Hello all,

From a regular customer I received a HDD in that had already been opened and declared non-recoverable due to a platter misalignment - a WD5000AAKS. On inspection it appears that the motor itself is seized with the heads parked on the platter surface. I am aware which DR company handled it first, and then I worked out who they sub-contacted it to for either a second opinion or to conduct the work. Both the companies are perfectly reputable and I know the sub-contractor well enough to ask him about the disk and he confirmed that it was a non-recovery.

The owner of the HDD is clearly desperate for the data to be recovered, and I get reports from the owner's conduit with words of "money is no object." I made it quite clear using such words in front of some data recovery companies is not a good idea!

I've only ever seen one HDD in with a platter misalignment. It was a Seagate 7200.11 which had taken such a physical shock that the spindle had actually snapped in two and the platters did rotate independently. In conjunction with another DR company a contact at Seagate was made who offered a £600-700 diagnosis/inspection fee and on successful recovery a fee of approximately £3000. Personally I have no reason to expect that the data will be recoverable, however from what I hear the owner is in a desperate state about the situation and will follow any glimmer of hope. I am rather concerned that he will follow any lead and will end up financially worse off with no data to show for it.

Any suggestions?
All the best,
John

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CDR - Manchester Data Recovery Services
0161 408 4857
http://www.cheadledatarecovery.co.uk/

How were the platters misaligned? You mention that on inspection the heads are parked on the middle of platters (not on ramp). How did they/you come to conclusion that there is a platter misalignment?
From what you describe this could be a simple stiction problem and drive could be perfectly recoverable.

The Seagate story makes sense, spindle was broken and platters were spinning independantly so there was misalignment, that makes sense. What about that AAKS?

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http://www.northwind.gr
SandForce SSD Recovery
Ransomware Reverse Engineering - NoMoreRansom! partners

I'm with Northwind here, if heads are parked on platters (in a stiction sense) then how was it established that the motor is seized, and that the platters are misaligned?

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Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily.
Data Recovery Cape Town

The diagnosis of "misaligned platters" is allegedly what Data Recovery Company 'A' told the customer. They did not give a quotation or make any charges to the customer. I have not spoken to this company directly. Data Recovery Company 'A' sent it to Data Recovery Company 'B' who just mentioned to me that the disk was not recoverable and that the motor itself was seized (as opposed to stiction). I know that Data Recovery Company B has plenty of experience of successfully recovering HDDs with stiction and other faults associated with heads & the spindle motor.

It could of course be a case of 'Chinese Whispers' where the information I have been given has gradually become less accurate as each person relays the story. However, if at this stage that we assume (rightly or wrongly) that in this WD5000AAKS the motor has seized and potentially the platters are misaligned is there anything that can be done?

From my examination I would agree that the motor itself is definitely seized, which of course is rare in WD HDDs. I am not able to accurately confirm or provide evidence to suggest that the platters have become misaligned.

So if platters are now out of alignment, it would suggest that either Company 'A' or 'B' MUST have attempted a repair and removed the platters. If this happened that (possibly) mis-alignment is caused by an error in the attempted repairs.

Otherwise, I'd say its nothing more than an attempt to justify a failed recovery.

Did you try PCimage? Im sure he could handle this

Yes, from what I can gather Data Recovery Company 'A' did not give the customer as full an explanation as perhaps would have been useful regarding the non-recovery. From what I was told the HDD was just sent back having been opened without having been given a quote first with no other information than that the platters had been misaligned and it was not recoverable. Again the accuracy of what I have been might not be as good as it could be.

I'll phone through to PCimage and see what he thinks.

Thanks for all of your input on this.

Originally, when the drive failed, what did the customer think happen that caused the failure?
Did the customer run any simple test?
Did he hear any sounds?

Answers to these questions may give clues into foreseeing what the company "A" may have attempted to recover the data.

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Hard Disk Drive (HDD), Solid State Drive (SSD, SATA, NVMe, etc), USB Flash Drive and RAID Data Recovery Specialist in Massachusetts

Agreed, there are a few too many links in this chain and a lot of information that I am missing and as I don't have access to the actual owner of the disk I can't quiz them over the possible cause of the failure.

This morning I've spoken to PCImage who has every confidence in Data Recovery Company 'B' but less in Company 'A'. After that I had a second chat with Company 'B' and found out a little more about the drive. It sounds as if the disk has actually been worked on extensively, and then considered a non-recovery.

I've finally been able to quiz the owner of the disk about how it failed. It will come to no surprise to anyone here to find out that this disk took a physical shock. It was from a My Book unit and toppled from the vertical to the horizontal position whilst turned on.

Also just in case anyone wondered whom company 'A' and 'B' are, that I think should be private and I think it would be unfair to disclose this. Your curiosity is of course quite natural, I certainly would be

That and this: ...but less [confidence] in Company 'A' = misalignment

Of course company "B" could not do it. Waste of time...

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Hard Disk Drive (HDD), Solid State Drive (SSD, SATA, NVMe, etc), USB Flash Drive and RAID Data Recovery Specialist in Massachusetts

So it seems so far that this case is simply a broken spindle. Should be easily repaired by a decent outfit. If it was not repaired by 2 outfits, either they are not so competent or have "misaligned the platters" through an inability to do the job right.

Being a public forum, where consumers will visit to get recommendations for DR firms, is it not fair that the companies are named?

If a company is unable to recover a failed media because it has some irreparable fault, this is unavoidable and unfortunately it happens. If a company is unable to recover it because the job is bigger than them then fair is for the consumers to be aware of this.

If it was my entire collection of photos I lost and I came here looking for a reputable company to help me, what is to stop me sending to Company 'A' who probably botched the job before Company 'B' even got a look in.

Im not even sure platter mis-alignment is a massive issue on this model...

To me it feels like 95% of the time consumers come to this forum for free DIY info. Experienced members' suggestions to use a professional company is interpreted like plague.

It is the customer's job to do proper research about where they send the drive in. On the flip side, I agree with you, a co. should exercise an ethical approach in understanding its limits and if can't handle certain aspects of a recovery, then they should say "sorry, we do not support this particular type of recovery" and decline the job. BUT, again, experience has taught me that customers frequently prefer to research what service is cheaper and sadly NOT which is better and quality oriented, thus leaving room for botched jobs.

Nothing, except maybe a little more research on the the suggestions that have been made. Naturally, nobody will recommend anybody who could not handle the job.

So, I hope this thread will help some inexperienced people in need of data recovery who will think twice about who they are sending their media to.

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Hard Disk Drive (HDD), Solid State Drive (SSD, SATA, NVMe, etc), USB Flash Drive and RAID Data Recovery Specialist in Massachusetts

@cheadledatarecovery
What is the full model and date of this drive?
I will look in stock for a working compatible drive to yours and misalign/unsync the platters on purpose just to see the affect.

Thanks

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Hard Disk Drive (HDD), Solid State Drive (SSD, SATA, NVMe, etc), USB Flash Drive and RAID Data Recovery Specialist in Massachusetts

Something does not add up. If recovery had been attempted by 2 other companies then why are the heads on the platter? How did the platters become misaligned just by a short fall?

I feel a little sorry for the client as he has now sent his disk to 3 companies which may not have the knowledge and skills they portray.