Please diagnose this old 80gb HDD for me.

[TheEveryDayGuy]

I got a WD800BB , It had served me for quite a time , and recently It got some problems.
a few weeks ago . All of the partition in the drive were disappeared. at this point I was still able to mess with the drive with partition wizard , recovering it . Windows's Disk Management can't handle it , It showed the drive's space is unallocated, try to create a volume would only bring an error. It got recovered untill few days later.
This time the partition wizard said that it need 7 hrs to recovering the disk, which is longer than before (1 hr 30 min) and after 7h of waiting , It didn't got recovered. I tried to format the disk, which was about 1-2 hour... and it also didn't work. create new volume and assign a letter didn't work either, both on Partition wizard and Disk Management. So I stopped using it.
Until a yesterday . I plug it back and the drive name changed to : wdc rom model sabre
Some suggest that I need to replace the PCB in order to get it work again. I unscrewed the drive and look into it , It seems that the platter have some minor scratch despite it hasn't been opened once beforce.

 

[USAFRet]

It is old.
It is dying.

I unscrewed the drive and look into it , It seems that the platter have some minor scratch despite it hasn't been opened once beforce.

And then you probably killed it off.

 

[bignastyid]

Drive is toast. Sounds like it had already had a head crash, but once you opened it, it was done. Replacing the PCB will not fix it, the drive is now a paperweight.

 

[boju]

http://www.drive-recovery-hints.com/Never_open_cover_of_hard_drive.html

Never open a cover of a hard drive!
The title of this article says everything you need to know. You should never, ever open the cover of your hard drive. It might sound ridiculous, but even the tiniest speck of dust can mean the end of your data and drive forever.

A hard drive is extremely sensitive. Your data is stored inside it magnetically on a circular disk, which is then accessed by a head that floats very closely above the disk and decodes the data. The circular disk, more often known as the platter, is made from aluminium or glass and is glazed with a thin layer on the top where the data is stored.

The disks rotate from anywhere to 4,200 to 15,000 revolutions per minute which is one of the reasons that makes the hard drive so sensitive. Even if the tiniest bit of dust was to enter the hard drive then it can very likely cause problems. What seems insignificant to us is like a tornado for the hard drive. If the platter was to become damaged then it is goodbye to your data and your drive.

If one speck of dust is going to cause so much damage, then you can imagine what would happen if you opened up your hard drive in your room that is full of hundreds of thousands of airborne particles. Even if they’re not visible, as soon as the hard drive begins to spin again then it is havoc unleashed.

This is why all hard drives are built to be extremely tight. If your hard drive has to be opened in order to commence with data recovery then it absolutely must be done by a professional in what is called a class 100 clean room. If you attempt a “do it yourself” job then you are more than likely just writing your data’s death certificate. These class 100 clean rooms are what hard drives are manufactured in and are specially constructed environments where there are less than 100 airborne particles. You must send your drive to these specialists if you want a chance to recover your data.

Gillware Data Recovery have a video on YouTube that shows exactly how true it is that hard drives are extremely sensitive. They demonstrate that simply taking the cover of the hard drive off, not touching anything inside, then replacing the lid with the incorrect torque settings is enough to break the drive and give it that fabled click of death. Even this is something that the average user would not be aware of.

If the data is not important to you and you cannot afford sending your drive to the specialists, you could attempt to open the drive inside something like a plastic tent that will help keep a lot of contaminants out. However, this is really only a last case resort as the majority of the time the procedure will not be successful. The bottom line is that if you need to open your drive, send it away for it to be fixed professionally.

I liked the part i put in bald.

 

[ST0RM91]

This is a 2001 model HDD if I'm not mistaken, things break when they get this old.

There are general warning signs when an old HDD starts to fail; corrupted data, bad sectors starting to accumulate, weird sounds caused by failing internal parts, etc...

After three years your HDD has an increased rate of failure for each subsequent year so you really need to back up your data in future.

Look at this: http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/how-to/a3086/hard-drive-recovery/

 

[TheEveryDayGuy]

Well hell, I think I have heard about that somewhere but totally forgotten it *facepalm*, BTW thanks guys, can't decide to pick who have the best answer here. what will i do with the drive now. and why it had some scratch inside that only focus in some certain points.

 

[USAFRet]

what will i do with the drive now.

Fridge magnet donor.

 

[boju]

HDDs do wear out, motors inside begin to fail. One of the main HDD killers is any slight shock that might set off the write/read tip to touch the platter surface while it's spinning making a scratch. Could think of it like a record player being bumped while in motion playing a song, except the tip in a Hdd while it spins isn't touching.

http://www.cheadledatarecovery.co.uk/how-do-hard-disk-drives-work/mechanical-failure/

 

[ST0RM91]

what will i do with the drive now..

Paint it a fancy colour and use it as a paper weight.

Use it as a life lesson for backing up your data

 

[jsmithepa]

that the platter have some minor scratch despite it hasn't been opened once beforce.

That means the drive have sustained hard crashes. The R/W head actually touching the platters (not suppose to).

It's gone to HD heaven, hope you had backups.