"Stellijer" bravely wrote to "All" (10 Dec 03 13:47:02)
--- on the heady topic of "Sources of info to retrieve data off failing
(failed) hard drives."

Some drives use a type of "Zebra strip" to connect the circuit board to
the platter motor. This Zebra strip consist of an elastomere insulation
into which are imbedded a row of very fine stiff wires. Pressure is
applied by the circuit board ensuring contact.

I've had my current drive fail to start up twice, years apart, and each
time all it took to get it started again was to clean the circuit
contact points for the motor's Zebra strip. I'm using this very drive
right now. I found the problem crept up in the middle of summer when
humidity and heat were both at their highest.

Good luck!


St From: "Stellijer"

St Anyone know of any great web sites or discussions boards for reviving
St hard drives which have failed fir data retreival?

St I have two hard drives which failed within 2 weeks of each other
St before backups could be made of certain data. I'd like to research the
St best ways to recover the data.

St In each case, it's a hardware failure and NOT accidentally deleted or
St otherwise corrupted data.

St I'd appreciate any discussion boards where some experts might hang out
St or maybe some COMPREHENSIVE websites dedicated to this. So far I've
St found a lot of information but it's all pretty basic and none of it
St worked. The more information I can get, the better chance I have.


St Let me mention just ONE of the cases here, just in case in addition to
St information, someone here has some adivce:

St The first drive is a 40GB Western Digital, 2-1/2 years old. It's been
St used a lot in the past couple years. Last weekend it quit spinning up.
St I'd like to get it to spin up JUST ONCE to get the data off. Right
St now, you can often feel the drive 'jerking' in an attempt to start.
St Just a little vibration here and there, sometimes hard enough to feel
St the drive try to rotate in your hand. I've tried twisting the drive as
St fast as I could by hand to get the platters to spin. While this caused
St more 'jerking', it didn't spin up. I tapped it as hard as I dared
St without wanting to cause damage. I put it in the freezer for a while
St in a static bag without change. Naturally I've tried different power
St connectors and a different power supply. It behaves the same whether
St the drive is hooked up to a contoller or just to a power supply alone.
St I just need ONE good spin-up.
St Any ideas and any sources of such info appreciated (and desperately
St craved)!!!
St P.S. The other hard drive is a stranger situation. I didn't want to
St dilute the issues by mentioning both at the same time; I will mention
St the other situation if someone of considerable expertese responds to
St this post.

.... Resistance Is Futile! (If 1 ohm)