Often when a person or a business loses their data, they become frantic and turn into Mr. Hide (well sort of.) There are many data recovery myths out there that are just plain silly, however the number of people that do them and find out the hard way is staggering. In this article we will discuss how not to attempt to recover data from a bad or hard drive going bad.
Myth #1: Smack or Hit It Will Come Around:Yikes! Being that the hard drive arm head is just barely hovering over the platter to begin with, banging or tapping it could cause it to crash into the platter and begin to literally turn data into dust, making it totally irrecoverable. Please don't tap on hard drives when it is clicking or not reading. If you want your data back send it to a professional (see bottom of page.)
Myth #2: I Dropped it Once and it Broke, Maybe if I Drop it Again, it Will Fix it.Similar to that of the hitting the drive, this will definitely make matters worse. Don't do this, unless you intend to use it as a hockey puck and don't really care about the data on it.
Myth #3: Freezing, Heating, and Updating Firmware:Freezing the drive sometimes works in certain circumstances, however it is a serious (huge) risk. This will not work if the drive is grinding or squealing, I will say just that only. As for heating, this is no good, because it will only further damage the circuits and allow for even more friction if there is any physical grinding, squealing, etc. Lastly, while updating firmware can be good for working devices, when a hard drive is dead, it is dead. Firmware doesn't shock it back to life or give it "cold medicine." If you are thinking of doing any of the above on a dead hard drive, realize that you will likely cause more harm (or totally kill it) than good.
Myth #4: Class 100 Room at Home?While this could be installed in your home (with tons of $$$), don't believe for a minute that thinking your house is clean of dust and humidity that it really is. Opening a hard drive outside of a clean room will expose the platter to many particles including the ones you can't see. Let the professionals that have these type of rooms open your hard drive, unless of course you plan on making wind chimes out of the platters and using the magnet on your refrigerator.
Myth #5: Replacing the Circuit Board.This may work, may not, but of course your going to destroy a perfectly good working identical drive in attempting to do so. If you fail, you are out that much more money. Also, this will only work if the problem is in the board's controller or firmware only. Being very careful when trying this method is a must, however is still not recommended.
Myth #6: Data Recovery Software.Using data recovery software isn't a bad idea for as long as the problem is strictly software (logical) related such as a virus hit or operating system crash. Never use data recovery software when a drive is mechanically malfunctioning, never! If you do, you will only continue to destroy your data and not help it at all. It will be the nail in the coffin for your data.
Myth #7: Swapping the Platter or Repairing the Drive.Simple, Just don't do it. The same applies here as the concept of creating a Class 100 clean room. It just cannot be done without being the manufacturer or having very special tools and equipment (did I say expensive too?)
In conclusion, repairing a hard drive or data recovery should be left up-to the professionals that have all the tools, training, and utter know how. Hard drives are precision mechanical devices and need to be treated as such. If you have a bad drive and really want you data back, be sure to check Drive Savers. If you call them, don't forget to mention the code below to receive a nice discount on the recovery process. If your an educational facility, they give even greater discounts for data recovery.
Data Recovery Myths and Fixes that Just Do Not Work!
