So this just happened

[daveyxx]

my brother was fiddling around with his computer and this happened. is it possible to buy a replacement hdd used/new and change the boards to recover his photos and stuff?

 

[celtic_warrior99]

That looks like melted SATA cable. You should be able to scrape it off. Tjhere probably isnt anything wrong with the drive, just the SATA cable is melted.