Upon opening the hard drive in a clean room environment we noticed the o-ring shape scrapes on the platter. After removing the heads we discovered that head number 4 was damaged and covered in magnetic dust from the scratched platter.

You can check the filter of the hard drive for particles; if the damage is severe then the filter will look very dirty. If the damage is not that severe then the filter will not disclose the damage unless it is observed under a microscope.

In this case we were able to forego checking the filter because the damage was very obvious. The o-ring was on the second platter the upper side.
Given the poor condition of the hard drive we decided that the best chance of recovering data would be to remove the bad head and replace it from a donor drive. The challenge was to do this and minimize the damage to the second platter while preventing the head from getting damaged when we had to read the data from the first platter.
Our solution was to read the data from this hard drive starting with the first two heads, while disabling heads three and four. There was still the question of what might happen when the active heads reached the damaged area from the second platter, even if we didn’t want to read the sectors from that area yet.
We marked the platters, removed the damaged platter and replaced it with a platter from the donor drive. (Some of the experts are shaking their heads.) Remember, it was the second platter we replaced, the firmware was on the first platter and to read that area we needed that head number one and first platter to be ok, which it was. After removing the second platter and installing a donor platter we were pleasantly surprised that the hard drive was able to calibrate without any modification to the firmware. We did have to tell our utility to read only with head numbers one and two; this worked without a problem. In the end we only had about 24 bad sectors.

After the initial operation we proceeded to re-install the second (damaged) platter; which had been replaced with the donor platter. This time we limited the utility to use head number 3 and read only the third surface. We heard some occasional knocking coming from the drive, but it was read with success.
Next came the final step: reading the data from the fourth platter in spite of the damage to it. The key element to successful retrieval in this instance was to minimize the reading done to the drive. We requested our utility to create a map of all folders and files; if one particular file fell within the damaged area we would skip it in order to prevent damage to the heads or to the platters.
At the end of this step we were able to recover more than 98% of the total data stored to this hard drive, leading to recovery of about 34,000 picture, video and document files. The customer was extremely happy; he was convinced that the data would never be recoverable. Thankfully, it did not turn out that way.
Disclosure: this article is for reference only. The name of some tools and also some of the important steps are maintained confidential.
If the data is critical, send it to the experts www.emandatarecovery.com phone: (425) 347-3732.
Many thanks to our Partner, who recommended the customer to our shop.
We pay a 10% spiff to you for any recommendation of our service to any of your customers.
If you want to become a partner please visit our site and click on the Partner tab.
Copyright: E-man Data Recovery LLC

www.data-recovery-seattle.com

I have received a Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST3200827AS hard disk for the purpose of recovering same important files. The client said that he turned off the computer as always but couldn’t start Windows the next morning. Working on this job made me think how crucial it is to have the right tools to successfully recover this data.

After connecting HDD to the diagnostic terminal I have seen the following:
4096k x 16 SDRAM
F>
F>/load app code/
Buzz – Head Mask FFFF – Switch to full int.
Spin Ready
F>/start app code/
3.AAE 12-09-05 11:29 AAE,35_S_5_S1,3A
T>/load adaptives /
$Head Mask FFFF – Head Mask FFFF – Head Mask FFFF -

The problems are related to one of the back heads. The hermetical zone’s opening has shown that there were no defects on the platter’s visible areas and the filter is clean. It seems that you should take a donor disk and change the heads assembly. But then you would be surprised to find that the disk still doesn’t work.

Seagate HDD failure
Hermetical= (protected from or preventing any outside interference or influence)
Platters = the recording surface of a hard disk

Some people don’t use the wonder of engineering – the microscope. As for me, my rule of thumb is always: after taking the heads assembly off the client’s disk, study them carefully under the microscope. Maybe you will learn something new.  Dissemble the head assembly, observe it in this picture. The reason for the failure is found.

Dusty head of Seagate HDD

I have added the photo of the working system had for those people who have never seen a healthy head that is used for reading and writing.

Correct head of Seagate HDD

Under the microscope you will notice immediately: that the head has particles of metal dust. It is obvious that the metal dust is an evidence of the incipient damage on one of obscured platters.
In this case the second platter is damaged beyond repair for the price range the customer is willing to pay for 90% of the data to be recovered. What will happen if a new head assembly is set in such a disk? Most likely heads will be covered by dust, damaged and continue scratching the platters.

What should you do in this case? Dismantle the package ( use specialized tools for taking the platters out), estimate the  location of the scratch and make a decision about further actions.

You may decide that you will read most of the sectors after disabling that head or avoid reading from the damaged area. This type of reading is possible only with specialized hardware and software tool in tandem.   For many people it is surprising but in this occurrence you can use the native heads. Before using them you should clean off the dust and particles under the microscope .

If any so-called professional advises you to take a scrap of paper with a drip of alcohol and start poking between heads, know that this uncivilized method is outadated and should never be used by a high rank specialist in data recovery. It will drastically decrease your chances of full recovery of data.

