Thinking of buying bad Harddrives

[Amraks]

Thinking of buying some hard drives that aren't being detected by the os system or bios.

Can these be fixed?
I know you can fix it a certain way by replacing the board.

But isn't there a fuse some where that blows on them?

it would be a nice score if I can get them working.
Thanks in advanced.

[NormanSaxon86]

Re: Thinking of buying bad Harddrives

Flown fuses are not a major problem but sometimes you can scores bulk deals on HDs. I posted how to fix some below

[NormanSaxon86]

Re: Thinking of buying bad Harddrives

Broken HD

Diagnose of hard drive is a important first step in fixing. Knowing the cost of the hard drive, cost of parts and your time should be factored into the final price. You should get the hard drive no more then 20% of the total value for the finished product. This leaves profit to be made. Any changes you make could in fact cause some data loss if the platters are for the damaged.

Can you boot Linux from a 'live' CD and run the computer well? If so, this may indicate the problem is in the Hard Drive.

Fuses are not as severe as the following problems. First of all a fuse is a protective device to protect the electrical and electronic circuitry within any electrical device from over-current, causing damage especially by heating due to excessive current being drawn.

The age and quality of the fuse and the use the hard drive would be a factor on whether it blew. Every single fuse has it's own characteristics from it's manufacture, so two identical fuses made on the same day would have different specifications. Therefore one fuse could last longer than another under the same operating conditions.

You have to determine if any of the above apply. If they do not then you have to determine whether there is a fault within the hard drive. Is it noisy? This would indicate bearing wear and or dirt within, thus causing the motor to draw more current. Replace the fuse, if it does not blow immediately or soon after it should be ok. If the hard drive is noisy then think about backing up all data from it in case the hard drive does pack in totally. a fuse is designed to rupture quickly to cut off the current being drawn by the unit to prevent further damage.

First of all, replace the fuse with a new, identically rated fuse of the same type. If you have problems identifying the correct type then take it with you to an electrical/electronic supplier/wholesaler that has considerable knowledge. The coding on the end caps of the fuse usually helps in identifying it's type. There are standard cartridge fuses, quick blow fuses, anti-surge fuses, high breaking capacity (HBC) fuses, there are also HRC fuses (high rupturing capacity). The correct fuse must be fitted although I would suspect an ordinary cartridge fuse is fitted.


If you can get the Hard drives to check Bios before to get a idea what is wrong with the hard drive. If you bought many hard drives you could do this at your house as long as you were willing to take the risk.

Hard drive deteriorate over time, the motor the read, write head and discs could be damaged. The first thing to check for is hardware damage. This is often indicated by odd sounds coming from the system when the hard drive is spinning. If the motor has failed it will start making a clicking noise. If the spindle, heads or platters are starting to seize up then they'll start making a grinding noise. If the HD is not making no noise check ribbon cabal for power.



Next, you should do basic check of all connector cables and IDE ribbons for signs of faults. Shut down your PC and open up the box to check the IDE ribbon is connected firmly from the hard drive to the motherboard. Check all pins and connecting cables are intact and broadband.

While the PC is open it is also worth clearing out air inlets of dust as well as the fan filters and fans.


After the hard drive runs for a while shut off the computer and feel the hard drive does it feel hot gage it against a good new hard drive. It should not be to hot. Heat will destroy parts in the HD.

Visional check of the Hard drive is your next line of determining what you are willing to pay for the hard drive. It it looks well taken care of it probley was, look for bent pins and make sure all input and output are not damaged.

[NormanSaxon86]

Re: Thinking of buying bad Harddrives

The inconsistent power supply , blackouts , etc. can blow fuses. I turned on I have heard of the voltage regulator fuse blowing after a storm.

Check areas Craig's list after storms tornatoes ect people sell stuff for less $.

Below is a quote from Tech How To Fix



If the HD will not work not no physical Damage or Noise

1. Click "Start," "Programs," "Accessories," and right-click "Command Prompt."
2. Choose "Run as Administrator
3. Type "chkdsk x: /f /r" and press "Enter," replacing "x" with the letter of the corrupt drive.
4. Press "Y" to confirm and restart the machine. The drive will be repaired as the computer boots.

Physically Broken Common

The hard Drive Makes No Noise, or Powers on and Makes a Grinding Noise

1
Open the computer and remove the hard drive. Find and remove the drive's logic board. Inspect the area underneath the board. Look for signs of other damage.

2
Replace the board with the logic board from an identical working hard drive. If you find more damaged areas, just replace the entire hard drive.

3
Test the repaired drive.

The Hard Drive Powers on and Then Goes Silent.

4
Separate the logic board from the hard drive. Ground the hard drive to an electrostatic point.

5
Replace the logic board and re-install the hard drive.

6
Boot the hard drive. If successful, immediately back up all data. Disk utilities, like ScanDisk, can move data from bad sectors to undamaged areas. This is only a temporary solution--the drive will fail again.

