HDD GURU FORUMS

Hi there, should be any problem with replacing the head stack for Western Digital 1TB?

(head stack re alignment?)

My drive model- WD1001FALS 20_june_2008. Just purchased a similar HDD
(same model 08_july_2008) in order to take the head stack from.
thanks for any info.

Are you seriously thinking of changing your heads on this drive by yourself. I wish you the best of luck in this one. WD have major alighment problems and even being a pro this can cause hours and hours of frustration and never arriving at the heads aligning again for you. Take my advise do as I have done. I have send my drive to Greece to get back my clinets data on it. Head alignment is hard and if your data is important such as the data for my client is I opted to send it off to someone who deals with this issue to assure my client gets back his data. Outsoucing drives when you know there is problems and another pro can handle it is perfectally good business and you do not risk the chance of losing your clients data. Be smart in this one and think before you open this drive. Once you open it the game is over.

Thanks for the warning. I still thinking of DIY. Therefore I bought a similar drives in order to test the alignment issue. I used this link http://hddguru.com/articles/2006.02.17- ... k-Q-and-A/. I aware to the fact that this is a very serious thing to do (it's my hard drive). Does any one have an experience dealing with such a drive?
thanks.

hilk wrote:Thanks for the warning. I still thinking of DIY.

Not going to work.

Its really a tough decision to go for a DIY, Success chances are very very low, especially if you are going to do it for the first time

drc wrote:

hilk wrote:Thanks for the warning. I still thinking of DIY.

Not going to work.

1000% agree.

Sorry to say, but I agree too.

You have virtually zero chance of success on this one.

Thanks for all the replies.
With all the respect, are you all refer only to the alignment issue? and why all of you so certain about not succeeding with the HS re-alignment?
? or there're more parameters that I should be aware of?
Has some of you have an experience (even a bad one) with this specific drive?

Do you have a clean room ?

No, but as far as I concerned, you need a clean room in case that you are intending to use this drive for long time, but for recovery purposes you have to have a clean environment. I going to trash this drive after opening and recovery.

I am still asking, does someone have good experience with head swapping? especially with WD Caviar 1TB 2008? any tips?

hilk wrote:With all the respect, are you all refer only to the alignment issue?

No. this case is difficult for anyone without proper tools and experience. The alignment complicates things further, but is not the primary reason it will not work.

hilk wrote:Has some of you have an experience (even a bad one) with this specific drive?

Yes, I have had both good and bad experiences, even with the right tools equipment and skills which is why you, with minimal experience and tools, should attempt it.

hilk wrote:as far as I concerned, you need a clean room in case that you are intending to use this drive for long time, but for recovery purposes you have to have a clean environment. I going to trash this drive after opening and recovery.

Before you try anything you should do the following lookup the distance between the media surface and the recording head when in operation, then find out how small this is in comparison to dust, debris, hair etc, then consider the consequences of any contamination, even if you are planning on trashing the disk.

If you want your data back, then DIY simply isnt an option.

Thanks anyway Hddguy, I appreciate your concern and things you wrote , I will be happy for any technical tips. G'day.

hilk wrote:Thanks anyway Hddguy, I appreciate your concern and things you wrote , I will be happy for any technical tips. G'day.

Sorry you are looking in the wrong place on this one. Nobody here is going to tell you anything to help you destroy your data. You are on your own and all good advise has been given to you on this one. You are wasting your time here to think that someone will explain this to you and try to advise you on this one. You have our advise if you want to go on then we all wish you good luck. When it does not work please do not come and say we told you so on this one.

hilk wrote:Thanks anyway Hddguy, I appreciate your concern and things you wrote , I will be happy for any technical tips. G'day.

This drive is a beast.
It is a challenge for perfectly skilled pros as well.
Trust me, you have no chance.
Only open your drive, if you are allready accepted, your data is lost forever, and you want to have fun with it....
If your data is valuable, seek for professional help. (you need good luck on this one too, because not all the dr companies can recover this drive!)

If you want, i can help, but not remotely....

Janos