The Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 drive is a perfect suit for securely storing data on your computer. There is enough space on the drive to store photos, videos, music, and other personal files.
The advantages of the drive do not exclude the failure that can happen. The most challenging part of this type of hard drive is its faulty motor parts. The failed motor of the hard drive can lead to damage to the platter surface and read/write heads which is one of the most complex failures to fix. A hard drive with failed motor often is fixed by replacing it with the donor drive.
Recently, we received a case with a failed Barracuda 7200.11, from which we successfully restored lost data. Below you can read about how we did it.
Seagate Hard Drive Evaluation
The client requested a technical inspection for his Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 and sent the device to our recovery lab. As soon as we accepted the device at our facility, we started its detailed assessment. The evaluation of failed hard drives is performed in our ISO Certified Class 10 Cleanroom. Working in a controlled environment ensures that no damage is done to the device or the files.
When inspecting the failed Seagate drive, our technicians discovered that the device was opened previously.
Usually, the appliances repaired or opened before become the most complicated cases. In this situation, the client described it as an attempt to find out where the unusual sounds come from. First, our data recovery engineers tried to turn off the heads. To do this, they unscrewed the board.
Repairing Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 and 7200.12 HDDs usually involves fixing such problems as damage to the translator, damage to the control utility firmware, the appearance of unreadable sectors, and damage to the disk controller.
Recovery of hard drives HDD Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 and 7200.11 in case of complex failures, such as damage to magnetic heads or motor wedge, is usually performed only for data recovery.
In this case, a donor disk is usually required. This is a similar new HDD, from which spare parts will be taken and rearranged to a faulty drive. In the client’s case, the motor wedge was not operating as it should be. It meant that the data recovery was possible via a donor hard drive.
After the evaluation was finished, we discussed all service options with the customer and received approval for the continuing recovery process.
How the Recovery Process Went
Engineers of PITS Global Recovery Services decided to go off with the donor operation. After taking a working motor from the exact Seagate Barracuda 7200.11, it was replaced on the client’s drive.
Generally, before the motor replacement operation, the original read/write heads need to be thoroughly examined first with bare eyes and after under a microscope.
This way, it is likely to locate any damages and microscopic contaminations.
If conditions allow, using the initial heads is always a good option. Especially when it is hard to find the exact-matching donor parts or when they are expensive to acquire. In this case, we reviewed read/write heads from point to point and estimated that motor malfunction did not damage the disks.
Results of Recovery Process
Our specialists successfully performed the process, recovering most of the lost files. The client mentioned that on the hard drive were some projects he had been working on for months, and they were allocated as a high priority. We were able to restore all of these projects and 95% of other files.
If you have the same failure scenario, call PITS Global Data Recovery Services at (888) 611-0737 to request our professional help. Or fill in a Request Help form to start the case right away.