Tool for cleaning head on HDD

You should use this useful tool, a brush and the process is to be controlled by microscope.

This article was written and edited by Data Recovery Specialist Makarov Artem, and Data Recovery Expert Emanuel Popa,
Copyright: E-man Data Recovery LLC
Any copy of the contents of this article need to be referenced by a direct link to the source.

Computer-virus infections don’t cause your hard drive to crash anymore. Though we have seen same rare cases of data corruption and encryption due to same viruses  .Nowadays, the criminals behind the infections usually want your computer operating in top form so you don’t know something’s wrong. That way, they can log your keystrokes and steal any passwords or credit-card numbers you enter at Web sites, or they can link your infected computer with others to send out spam.
Here are some signs your computer is infected, tapped to serve as part of “botnet” armies run by criminals:
• You experience new, prolonged slowdowns. This can be a sign that a malicious program is running in the background.
• You continually get pop-up ads that you can’t make go away. This is a sure sign you have “adware,” and possibly more, on your machine.
• You’re being directed to sites you didn’t intend to visit, or your search results are coming back funky. This is another sign that hackers have gotten to your machine.
So what do you do?
• Having anti-virus software here is hugely helpful. For one, it can identify known malicious programs and disable them. If the virus that has infected your machine isn’t detected, many anti-virus vendors offer a service in which they can remotely take over your computer and delete the malware for a fee.
• E-man data recovery also offers a virus removal service for a fee remotely, in the shop or at your location .
• You may have to reinstall your operating system if your computer is still experiencing problems. It’s a good idea even if you believe you’ve cleaned up the mess because malware can still be hidden on your machine. You will need to back up your files before you do this.
How do I know what information has been taken?
• It’s very hard to tell what’s been taken. Not every infection steals your data. Some just serve unwanted ads. Others poison your search result or steer you to Web sites you don’t want to see. Others log your every keystroke. The anti-virus vendors have extensive databases about what the known infections do and don’t do. Comparing the results from your virus scans to those entries will give you a good idea about what criminals may have snatched up.

One of the most frequent problems of modern hard drives is spindle engine shaft jamming. There are especially many Seagate hard discs, so popular in the United States that come to my lab for data recovery because of this failure.
This particular case is about a Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320820AS 320 GB SATA drive from which the customer needed only a quick books database recovered, of about 97Mb in size.

When you power on the Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320820AS HDD or Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3100524AS it starts to buzz in the hermetical zone and it is not recognized by BIOS. A problem like this can be the result of a mechanical failure in the hard drive (a strike, a fall etc.) or a factory defect of the hard drive.

The bearing seizing is often aggravated by the burned-out chip, as it tries to accelerate the motor and causes an overload resulting in temperature rise and chip failure. Replacement of the printed circuit board from a serviceable drive in this case may result in another burned-out chip.

A donor disc is needed for data recovery to install platters of the defective HDD into its hermetical zone. The operation is complicated as it demands posterior plate centering because any shaft micro shift can interfere with the heads being correctly positioned on the servo marking.

HDD hermetical zone with the spindle engine shaft jamming

In 30% of the cases we are able to use one of our prototype tools that we designed especially for this particular Seagate model. We also have for sale different tools for different models of hard drives for $349 per tool (patent  pending).

In about 70% of the cases we have to remove the platters, magnets, heads and logical board from a donor hard drive to a patient hard drive. Be aware that this operation has to be done in a clean room environment (class 100) and the process is very delicate due to the fact that the alignment between the platters must be maintained.
The heads can never touch each other (head slap). The use of a head removal tool is absolutely recommended to maintain the distance between the heads.
Also you need a special tool that is able to read the bad sectors because most likely you will have a large number of bad sectors (pc 000 Udma – data recovery experts know what I am talking about ☺)
Be careful at the spacers between the platters; you don’t want to cause any additional damage to the platters.
Make sure that the donor hard drive is compatible with the patient, otherwise the transplant will not be successful.  First attempt is your best chance, you don’t want to keep trying with  different donors.

Good luck in your attempt (don’t try this at home) unless the data is not important.
Disclosure: this article is for reference only. The name of some tools and also some of the important steps are maintained confidential.
If the data is critical, send it to the experts www.emandatarecovery.com phone: (425) 347-3732.
In this particular case the data was successfully recovered for the price of $500.
Many thanks to our partner who recommended the customer to our shop.
We pay a 10% spiff to you for any recommendation of our service to any of your customer.
If you want to become a partner please visit our site and click on the Partner tab.
Copyright: Eman Data Recovery LLC
We also recover data from:
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3100524AS
Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 ST380819AS
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3400320AS
Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 ST3160023AS
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3750330AS
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST380815AS
Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST3160812A
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3640623AS
Seagate Barracuda ES ST3750640NS
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3500630AS
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500620AS
Data recovery Seattle Wa.