I'm new to hard drive recovery, and I would like to try to do this myself. I think it would be a valuable skill to learn.

Here is the details of the failed drive.
Seagate
Barracuda 7200.9
ST3250824AS
P/N 9BD133-620
Firmware 3.AHH
Date Code 06412

Symptoms: About 6 months ago, I turned the PC on and got a "No OS found" message.
I checked all connections, tried again.
No OS found.
I've researched the problem and have discovered this much.
There is no obstruction between the connectors and cables.
There is no obstruction between the PCB and the hard drive casing.
I have not opened the hard drive casing.
There is no scraping or clicking noise.
The hard drive does give off the typical hard drive hum when powered.
I can feel the drive spin up.
The drive shows up about 1 time in 20 in BIOS, but I can't do anything with it because by the next time I reboot to any utility software, it doesn't show up.
When it does show up in BIOS, there is no pattern or reasoning for it.
I would love to recover the data from this device (it has most of my pictures of my little boy's first year on it), but I've already convinced myself I've lost it.

My questions:
What should I try?
Should I open the drive?
Do you think a PCB swap would work?
Does anyone have a PCB I could swap with temporarily ? (sort of like a PCB exchange program, I would pay shipping both ways of course.)

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me?

You should contact directly to professional

_________________
__________
There is no substitute for education and experience
THANK YOU
SHAHI
shahi.mahbub@gmail.com

Dear friend,



sure, it is a valuable skill, but it is not something that can be learned over night. Data recovery is dificult and will take years to master. It's not a quick skill that you can pick up on the fly!


AS to your drive:

Please don't open the drive as you will create further damage. Best thing is to send it to a professional if you really want your data back. Otherwise you will risk destroying your data.

Granted. I've talked to a couple of d/r companies, and the cheapest I've found is $1900 for a "we might can get some of it back".

I've already written the data off as lost. Most of it is backed up in archives or online storage. This is really a matter of "can I do it" at this point. When I made the decision that I wanted to try to recover this thing, I also made the decision that the hard drive (for all practical purposes) is gone. I have no real expectation to, nor do I have any "critical" data to recover. This is however, if the skill takes a long time to master, the perfect starting point for me in my opinion. Given these parameters, what do you suggest?

What the hell... If it's recognized in BIOS 1 in 20 times, maybe you'll be able to access the data 1 in 20 times. To make life easier, maybe a SATA-USB adapter might have some better luck. As you have nothing to lose, perhaps 'fiddling' with it might yield results. Not terribly scientific, but whatever works.. In general, don't leave it on any longer than you need to. Keep it cool. Don't open the drive. Also, be ready with storage if you get it recognized. You might also try accessing it under a Knoppix bootable CD. Also, if you're not having good results reading the files in Windows, or if you want to do things safer, image the drive in a DOS environment instead of picking files off in Windows. Then, you can get the files off the image. It's a step most newbies looking for a quick fix skip, but if you want to increase your odds, you should consider it.

Also, be aware that during all this fiddling, the drive will likely die for good. Be fast, and be lucky.

Final disclaimer.... If, in 20 years, you don't want to explain to your son how you lost most of his baby pictures, you should seek a professional before you screw things up. I don't know where you're located, but I suspect you can find someone cheaper.

It's not like I don't have pictures of him. My wife is a professional photographer. Granted, it does contain 75% of his pictures for about a 6 month span of his life (that's how short this drive lived) but still, 25% of a CRAPLOAD is still a lot of pictures. I have at least 500 pictures of him during that time period that were backed up to iDrive, myspace, photobucket, picasa, etc...

Prior to any estimates given, DR company will have to do careful diagnostics.
Without diagnostics, you will be guessing on a problem.

Reminds me of a joke.

There is a guy in a hospital to have one his legs amputated, because of gangrene. After the operation, doctor come in and says " Sir we have some news for you, one is bad and another is good. Bad news is that we accidently amputated your good leg, but the good news is that we can save your other leg"

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www.datarecoveryne.com

Data recovery from your drive could cost as low as $200-$400, but you will never know unless some one will diagnose an exact problem.

_________________
www.datarecoveryne.com

agree. exact diagnose will specify the exact pricing.

_________________
__________
There is no substitute for education and experience
THANK YOU
SHAHI
shahi.mahbub@gmail.com

I think he is more interested in learing data recovery, then sending the drive in and get the data.


The thing is, not only will you have to invest allot of time but also alot of money.