Hard Drive In Freezer

gecko wrote:

> On Wed, 09 Jul 2008 23:40:31 GMT, "peter" <peterk@nowhere.net> wrote:
>
>
>>The problem is you left warm up too long........1 to 2 hours then hook it up
>>and take data off right away..
>>because it will never work again...as you found out.
>>
>>peter
>
>
>
> I tried it again - your way. Still failed last night and again this
> morning. Thank God I was thinking enough when it worked that one time
> to pull of the files I wanted. Now I can stop playing with the drive.
> Thanks for responses all.
>
> -GECKO

One final attempt to try. Take the hard drive and slam it down, flat
on to a mouse pad from about 3 feet. It might shake loose the seized
bearings just enough for one more run. Good luck.

On Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:22:15 GMT, gecko <alpha@olympus.net>
wrote:

>On Wed, 09 Jul 2008 23:40:31 GMT, "peter" <peterk@nowhere.net> wrote:
>
>>The problem is you left warm up too long........1 to 2 hours then hook it up
>>and take data off right away..
>>because it will never work again...as you found out.
>>
>>peter
>
>
>I tried it again - your way. Still failed last night and again this
>morning. Thank God I was thinking enough when it worked that one time
>to pull of the files I wanted. Now I can stop playing with the drive.
>Thanks for responses all.
>
>-GECKO


So, umm, when it worked why didn't you get the data off and
have no need to try again? That's the most important part,
having a system and spare space available so after you pull
it from the freezer it is time to immediate salvage what
data you can.

Try this:

Take a hairdryer, or turn on the oven then off again and let
it cool down to about 75C. Put the drive in oven for 10
minutes, remove and garnish with parsley. Just kidding
about the last part. Oven or point hairdryer at motor
bearing and bottom where arm bearing mounts, heating to
hopefully make the lubricant flow around a bit.

Next, let it cool to room temp then put in a baggie you
sqeeze the air out of and seal. Put in freezer till it's
just above freezing, remove and let warm up just a tiny bit.
Before opening bag, have masking tape ready. Quickly open
bag, plug in data cable and power cable. Close bag as much
as you can (thinking a ziplock type bag seal) and use the
masking tape to seal it the rest of the way so air can't get
in. This keeps moisture from condensating on it. If you
are not quick enough and see moisture you will have to start
over and make sure room air doesn't get to it very long
while it's so cold.

Next try powering on the system and if the drive works,
immediately copy off data first, only after you get what you
can should you run a scan or other disk management type
tools... but, it's probably gone, not recoverable. The
freezer trick works sometimes but usually not even the first
time.

"kony" <spam@spam.com> wrote in message
newsokd74h02dvgrc3pfq5nlf9epm524m78ie@4ax.com...
> On Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:22:15 GMT, gecko <alpha@olympus.net>
> wrote:
>
>>On Wed, 09 Jul 2008 23:40:31 GMT, "peter" <peterk@nowhere.net> wrote:
>>
>>>The problem is you left warm up too long........1 to 2 hours then hook it
>>>up
>>>and take data off right away..
>>>because it will never work again...as you found out.
>>>
>>>peter
>>
>>
>>I tried it again - your way. Still failed last night and again this
>>morning. Thank God I was thinking enough when it worked that one time
>>to pull of the files I wanted. Now I can stop playing with the drive.
>>Thanks for responses all.
>>
>>-GECKO
>
>
> So, umm, when it worked why didn't you get the data off and
> have no need to try again? That's the most important part,
> having a system and spare space available so after you pull
> it from the freezer it is time to immediate salvage what
> data you can.
>
> Try this:
>
> Take a hairdryer, or turn on the oven then off again and let
> it cool down to about 75C. Put the drive in oven for 10
> minutes, remove and garnish with parsley. Just kidding
> about the last part. Oven or point hairdryer at motor
> bearing and bottom where arm bearing mounts, heating to
> hopefully make the lubricant flow around a bit.
>
> Next, let it cool to room temp then put in a baggie you
> sqeeze the air out of and seal. Put in freezer till it's
> just above freezing, remove and let warm up just a tiny bit.
> Before opening bag, have masking tape ready. Quickly open
> bag, plug in data cable and power cable. Close bag as much
> as you can (thinking a ziplock type bag seal) and use the
> masking tape to seal it the rest of the way so air can't get
> in. This keeps moisture from condensating on it. If you
> are not quick enough and see moisture you will have to start
> over and make sure room air doesn't get to it very long
> while it's so cold.

So long as you can get a good seal, just connect the cables before you
freeze it! Just make sure the exposed end of the cable is clean and dry
before connecting to the computer.

On Fri, 11 Jul 2008 11:02:45 +0100, "GT"
<ContactGT_rem_ove_this_@hotmail.com> wrote:


>> Take a hairdryer, or turn on the oven then off again and let
>> it cool down to about 75C. Put the drive in oven for 10
>> minutes, remove and garnish with parsley. Just kidding
>> about the last part. Oven or point hairdryer at motor
>> bearing and bottom where arm bearing mounts, heating to
>> hopefully make the lubricant flow around a bit.
>>
>> Next, let it cool to room temp then put in a baggie you
>> sqeeze the air out of and seal. Put in freezer till it's
>> just above freezing, remove and let warm up just a tiny bit.
>> Before opening bag, have masking tape ready. Quickly open
>> bag, plug in data cable and power cable. Close bag as much
>> as you can (thinking a ziplock type bag seal) and use the
>> masking tape to seal it the rest of the way so air can't get
>> in. This keeps moisture from condensating on it. If you
>> are not quick enough and see moisture you will have to start
>> over and make sure room air doesn't get to it very long
>> while it's so cold.
>
>So long as you can get a good seal, just connect the cables before you
>freeze it! Just make sure the exposed end of the cable is clean and dry
>before connecting to the computer.
>

That would be the problem, that if the cables are also cold
you can't keep them away from air since they have to plug
into the system. Maybe heating only those gently with a
hairdryer would do the trick, but really it may not be worth
the effort as the freezer trick is a joy when it works but
it usually doesn't... if data is valuable it's best to never
try that and just send it off to a data recovery expert
first.

Ghostrider <-00-@fitron.142> wrote in
news:6aWdnWzF5epcPOvVnZ2dnUVZ_oDinZ2d@supernews.co m:

> gecko wrote:
>
>> On Wed, 09 Jul 2008 23:40:31 GMT, "peter" <peterk@nowhere.net> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>The problem is you left warm up too long........1 to 2 hours then
>>>hook it up and take data off right away..
>>>because it will never work again...as you found out.
>>>
>>>peter
>>
>>
>>
>> I tried it again - your way. Still failed last night and again this
>> morning. Thank God I was thinking enough when it worked that one
>> time to pull of the files I wanted. Now I can stop playing with the
>> drive. Thanks for responses all.
>>
>> -GECKO
>
> One final attempt to try. Take the hard drive and slam it down, flat
> on to a mouse pad from about 3 feet. It might shake loose the seized
> bearings just enough for one more run. Good luck.
>
>

That is something that I remember for old IBM drives, though back then it
was suggested to move them violently in an 8 shape (if memory serves me
right).