Risks of swapping internal HDD components for DIY recovery?

[k.korsch]

My Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200 has just died -- at startup it
clicks a few times then fails and is not detected in BIOS.

Since I have another working WD3200 drive and the data on the damaged
drive is worth something to me (NOT enough to spend on commercial data
recovery), I tried swapping logic boards. Unfortunately this did not
solve the problem. I then opened up the damaged drive and found a
small scratch on the first (top) of the three platters and what appears
to be damage to the first (top) of the three 'needles' which read the
platters.

I am now trying to decide whether to try replacing the damaged 'needle'
with the needle from my working WD3200. I have figured out how to do
this but I was hoping someone could tell me:

(1) what are the chances of this leading to a successful data recovery
from the damaged drive?
and
(2) what are the chances of my contaminating the platters of the good
drive or damaging its 'needle' such that I could ruin the good drive?

 

[Rod Speed]

(e-mail address removed) wrote

My Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200 has just died -- at startup
it clicks a few times then fails and is not detected in BIOS.

Since I have another working WD3200 drive and the data on the damaged
drive is worth something to me (NOT enough to spend on commercial data
recovery), I tried swapping logic boards. Unfortunately this did not
solve the problem. I then opened up the damaged drive and found a
small scratch on the first (top) of the three platters and what
appears to be damage to the first (top) of the three 'needles' which
read the platters.

Those are the heads.

I am now trying to decide whether to try replacing the damaged
'needle' with the needle from my working WD3200. I have figured
out how to do this but I was hoping someone could tell me:

(1) what are the chances of this leading to a successful
data recovery from the damaged drive?

Very very unlikely to be successful.

and (2) what are the chances of my contaminating the platters of the
good drive or damaging its 'needle' such that I could ruin the good
drive?

Very high.

 

[J. Clarke]

My Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200 has just died -- at startup it
clicks a few times then fails and is not detected in BIOS.

Since I have another working WD3200 drive and the data on the damaged
drive is worth something to me (NOT enough to spend on commercial data
recovery), I tried swapping logic boards. Unfortunately this did not
solve the problem. I then opened up the damaged drive and found a
small scratch on the first (top) of the three platters and what appears
to be damage to the first (top) of the three 'needles' which read the
platters.

I am now trying to decide whether to try replacing the damaged 'needle'
with the needle from my working WD3200. I have figured out how to do
this but I was hoping someone could tell me:

(1) what are the chances of this leading to a successful data recovery
from the damaged drive?

Slim to none.

and
(2) what are the chances of my contaminating the platters of the good
drive or damaging its 'needle' such that I could ruin the good drive?

Very high. If there is a physical scratch in the drive then when the head
moves over that scratch it's going to damage the head regardless.

Consider _any_ drive that you open to be a dead drive. Even if it runs for
a while afterward it is on borrowed time.

 

[Arno Wagner]

My Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200 has just died -- at startup it
clicks a few times then fails and is not detected in BIOS.

Since I have another working WD3200 drive and the data on the damaged
drive is worth something to me (NOT enough to spend on commercial data
recovery), I tried swapping logic boards. Unfortunately this did not
solve the problem. I then opened up the damaged drive and found a
small scratch on the first (top) of the three platters and what appears
to be damage to the first (top) of the three 'needles' which read the
platters.

I am now trying to decide whether to try replacing the damaged 'needle'
with the needle from my working WD3200. I have figured out how to do
this but I was hoping someone could tell me:

(1) what are the chances of this leading to a successful data recovery
from the damaged drive?

Essentially none.

and
(2) what are the chances of my contaminating the platters of the good
drive or damaging its 'needle' such that I could ruin the good drive?

The chances of you not damaging the good drive are also
essentially none.

Arno