So.... the other day my western digital wd5000ks broke down on me. It started clicking and I panicked. I didn't know what to do or who to call. So I decided to fix it myself. I started by opening the case to make sure everything looked ok and sure enuff the cylinders inside were still shiny (which is good). After reading a bit, i decided to gently place my poor wd5000ks in the freezer for a few days to cool it off (it gets VERY hot). Now that it's cooled off, the crazy thing still clicks and cannot be recognized by my computer. What should i do?!! I was wondering... if I replace the cylinders inside, will my data come back to me?

thanx

You tell us. You're the WD Master.

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LOL!! that's a joke

i will be someday, but for today im still learning

Wow! Very bad idea to open the cover on this drive; alignment of read/write heads has now been altered. Forget about doing anything with the "cylinders" (I assume you mean platters). This job is way beyond amateur capabilities. The freezer idea was a nice touch, though. It doesn't do anything but it's refreshing to handle a cold drive in the hot summer. The only way you're ever going to get your data is with professional help. Frankly, removing the cover has probably increased the likely cost of recovery.

how do you align heads back? i'm sure it can't be that difficult...

Oh boy........you've a steep steep learning curve awaiting you....

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This ranks up there with one of the funniest things I've read on here, aside from the OP's statement of "i'm sure it can't be that difficult".

Alignment precision is probably in the range of a billionth of an inch. I hope you have good eyesight, and can pick out each magnetic bit by eye. Even if you do manage to realign everything, a single particle of dust can instantly and permanently destroy an entire platter surface. In order to safely open a hard drive, you need tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in equipment. You need a "clean room", which is hermetically sealed with multiple stages of air and moisture filtration. You need to wear a space suit while disassembling a hard drive. By opening it up in a regular room, you have almost certainly completely and totally destroyed it. The only hope of getting any data off it at this point is to pay $2000 or more to a professional data recovery company.

Nah, just kidding. Your cylinders probably just need to be polished. Grab some borax and some steel wool and scrub the cylinders vigorously. Then, remagnitize the drive by sticking it in the microwave on high for three minutes. Put it all back together, plug it in, and everything should work perfectly.

why not use a magnet ?
It would straighten and align bits properly in less time...
Jokes apart, the drive is compromised.

jokes apart... sorry mate your drive is toasted as soon you opened it :/

Well, I don't know if you've made it impossible to recover your data, but you have certainly made it a lot harder for anyone else.

These are among the most challenging of drives to recover, for a number of reasons. We are usually successful, but it takes a lot of time and trouble even if the drive has not been opened

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5000KS are a bad bunch. 4 platter 8 head ima guessing. I dont really know why ppl are pushing WD alignment left and right since on this series aligment never gave me any problems, but that aside ur problem most likely was a bad read / write head. Initially. Now after opening and freezing it , it can be a range of things. Sry m8, these issues are not DIY.

I disagree here, in my experience Zeus were one of the WD disks most likely to develope alignment issues after physical repairs...

After swaping heads - yes. After opening the cover - never in my experience.

Nobody else thinks this guy is just trying to wind people up?

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You don't have to backup all of your files, just the ones you want to keep.

Maybe you could take this job on then, at no additional costs because opening the disk and checking the 'cylinders' obviously does not complicate things....

hahahaha

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No need to snap at me now. And no point in puting words in my keyboard. All i said , opening the cover will not screw the alignment ( does not for me at least ). It was a general observation.

I did not snap, simply suggested that since you have contradicted the opinion of at least 4 members of this thread with your statement that alignment is not altered then maybe you have a point to prove...

Who knows, maybe you will get the data back also.
Or maybe not.

Ok Hddguy. Let me get this straight. You had alignment issues on Zeus family drives just by opening the cover , without doing any physical work , is that correct ?