Recovering hard drive when wet with conventional means?

[DerGillster]

I left hard drive in garage and forgot to pick up. A flood affected my garage and the hard drive was left there. When I came back in the garage, its covered in newspapers, with the ink staining it.

I tried opening my hard drive by plugging it into my laptop, but it didn't work as I expected to be.

Is there any other way to recover a hard drive? I have been into this gadget that supposedly can swap HDDs outside. I don't know what its called, but I have seen someone have a laptop connected to some wires were to connected to some opening and he just was able to have multiple hard drives switched easy.

I would stick out vertically like an NES toploader, and he switched HDDs like USB drives.

I think thats my only chance of recovering it.

Anything else to help recover it, or related to switching out HDDs? This is for 2.5 inch drives.

 

[ss202sl]

the hard drive is probably dead. You may be able to get it working by swapping out the circuit board on it. There are companies that can help get you the right circuit board. Your best bet is to just replace it and recover from your backup.

 

[USAFRet]

I left hard drive in garage and forgot to pick up. A flood affected my garage and the hard drive was left there. When I came back in the garage, its covered in newspapers, with the ink staining it.

I tried opening my hard drive by plugging it into my laptop, but it didn't work as I expected to be.

Is there any other way to recover a hard drive? I have been into this gadget that supposedly can swap HDDs outside. I don't know what its called, but I have seen someone have a laptop connected to some wires were to connected to some opening and he just was able to have multiple hard drives switched easy.

I would stick out vertically like an NES toploader, and he switched HDDs like USB drives.

I think thats my only chance of recovering it.

Anything else to help recover it, or related to switching out HDDs? This is for 2.5 inch drives.

The device you're referring to sounds like a regular USB dock.
Not magic.

If, on your initial power up, it didn't work...it's probably dead.
Drives are not actually sealed. Water seeped in, and is still in there.
It is dead.

 

[Solandri]

As others have stated, water probably got inside. There's a small hole on the drive blocked by only an air filter, to allow air pressure inside and outside the drive to equalize, and prevent the frame from warping. Water can get in through this hole when submerged.

If the data is important, you'll have to send it to a HDD recovery service. You should find one and explain the situation to them ASAP. Depending on how much water got in and how long it was submerged. most of the damage can start after you remove the drive from the water. That is, if it's been completely submerged for a while, you're actually better off leaving it submerged (ship it to the recovery service packed in a watertight box with the drive still underwater). The recovery service should ask you the appropriate questions and instruct you on how best to proceed.

Do not put this off. Every hour you delay is more time that the materials in the drive are corroding and your data is disappearing. Do not open the drive to try to dry it off yourself. HDDs should only be opened inside a clean room, as a speck of dust can cause a drive head crash or even scrape metal (data) off the platters.