This drive is inside Seagate Freeagent GoFlex 1TB ext enclosure. The drive is 2.5" it got dropped just clicks a few times and spins down. It has 3 platters 6 heads after removing the head stack I can see marks on the very edge of the platters my guess it got hit as it was spinning. What do you think the chances of a head swap would be ? my guess is zero and it will damage the new head stack wondering if you have seen anything similar on any other dropped drive.

Not done one like this yet but i would get say 2 donors. Do a head swap & if it initialised i would say skip the first 1Gb & try & image the rest on a ddi. Also the ddi can create a head map & turn off a head that reads the damaged platter? Then you could try going back over the skipped sectors afterwards. If the head dies at least you could possibly already have there data they need before doing another head swap.

As i say i have not done one like this but this is basically the process i would follow & yes i would practice lots first before doing it on a customers drive.

Thanks for the reply Loki I have 1 donor already but the "marks" are on more than 1 platter right on the very outside edges of the platters in multiple places as I rotate the platters you can see it on all 3 in the same spot up and down the platters . Due to the length of the marks its obvious the drive was spinning at the time it hit the ground. I was guessing the moment the heads load they get toasted due to this damage right on the edge of the platters. The damage is just on the edge on most places and 1 or 2 its just slight on the top edge of 2 of the platters .

There's a good chance you're going to destroy your donor heads if you can see media damage like that.

A donor for a job like this (sure, you already have one) is mega $$$ so personally I wouldn't risk an expensive donor like that on a drive that has multiple areas of media damage. But that's just me.

Been burnt too many times killing donors on dropped patient drives.

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Are you sure there are SCRATCHES? Sometimes on 2.5" on the very edge there are marks that look like scratches but aren't. It surprises me that all surfaces have the same marks, so i'm only guessing. Can we see a pic?

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those Freeplay drives are really Tricky when the time comes to head replacement my dear
sometimes u will need more than 2 sets to get it done.

good luck

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ST1000 = BAD Beast especially if dropped.

These drive can be tricky...and the donors are expensive. As all that we've seen have been dropped, none have been easy. We generally quote higher for them to offset the higher costs in parts. In a case where it is a gamble that you really don't want to lose, you can always tell the client that the odds are so low that you don't want to risk destroying your parts drive and give them the option to cover the costs for your attempt.

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Luke
Recovery Force Data Recovery

The last one of these I got in was stiction. Got 99% of it with original heads - lucky. I would get the customer to cover parts upfront if heads were required.

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Data Recovery Cape Town