Can I recover data from a dead drive by freezing it???

[AugieDogie]

Greetings,

Here is my problem

I have my cousins Quantum Fireball KX20OA11 that failed about a year ago. I have it on the secondary master and it tells me "Secondary master hard drive failure" during the post.

Therefore I know it is kuput.

He would like the data from it..........Some where on this board I read either here or elsewhere that if you "freeze" a hard drive..I mean to deep freeze (pack the drive in dry ice) you can get enough life out of the drive to get an image or retrieve the data.

If anyone has any experience doing this please let me know.

augiedogie
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Chassis: Enermax Mid ATX
Chassis Supply Fan: ADDA AD0812HB-A73GL - 42 CFM
Chassis Exhaust Fan:SUNON KD1208PTB2-6 - 36 CFM
Power Suppply: A+ GPB ATX 300W
Motherboard: Asus P3B-F/5P2I
Processor Riser Card:Iwill Slocket II
Processor: Intel PIII 800 mhz FC-PGA 370
Processor Cooler: Alpha PEP 66 with 6800 RPM (38 CFM) Fan Delta Black Label fan
Memory: (2) 128 MB PC133 SIMMS (PNY)
Primary HDD: Western Digital (20.5 GB)WD200ABRTL
Primary HDD Cooler:Vantec: CF-HD 12 CFM
Secondary HDD: Western Digital WD205BA (20.5 GB)

DVD-ROM: Lite-On 16X LTD-163
CD-RW: CENDYNE 16X10X40
Video Card: Matrox Millienium G400 Dualhead MT00910"
Network Adapter: Realtek RTL8029(AS) Ethernet Adapter
Sound Card: Creative SoundBlaster Live! MP3+
Monitor #1: KDS Avitron AV-7TF
Monitor #2: MAGInnovision DX-1795

[Sterling_Aug]

I have seen it done once.

Is the data on it really that important? I doubt it.

[bassman]

It'll depend on the problem it has, but if you can plug it in and boot into Windows, try using Easy Recovery Pro (http://download.com.com/3000-2248-5921140.html?tag=lst-0-1) to get the data out...

[TARP2]

I'd recommend wrapping it in plastic bag first.

http://www.sysopt.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=90993&highlight=freezer+hdd

[Midknyte]

I've tried it. It has never worked.

[G Ray88]

If you really need the data off the drive, check at www.ontrack.com it is $$$$. Good Luck:t

[AugieDogie]

1st.......Thanks for all who replied. :D

2nd.......The data was not important. My cousin wanted to try to see if we could retrieve some old data. "I wanted to try to in case I ran into a problem with one of my HDDs in the future.

I tried it and it didn't work. :(


augiedogie