I have a large suspect drive and in surfing for low level formatting info I 
chanced on the following, just had to share the thought.

=================================================
Fixing a hard disk crash

It's really not too difficult to fix your own hard drive, if the problem is 
a head crash, or the infamous Seagate "stiction" problem, if you know what 
to do. You will require #4/0 steel wool, Varsol, WD-40, a few hand tools, 
and about 45 minutes.

First, you need a clean room, so make sure the garage door is closed before 
you begin. Move those old lawnmower parts off the bench.

Disassemble the sealed unit and carefully wash all parts with Varsol. Bend 
the read/write heads out of the way and then disassemble the platter stack.

VERY CAREFULLY buff the platter surfaces with the #4/0 steel wool.
This will remove any existing data, level out any surface defects, and help 
to redistribute the magnetic media and fill in those pesky "bad sectors" 
that most drives have.

Reassemble the platter stack, and using a .015" feeler gauge, bend the 
read/write head back to the platter surface, using the feeler gauge to set 
the gap. This is a slightly higher gap than the factory uses, but it 
reduces the chance of head collisions with any flotsam you neglected to 
remove.

Give the head and platters a good shot of WD-40 and reassemble the unit. If 
your drive has a filter, replace it with a clean section of gauze pad. All 
that's left is to low level and DOS format the drive, and you're back in 
business.

I haven't tried this yet myself, but my friend's wife's cousin's, 
sister-in-law's husband knows a technician who does it all the time.



_______________________________________________
QL-Users Mailing List
http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm

Reply via email to