Hard drive "recessitation"

[vidman3117]

I have an old hard drive I am trying to recover the data off it, and it is clicking, clicking, and not recognized in my computer(used to be as a slave) I heard that sometimes you put the hd in the freezer for awhile, and it may recover it. Is that crazy?? If not can someone tell me how long do I leave it(I imagine you seal it in a zip lock bag before you put it in)and when you take it out, do you let it come up to temp, then take it out of the bag, or do you put it in your computer frozen?? It did work for awhile, when I let it sit for 3 or 4 days, then, as it heated up, it began faltering and clicking.I know you folks will have a good fix for me, as you always do.
Regards,
Vidman

 

[trollacious]

That often works if the problem is that the hard drive overheats, and you just need to leave it in there until it's icy (an hour or so should do it). If the heads are sticking, chilling it might help, too, by getting the metal to contract away from the point where it's stuck. If it's clicking, though, the controller might be shot, and chilling may not be effective. When I've frozen a hard drive (done a few effectively that way, and a few that were dead for other reasons), I've put it in a ziploc bag to keep it dry, then put it in the computer ice cold and started it up immediately.

For future reference, you might consider adding a backup hard drive to your computer and then write a script to copy all your important things that have been updated to it on a regular basis. That way, if one hard drive goes, you at least have the things that would be the most difficult to replace.

Lee

 

[vidman3117]

LEE,
Thanks for the info, I will try it. And YES, I will put a backup drive in that computer, as, currently it is only used for emails. I think it is the controller, but this hard drive had been sitting for a month unhooked, I then hooked it up, and it reluctantly started to give me its information slowly, then after about an hour, it gave up.
Thanks again for the info.
If anyone else has a better suggestion to recover, I am all ears!
Regards,
Vidman

 

[garebo]

If you are going to put it in the freezer, which sometimes does work, then, as you said, put it in a baggie. First i put tinfoil around it to keep out moisture, then put it in a ziplock baggie, then i leave it overnight. Before putting it in the freezer, make sure its jumpered as slave.
I get my computer ready to go, that is, have the ide cable that i want to put the frozen drive in ready to go.
Take the drive out of freezer and put it on the ide cable and fire up your computer. If it works, you have until it warms up too much to get your data off the drive. You can do this trick, if it works the first time, another time or 2 and then it wont work anymore. I have had it work, but it doesnt often work, just once in a while, thats my experience.
Good luck.



Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[vidman3117]

Thanks, garebo, for more detail. Much appreciated.
Regards,
Vidman