Hi,

I had a car accident and my notebook fell into water. It seems that HDD is damaged.
After few days I tried to connect it to another PC but it doesn't give any sings of life.

Notebook is HP Compaq 550.
The HDD is Toshiba 160GB MK1652GSX, HDD2H03 F VL01 S.

I have another notebook HP nx7300.
It has HDD which is very similar but it is FUJITSU.

What do you think ?
Is there any chance that it will work if I swap chipboards between those two disks ?

Thanks to all for helping.
The data is very important to me but I don't have money to pay professionals. It's too expensive and I can't afford it.
I also don't have time to wait replacement parts from ebay. It takes about 30-40 days to come to my country.

No, you need same P/N PCB from same Hdd.

And also you MUST transfer the ROM chip from the bad PCB to the good one. But beware, these particular chips are buggers to remove, and if you damage it it's pretty much game over!

It WILL NOT work at all without moving the chip, it contains UNIQUE information.

Check the fuse first though , show photo of chip-side of PCB.

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No that will not work. I think the sad fact is that only a Professional can help you.

So it will not be recognized by OS ?
Actually, I just want to save data with TestDisk or similar software.
After that I can get rid of it.

So,if I understand you correctly - it has to be the same manufacturer and also the chip has to be moved...

Thanks for answering..

Any professional is going to open the drive and check for water damage before ever turning it on. If there is water in the drive and you start it with a good PCB, it's game over. Don't open the drive unless you have a clean room.

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Well, the PCB board might just be stained with fluid. I doubt water would get into the drive itself. Can you take the PCB board of the drive and take an picture of both sides and the contacts of the drive then post it here. It might just need cleaning and it will work as normal afterwards.

Shane

For how long has been the drive into the water?

Seen it many times. All depends on the depth of the water and time immersed. Any professional establishment would open the drive to check for water damage before ever turning it on.

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+1

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This is of course true, but given that the OP has already stated that professional work is ruled out due to lack of funds, I'm assuming he accepts the risks

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