Last Updated or created 2025-10-20

DISCLAIMER: Do this at own risk, I’m not responsible for loss of data!

Today is the second time I fixed a dead hard disk.

A few years ago, I fixed one containing a university assignment.
It took a while, but I managed to get it running long enough to make a backup of the data.

Today, a friend asked me to get the data from a drive containing family pictures.

Below the way I did this.

First thing to try: See if PCB has contact problems.
Unscrew pcb and clean contacts with ISOPropanol.
See red arrows.

If this fails, the head can be stuck.
Do below, but be carefull.

Use a Sata Adaptor so you can move the harddisk around.

Try to figure out which way the actuator arm is pointing. (Thingy with the read sensor)

Do below while powered up.
Point the hard disk with this arm upward. And let it fall vertically on the desk. (Perfectly vertical! Else you may risk head clashing against platters)

When you have a smaller hard disk you can tap the side.

In both cases I managed to get most data from these drives!