Hi guys,

I am sorry for my hard drive but part of I am happy that I have found your web site, so the hope is back. Here is my story:

My wife was having nice time writing forum messages and listening music from our external LaCie 320GB USB Drive when the 1 year old kiddo approached from behind and using the moment of mothers distraction, just dropped the hard drive to the printer that is about 10cm lower than the hard drive stand. After that the bad things started to happen. The harddrive was taking long time to access files (we have seen only the pictures we have there) so I have decided to switch off the hard drive and give it some time to cool down. In the evening I have noticed that Windows XP is recognizing the drive as 320GB USB External and the drivers are well installed, however when I try to access the drive, it takes me about a minute to do it. I started copying all the information as I guessed what is going to happen later but only about 70% of the pictures we have on it are safely copied to another PC. The funny thing is that I am working as an IT and I always recommend backing up the information to our clients, but when it came to my hdd, I have left it unsafely holding valuable information.

I have ran few diagnostic software I know worked my day before (hddrecovery, mhdd etc) but they returned this time no luck. So I have searched the Net for solutions and I decided as a last resort to open the hard drive. The disk is spinning but one of the heads is benched and I guess this have caused the problems. I tried to disassemble the head and I have noticed that the power connector plug is damaged (2 pins are disconnected from the plastic stand). I guess I can try to spoil them using welder but I am affray to connect this head back as this might scratch the whole hard drive. So far, I did not noticed any scratches on the disks itself which is good for the info, but currently I am looking for a head (donor) to replace the head. Here is all the info I can get from the top of the HDD:

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320 Gbytes
S/N: 9QF99VET
ST3329829AS
P/N: 9BJ13G-505
Firmware: 3.AAD
Date Code: 08355
Site Code: TK
Product of Thailand
MIC STX-L3510 (B)

If anybody have idea where can I get a head for this drive or have a donor drive for sale, I am ready to buy it if the price is reasonable of course. Currently we live in Montreal, Canada.

Well I guess the waiting is the key to salvation now

Thank you all in advance guys!

I doubt you are a pro, otherwise you wouldnt have asked here.....

So unfortunately bad news:

This forum is NOT MENT AS "Q and A" FORUM for hobbyists or endusers asking the pros.

1. YOU SHOULD NOT EXPECT any information here to repair your harddisk yourself.
. . this is only ment to prevent the users to harm their data even more.

2. We usually suggest to contact a local DR specialist. You might choose one out of this forum.

3. If you cannot afford to pay a DR now, then put the drive on a save place and put money aside for later.


For your data safety:

* any manipulation on the harddisk could hinder a data retrieval or could increase the retrieval costs enormously.
* DO NOT START ANY SOFTWARE ON A DEFECT HARD DISK
* DO NOT CONNECT / START YOUR DEFECT HARD DISK
* DO NOT OPEN YOUR HARD DISK
. .------->
. .you opened it allready (I bet it was not in a clean room) therefore the drive
. .is contaminated - a data recovery will cost you now much, much more than
. .it would have costed before opening it. Most probably youll see other answers
. .and perhaps offers whom to contact in your area.

What the heck drove you to open the drive?
+++

hi,
please contact me by email. i want to ask more question and try to help you solve it out without any purchase first. thanks.

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data recovery service[/b]