7
If the drive does not boot, you will need to make it a secondary drive in a different computer. Change the jumpers from "master" to "slave" position. Use Data Recovery Software to transfer your data.

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: Thinking of buying bad Harddrives

Most failed HDDs have mechanical failure. Even if it is electronic and the heads and platters are in good shape, you'll gonna spend ages looking for a compatible board.

IMO, not worth it. If you get 'em for free, then yes, otherwise, i'd pass. I have a 500GB Samsung Spinpoint i got for free that had bad sectors in the 35GB area, i partitioned around it and it's been working fine for the past 4 months or so. But those are like 1 out of 10.

[Amraks]

Re: Thinking of buying bad Harddrives

I may take the risk for 20 dollars for 4 720 gig drives that can not be detected via usb.

[shovenose]

Re: Thinking of buying bad Harddrives

Let us know how it goes!

[Wester547]

Re: Thinking of buying bad Harddrives

Most failed HDDs have mechanical failure. Even if it is electronic and the heads and platters are in good shape, you'll gonna spend ages looking for a compatible board.

So finding a PCB with the same exact firmware isn't enough at all? ^^; Not to pilfer anyone's thread.... just wondering how I can fix some of my own hard drives whose culprit seem to be the PCB/connections. ^^;

[999999999]

Re: Thinking of buying bad Harddrives

It's not worth the time or trouble. If you have the skill to revive a sufficient # of dead drives put that skill to work reviving someone else's drives and with the profits you can buy high capacity new drives with warranties. I state this not knowing where you are located since you didn't list that.

In context, this is a badcaps forum. Bad capacitors can often be easily diagnosed and reasonable easily and inexpensively replaced. HDD are another story, especially if the data is valuable.

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: Thinking of buying bad Harddrives

I may take the risk for 20 dollars for 4 720 gig drives that can not be detected via usb.

With USB drives you may have better luck, sometimes it's a controller or cable failure, and then you can simply take the drive out of the case and use it as an internal.

So finding a PCB with the same exact firmware isn't enough at all? ^^

It is enough. But they can be very hard to come by.

[severach]

Re: Thinking of buying bad Harddrives

Drives that fail on USB are often completely undamaged. The IDE and SATA -> USB chips are fine with perfect drives but one bad sector in the wrong place and the USB drive controller gets stuck in a retry count that lasts for years. I regularly pull hard drives out of USB cases and fix them on a motherboard controller. Many are immediately fixed without user intervention with AUTOCHK CHKDSK. Once fixed they go right back into the USB cases.

I always purchase case and drive separately. The warranty is longer and I can open my own case without voiding the warranty. I want the freedom to try to recover the data without having to worry about a warranty. The best case on a drive going bad is to recover some data, zero as much as the drive will allow, then warranty it.

Drives with one bad sector in the wrong place that don't have the AUTOCHK dirty mark can be hard to fix. Zero the partition sector from a DOS or Linux app to prevent Windows from mounting it then perform data recovery or zeroing as desired.

All unknown drives should be zeroed before use. Zeroing forces all sectors to be fixed and will error out if the drive has run out of spare sectors. Slow areas will be mostly fixed. During the long zeroing process you can listen for strange noises which are a good indicator of a short life.

I've never seen a fuse on a HD. What I do see is that bad power blows out some SMD diodes. Often a new diode restores reliable operation.

Seagate 7200.11 drives that aren't recognized can often be fixed with the Seagate BSY fixes. Updating the firmware on the fixed drive restores reliable operation.

Some hard drives don't work because there are electronic parts or connectors broken off. I save bad hard drives so I can repair with exact replacement parts.

I have yet to repair a drive by cleaning motor and data contacts with a gray erasable ink eraser. I do expect this to work some day.

I have repaired many drives by finding exact replacement boards but this is usually impractical for all but the largest drives or drives of paying customers. You'll do a lot better selling spare boards to someone else and letting them go through all the hassle.

[Amraks]

Re: Thinking of buying bad Harddrives

Update got them for 18 dollars should see them next week sometime.

I'm sure these would be a diode or fuse.

I'm in Australia by the way.

All my drives that have gone this way is because some friends of mine decided to hook up all my hardware while the computer was on.

I come back and that was what happened.

[mattbrad2]

Re: Thinking of buying bad Harddrives

True story:

A co-worker here at my shop tells every customer who comes in with a bad hard drive "you know, its probably just a blown fuse". It drives us all bat-crazy. So after four years of working here, I ask him - "out of the thousand or so drives you've seen come in here, how many of those have actually been a bad fuse? His response - "zero".

Moral of this story - the problem with those hard drives is going to be a lot worse than a blown fuse.