Ok here goes a long one! I have a Western Digital model 1200BB-00DAA3 Cavier HDD. This HDD came from an external EZQuest enclosure. I used to use it on my laptop via firewire. About some time ago, the HDD stopped being reconized on my laptop. At first I thought it was just the port on the crappy Dell that was the culprit. I recently obtained a IDE to USB adapter and ran it o my new desktop. The drive gets detected as a Generic Void Disk Drive. WHAT!!!!!!!!!!????????? I have ran many recovery utilities, all returning nothing because of read errors on every sector. So I go to WD website and get Data tools. Now the funky part, the program says the HDD is a 2TB drive?!? So I do a low level format with the utility and it still shows that the partition table is unreadable and that the disk is unknown. I have also tried runing a series of diagnostic tools, and it stops at the cable test section. Is it possible that the board may just need to be replaced or do you all think the HDD is toally dead? I had about 5 years worth of family pictures on it hat I did not get printed

PS: I have asked around about recovery specialists, but all replies stated that I will more than likely pay a hefty fee and get nothing in return! What do you think?

Is this a joke?

You tried to low level format a drive with 5 years of family photos on it?

If it's not a joke, then you need pro help with this drive. Most decent firms will offer a no-fix no-fee.

_________________
PC Image Data Recovery
http://www.pcimage.co.uk

New!! HDD-PCB.COM for all your PCB and donor HDD requirements!

Twinreaper your well on your way to becomming a professional data destroyer...congradulations!

_________________
Buy your friends Toshiba\Hitachi and your enemies Seagate.

I know what I am doing. A low level format will still leave the ghost data in tact. It's not as if I wrote all zeros to the disk. Actually, I don't believe the format took, seing as how I did a low level NTFS format, and all programs still report hat the HDD id FAT12. I believe the HDD's board is shot, which means finding another WD 120gig Cavier board somewhere.

FAT12!!!!! WTF

_________________
Buy your friends Toshiba\Hitachi and your enemies Seagate.

Yeah exactly. And to make maters worse, some of the recovery apps I used, reported that the Drive is in an "Unready" or "Not initialized" state. I'm not all that familiar with replacing a HDD's board. Does it have to come from another 120gig WD drive, or will a similar looking WD board do the trick?

What is a point of asking questions?

_________________
www.datarecoveryne.com

If the drive spins up OK, sounds OK and not clicking, then it's pretty unlikely to be the PCB.

_________________
PC Image Data Recovery
http://www.pcimage.co.uk

New!! HDD-PCB.COM for all your PCB and donor HDD requirements!

I meant in terms of running format and partition utlilities. I really wanted to know if you guys here have ever experienced anything like this and have any experience replacing HD boards.

From what I can tell, there is no spinning at all. It sounds nothing like the WD that I have in my desktop. Perhaps then it is the PCB? After all, WD tools tells me that the cable test fails, and that I need to check that all cables are connected.

If it's not spinning at all then yes, it could be the PCB.

_________________
PC Image Data Recovery
http://www.pcimage.co.uk

New!! HDD-PCB.COM for all your PCB and donor HDD requirements!

Make up your mind : does it spin or not ? If doesn't spin, how did the format go ?

From what I can tell, from sound and touch comparision on working HDD, there is no activity at all. The format says no amount of MB or sectors before format. PCB issue maybe as staed by pcimage?

Ok, so do I need to use another WD 120gig PCB or will any WD PCB work? Replacing this is uncharted for me, but how complicated can it be? Four star screws, lift out, put new one in, screw back, right?

There is a topic on this site describing WDC PCB replacements, just search for it.
BTW I would not be so confident about LLF not writing zeroes on the drive u run it on...
So it is quite a fortune the drive has more severe problems ,

pepe

_________________
Adatmentés - Data recovery

btw whats a "NTFS low level format" ??

_________________
PC Image Data Recovery
http://www.pcimage.co.uk

New!! HDD-PCB.COM for all your PCB and donor HDD requirements!

There is a lot of fun here

" Proud to be american" stuff...

This sounds like someone is joking here but, if you are serious about getting your data back.
Send it in to a DR Pro and get a diagnostic before you kill your drive or say Good-Bye to your family photos!!!

Sounds like a troll to me.

_________________
You don't have to backup all of your files, just the ones you want to keep.

Awesome!

Probably the meaning of "low level format" was to tell the drive quietly "ssshhh!! foooormat !!! don't tell anyone !" just like having low volume level. If you want a more thorough cleanup of the surface, then issue "FORMAT" in block letter , without exclamation mark. This will maybe do something different to data.

Experience of replacing HD boards? Whassat? Never come across it in my life. Anyone here have experience of this?

Way over my head....