Repairing hard drives

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I apologize for this not-really-a-WindowsXP-question.

I need to access the contents of two storage hard drives that apparently
have working mechanics but likely defective controller boards.

I am planning to purchase similar drives (working) on eBay in order to use
their controller boards.

Is it sufficient to get a similar model number (Seagate IDE 7200.8 and
Maxtor IDE DiamondMax 16, in this case) so their controllers can be used?

Or is it necessary that I purchase drives with identical capacity besides
model number? I have received differing local advice.

TIA

Avatar
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I apologize for this not-really-a-WindowsXP-question.

I need to access the contents of two storage hard drives that apparently
have working mechanics but likely defective controller boards.

I am planning to purchase similar drives (working) on eBay in order to use
their controller boards.

Is it sufficient to get a similar model number (Seagate IDE 7200.8 and
Maxtor IDE DiamondMax 16, in this case) so their controllers can be used?

Or is it necessary that I purchase drives with identical capacity besides
model number? I have received differing local advice.

TIA

Avatar
Click to expand...

They need to be the same model and capacity. It usually doesnt matter if its a
slight firmware revision but it must be the same drive basically.
 
I apologize for this not-really-a-WindowsXP-question.

I need to access the contents of two storage hard drives that apparently
have working mechanics but likely defective controller boards.

I am planning to purchase similar drives (working) on eBay in order to use
their controller boards.

Is it sufficient to get a similar model number (Seagate IDE 7200.8 and
Maxtor IDE DiamondMax 16, in this case) so their controllers can be used?

Or is it necessary that I purchase drives with identical capacity besides
model number? I have received differing local advice.

TIA

Avatar
Click to expand...
You are also going to need to purchase some small Torx screwdrivers with the
proper head to remove the circuit board.
 
Is it sufficient to get a similar model number (Seagate IDE 7200.8 and
Maxtor IDE DiamondMax 16, in this case) so their controllers can be used?
Click to expand...

Contact Seagate and/or Maxtor - The "controllers" are likely
on your motherboard. The interface cards mounted on the
bottom of the drives contain the drive's "bad track data" which
is different (data content) for every drive.

Swapping the cards may work for a few selected files. Don't
expect to recover everything.

Good luck beating Murphy.

Ed
 
Avatar said:
I apologize for this not-really-a-WindowsXP-question.

I need to access the contents of two storage hard drives that apparently
have working mechanics but likely defective controller boards.

I am planning to purchase similar drives (working) on eBay in order to use
their controller boards.

Is it sufficient to get a similar model number (Seagate IDE 7200.8 and
Maxtor IDE DiamondMax 16, in this case) so their controllers can be used?

Or is it necessary that I purchase drives with identical capacity besides
model number? I have received differing local advice.

TIA

Avatar
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Click to expand...


Thanks for the informative responses! I much appreciate the pointers.

I already have the screwdriver required for the purpose!

Regards.

Avatar
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Avatar said:
I apologize for this not-really-a-WindowsXP-question.

I need to access the contents of two storage hard drives that apparently
have working mechanics but likely defective controller boards.

I am planning to purchase similar drives (working) on eBay in order to use
their controller boards.

Is it sufficient to get a similar model number (Seagate IDE 7200.8 and
Maxtor IDE DiamondMax 16, in this case) so their controllers can be used?

Or is it necessary that I purchase drives with identical capacity besides
model number? I have received differing local advice.

TIA

Avatar
-------
Click to expand...

How valuable is the data?

If it's actually valuable, it may be a better plan to take them to a
recovery service that has the hardware built for this purpose. All will
give estimates (usually based on the quantity of data) but since estimates
may require working on the drive, they sometimes aren't free.

HTH
-pk
 
Regarding recovering the data I've had success with Ontrack's Easy Recovery
Pro and HDD Regenerator, the latter apparently repairing 100's of bad
sectors and leaving the drive in full working order.
 
Ed said:
Contact Seagate and/or Maxtor - The "controllers" are likely
on your motherboard.
Click to expand...

In more conventional terminology, the controller for a HD has been
integrated with the HD for many years; that's the bulk of the
logic on the bottom of the HD. The MB contains the HBA (Host
Bus Adapter), which translates from an internal bus (e.g., PCI)
to an external bus (e.g., PATA/IDE or SATA), and the HD's controller
connects to that external bus. The controller controls the position
of the arm on which the R/W heads are mounted (hence the name), and
extracts data from the itty-bitty read signal (hence the magic).

The interface cards mounted on the
bottom of the drives contain the drive's "bad track data" which
is different (data content) for every drive.

Swapping the cards may work for a few selected files. Don't
expect to recover everything.

Good luck beating Murphy.
Click to expand...

I certainly agree with that.
 
Avatar said:
I apologize for this not-really-a-WindowsXP-question.
-------------------------------------
Click to expand...


The data is important - actually the intent is to get to a couple of
specific folders in both the drives - both are 300 GB, BTW.

I am also pricing out a commercial data recovery service as a possible
option, weighing in both costs as well as work required.

Thanks and regards.

Avatar
-------
 
Contact Seagate and/or Maxtor - The "controllers" are likely
on your motherboard. The interface cards mounted on the
bottom of the drives contain the drive's "bad track data" which
is different (data content) for every drive.

Swapping the cards may work for a few selected files. Don't
expect to recover everything.

Good luck beating Murphy.

Ed
Click to expand...
I have never had that issue and i have recovered over 7 drives this way.
 
By far the best software for repairing a hard drive is Spinrite
http://www.grc.com/intro.htm .

I just repaired one for a friend in which Dell had already shipped a
replacement hard drive.

Read the info on what this software can do and you will be amazed.


Avatar said:
I apologize for this not-really-a-WindowsXP-question.
-------------------------------------
Click to expand...


The data is important - actually the intent is to get to a couple of
specific folders in both the drives - both are 300 GB, BTW.

I am also pricing out a commercial data recovery service as a possible
option, weighing in both costs as well as work required.

Thanks and regards.

Avatar
-------
 
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