing and 2 persons for dispatch.The tool which you use is the joint effort of all our team members.

Reminds me of an old joke, how many women does it take to change a lightbulb........

[rameez]

over here how many HDRC it need to change a platter ?

[MANDR]

HDRC not confident in their product to allow respected members of the forum to trial it? Word of mouth and reccomendation from a valued member can go a long way...

[guru]

It's going to be crap.. I use chewing gum and tooth picks

I remember some company was producing the "MOTHER OF ALL PLATTER EXCHANGE TOOLS" something laser guided and about 2000 KG's ....What happend to that?

[HDD Spaz]

Maybe it fell on him?