Freezing a Hard drive...

[rockymtnhigh]

Ok, I was told that with a dead hard drive, if I put it in the freezer over night, and then connect it, it might boot up so I can transfer data.

Once I take it out of the freezer, how long do I wait before I plug it in to the computer?

I'd really like to recover some data from the old computer that died.

 

[Ronald_Jeremy]

Ok, I was told that with a dead hard drive, if I put it in the freezer over night, and then connect it, it might boot up so I can transfer data.

Once I take it out of the freezer, how long do I wait before I plug it in to the computer?

I'd really like to recover some data from the old computer that died.

I have had to do this once before and it actually worked. I wouldn't put it in overnight. Try putting it in for a couple of hours first. Hook it up on the secondary ide or as a slave on the primary and boot it.

It took a couple of cycles to get all of my data. The drive would stop working again as it warmed up. Pop it back in the freezer for a couple of hours then hook it up again.

The idea is not to freeze the disk completely. It is to just lower the temp a little bit so the metals contract imho

 

[rockymtnhigh]

I have had to do this once before and it actually worked. I wouldn't put it in overnight. Try putting it in for a couple of hours first. Hook it up on the secondary ide or as a slave on the primary and boot it.

It took a couple of cycles to get all of my data. The drive would stop working again as it warmed up. Pop it back in the freezer for a couple of hours then hook it up again.

The idea is not to freeze the disk completely. It is to just lower the temp a little bit so the metals contract imho

Excellent. I will try this tomorrow morning. Thanks lots!

I'll have to use my own desktop to slave it to; as the new Dell I bought only has Serial ATA connectors; no molex power connectors at all, even though it has an IDE channel unused. The DVD burner is actually serial ata.

 

[Hall]

You need to watch for condensation too. As soon as that cold drive is exposed to warmer air it will start......

And I'll tell you this: Do NOT plan for it to work. I think it works in RARE cases, not the majority of cases. I'm sure some have been successful but I'll bet you anything far more have not been.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

You need to watch for condensation too. As soon as that cold drive is exposed to warmer air it will start......

And I'll tell you this: Do NOT plan for it to work. I think it works in RARE cases, not the majority of cases. I'm sure some have been successful but I'll bet you anything far more have not been.

Oh, I know it is a crapshoot. If it works great. If not, I will deal.

 

[snathanb]

We used to have to pull old seagate scsi drives out and tap on the side of them with the handle of a screwdriver. The bearings would be lock up. The screwdriver trip usually got them running long enough to pull all the data

 

[Van]

You could crack the case if it doesnt work and atleast get an idea as to whats wrong, if its a band or motor then you could replace it just make sure you do it in a low dust enviroment.

 

[Hall]

Oh, I know it is a crapshoot. If it works great. If not, I will deal.

I've just seen people who read about this and think "I'm saved" and then it not work for them....

 

[Hall]

We used to have to pull old seagate scsi drives out and tap on the side of them with the handle of a screwdriver. The bearings would be lock up. The screwdriver trip usually got them running long enough to pull all the data

We used to use Sun Sparcstations and the drives would 'freeze' up but if you caught it soon enough, you could usually get the data off of them. In these cases though, we left them in the case. You then pick the whole thing up 2-3" off the desk and drop it. Mind you, these units were heavy too. Heavy-duty, well-built enclosures of steel and thick plastic, not sheet-metal and thin-gauge plastic you see today. Anyway, the shock usually got the drive spinning and then you start copying as quickly as possible !

 

[SatinKzo]

I've done the freezer trick a few times with success. In my trials, it works best for me in a deep freeze (0F or lower) for about an hour. I usually get about 30 minutes of useful time after spin up and then the drive is done. I have not successfully re-froze one and had it work.

Also, there's been just as many times that the trick has not worked.

 

[diogen]

Worked once for me (~10%).
Make sure you put it in a properly sealed plastic bag befor you stick it into the freezer...
Avoid booting from it.

Diogen.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Didn't work.

It was worth the try anyway... thanks guys!

 

[snathanb]

We used to use Sun Sparcstations and the drives would 'freeze' up but if you caught it soon enough, you could usually get the data off of them. In these cases though, we left them in the case. You then pick the whole thing up 2-3" off the desk and drop it. Mind you, these units were heavy too. Heavy-duty, well-built enclosures of steel and thick plastic, not sheet-metal and thin-gauge plastic you see today. Anyway, the shock usually got the drive spinning and then you start copying as quickly as possible !

Funny you should mention that... that's what we where pulling the seagate drives I mentioned out of...

 

[Foxbat]

I have experimented with different physical orientations of the drive in the past. For some reason, placing the drive with the IDE & Power connections at the bottom (drive pointed upwards) seems to work the best for me. Also, when the drive is spinning up, I sometimes give it a rotational shake around the drive spindle to give the platters a little "encouragement" to spin. (Talk about magic: the only thing missing from this discussion is goat entrails...)

I got one of those USB 2.0 Universal IDE/SATA drive dongles to handle these kinds of deeds. Best $20 I've spent on a computer peripheral. It gives much more freedom in "manipulating" the drive while trying to find a position that works, plus you're not having to deal with BIOS and boot order.

Another thing we do at work is locate another drive of the same model and swap the electronics board. Sometimes that works if the motor has caused the drive electronics to fail. If the motor is that bad, you don't have a lot of time, but this can buy you enough time to recover your files.

If you get to the point where you're desperate to get data off the drive and you've exhausted the suggestions here, there are companies that specialize in data retrieval. Prices vary and can run upwards of $1,200 or more depending on the amount of data recovered.

Good Luck!!!