Hi guys.

First, a short recap on the chain of events.

Did a windows vista update and rebooted as prompted. Loading windows takes extremely long time.. 8-10 minutes. Thought this was due to the OS update and did not even think about a hardware error. Did another reboot.. loading windows was just as slow or even slower. Third reboot and HD not recognized by BIOS = dead HDD. Not recognized on other laptops either. No clicking sound or whatever. It just spins up and the BIOS error msg appears, then spins down.

I suspect that there might be an error on my PCB, but my untrained eyes cannot detect any burnt components... I've also read that this could be a SA error..

It is also worth mentioning that my apartment is real pain when it comes to static electricity. The discharge often happened as I sat down with my computer.. and I strongly believe that this could be the underlying reason for the breakdown. My laptop has already killed two other hard drives. I thought that there would be some sort of electrostatic shielding, and shouldn't there be? At the same time I find it strange that this occured after a windows update..

Do you guys have any idea of what is wrong? I have tried to look up identical PCBs without any luck yet..

I've attached pictures of the PCB for you to inspect, both front and back

Model info: WD3200BEKT-00F3T0

I would guess you have head damage, but at this point is just a guess. further testing is required, which will require professional equipment to do.

PCB problems are less likely than a problem with the heads.

From your information I would say weak/failing heads that have now failed. If a WD spins down after say 7-8 seconds its 9/10 a head problem.

Will need a data recovery company i'm afriad not one for DIY. Tools and tests are needed to confirm the fault.

Additionally the PCB has no external ROM so you would need to get the ROM over to a donor board just to test if it was the PCB.

If your looking for parts the PCB number is printed on your first picture just below the connector. I don't think this will solve the problem though.

Leigh

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DataWreck Data Recovery Services
www.DataWreck.co.uk

Even if PCB is at fault, this will not work, professional tools are needed to adapt a donor PCB.

Leigh is right, a DR firm is pretty much the only option you have.

Darn, that was not what I was hoping for. The data recovery labs around here in Denmark are pretty expensive... Would you happen to know of cheap, and of course good ones that accepts Danish customers?

DataWreck: the spin-up to spin-down time is not more than 2-3 seconds..

Well ,
Just for The Heck Of It Try And Clean the Contacts Where the PCB connects To the Headstack With School Eraser

_________________
Regards
Amarbir S Dhillon , Chandigarh Data Recovery Labs [India]
Logical,Semi Physical And Physical Data Recovery
Website-> http://www.chandigarhdatarecovery.com

My advice would be to phone/email around and get rough quotes. No one can be 100% sure of the problem without checking the drive but a rough idea should give a range of quotes. I'm sure most companies will accept customers from any location.

Check forum members near to you and get in touch.

Leigh

_________________
DataWreck Data Recovery Services
www.DataWreck.co.uk

You can try Mr_SPokk; he's in sweden.

Dobre

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Murphy was an optimist

Datarecovery in Belgium, Holland, France and Germany
Datarecoverytools http://www.drtools.eu