This hard drive was in my laptop when it fell off a foot stool while the head was moving. Pretty sure the heads are bent. They move toward the platter but don't read the platter. I've read a fair amount about swapping heads to try to recover the info on the drive. I believe its a twin platter. Can anyone point me to the right head alignment tool?

My plans are to find the same model HD and swap the heads and cross my fingers.

Any words of wisdom are always appreciated.

Thanks!

https://apextoollab.com/slim_new_version/ss2_2.html

Good luck, DIY on a Rosewood drive your gonna need it!

You need heads with the same preamp so finding the same model is not enough. If heads are bent, DON'T plug the drive.
BTW. you've read a fair amount about swapping and you're ready to do it?
If there's important data, don't do it by yourself.

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odzyskiwanie danych

It's data I'd like to have. Unfortunately, being retired the prices I've been quoted are beyond what I value the data at.

I'm fairly skilled in small electronics having done numerous phone repairs. With the correct comb I think its a doable job.

I know I want to find a drive with a close serial number.

Ok, buy an used drive. Any. Remove heads, put them back and see if it still works. You'll see how skilled you are for few $.
SN is useless. There are many tutorials on how to find a donor, that say first 3 letters from SN matter. But it's not 100% correct. You can buy 10 drives and still don't get the same preamp version.

Oh and one more thing. If the drive fell, platters might be damaged. It can be another thing to fail on at home. So even if you get proper heads, swap them, you can still fail.
I would still suggest to get professional help with this one. Inside or outside your country.

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odzyskiwanie danych

I appreciate your recommendation....

Can you point me in the right direction for the proper head alignment tool?

You can use heat shrink tube for that. Or HDD Surgery or Apextoollab ones. If by head alignment tool you mean a tool to remove heads. There's not much to be align there.

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odzyskiwanie danych

I've seen what is called a head alignment comb. It is designed to help protect the heads alignment when being transferred from one HD to another.

So from reading that I assume you opened the drive and powered it on while open?
My guess is that you didn't put the screw back in the head stack when you did it?
Between donors, head tools and shipping it will probably cost you $150.
Without the correct preamp, proper firmware tools and skill your chances are pretty much zero.
I would recommend you save your money.

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HDD, SSD, Flash and RAID Data Recovery
Founder of The Data Recovery Professionals Group