Hi, i have a 9.1Gb SCSI hard disk drive that a friend gave 2 me.

Unfortunately it didn't work it kept on stuttering so i opened up the drive and rotated the cylinders without touching the disk surface.

When i put the drive back together it span fine, but Windows will not see it, i tried 2 Fdisk the drive but it wasn't seen in their either.

Could the problem b that i only have a scsi 2 card as opposed 2 a Ultra Wide SCSI. I know u can't boot off a scsi 2 card but i normally boot off my IDE hdd anyway.

Have i ruined the drive by opening it and do i need a Ultra Wide card 2 Fdisk and format so that Windows can see it.

The drive is a Compaq 10k rpm model: hd0093172c. I went 2 compaq site 4 advice on installing the drive but they were as helpful as a blind guide dog.

Any help???

Thanx.

MaximumPC did a test a few months back to see how long a hard drive would last if opened up and exposed. It only lasted a minute or so before it completely died forever.

Most scsi drives have a 5 year warranty and chances were you could have got a new one for nothing, however having opened it it is junk and wouldn't be covered anymore.

Thanx 4 the info guys.

Hi guys just another quick question, when u say junk in what way does opening a HDD make it junk?

Is it the light or dust getting inside that ruines the drive? Is it possible for proffesionals to repair HDD or do they just throw them away?

HDD's are assembled in a "clean room". The air in one of those rooms is 10-50 times cleaner than the air your breathing right now. =) humm.. maybe more if your living in a big city. as for prof's, repairing the drive, I did hear that it was posiable to repair them, but the cost is quite a bit more than the hdd is worth. (and you shouldnt open it before you give it to them) Dont know how much they charge though--I remember seeing it on the Discovery channel one day a couple years back, i'm sure they've improved on that now.

Thanx 4 the info bio_tox.

Basically data recovery companies make a total slaughter when it comes to this... If I had the money start one of these companies, I wouldnt have to work anymore. In essence the clean room is a room that is free of dust and there are rigid standards that have to be implemented to get the cleanroom 101 rating. If you open the drive before they get it, it usually is toast...I have some interesting pictures of things they have recovered data from(run over laptops, pc's that had fire/heat damage. Some of the methods they use is to use a machine similiar to a MRI, this method totally ruins the drive but, recovers quit a bit. This was the same method Symantec used to recover there server information when they used to crash. I sent a drive at the request of a client and it was over 4600 us dollars to recover what was on his laptops's harddrive..

Wow that's some serious money, thanx cloakdoa this has made some interesting reading.