Repair your hard drive with your own hands at home

In this article, we will consider such an unusual issue as "repairing your hard drive yourself." Probably every second computer owner came across the fact that yesterday the hard drive that was working hard today does not want to be determined by the motherboard. Of course, if the warranty period of the device has not yet ended, then you do not need to repair the hard disk with your own hands. But in the case when "there is nothing to lose," you can try to restore the capacity of the HDD on its own.

About breakdowns

Before you begin repairing your hard drive with your own hands, you need to clearly understand that not all failures can be eliminated at home. It all depends on the complexity of the malfunction. So, for example, you should not even try to repair a hard disk after a fall, but it's better to immediately contact a service center (SC). But the failure in the transmission of the signal on the train and some such "trifles" can be completely eliminated.

HDD device

Structurally, the hard drive consists of two blocks: an airlock with a set of magnetic disks and a drive for reading heads, as well as an external electronics board. It is impossible to open the housing of the hermetic block without creating special conditions. The fact is that dust particles that will inevitably get inside when removing the cover will subsequently damage the magnetic coating of the discs. If necessary, at least count data, in the SC cover still removed and after repair blowing dust particles with airflow from the can. But after that, you should not count on continued operation.

Roll up your sleeves ...

The repair of the hard disk by one's own hands begins with the extraction of it from the case of the system unit, the disconnection of the power wire and the interface cable and a close inspection. On the electronics board, there should be no burned elements (sometimes due to overheating, the IC chip is out of order). In most HDD models, all elements are on the outside and can be seen without removing the board. In others, they are turned to the hermetic unit. So, with the help of a magnifying glass on the removed board, it is necessary to inspect the soldering points of the connectors: sometimes one fallen off leg interferes with the operation of the entire device. Soldering can be restored using a pulse soldering iron and a firm hand.

In older HDDs with an IDE interface, a sloppy connection often resulted in bending one or more copper pins. If such a malfunction is detected during the examination, then it can be removed with a small pair of tweezers, aligning the pins. The next problem is the violation of the electrical contacts of the board and the air filter unit. Since the transmission of signals (and power) is performed not by a loop, but by simple pressing of copper dots-surfaces, then gradually their resistance increases due to oxidation. The solution to this problem is simple: you need to wipe the contacts on the pressurized unit and the electronics board with a stationery eraser.

It is noticed that some hard disks are unstable in high-speed modes. Therefore it is useful by means of a jumper (it is in most models) to transfer the hard drive into a slowed-down data transfer mode . So, for SATA transmission will be not 3, but 1.5 Gb / s. "By eye" the slowdown will be almost imperceptible.

Repairing the removable hard disk is exactly the same. Let's note one important fact: many are convinced that by simply replacing the electronics module with a device that has been removed from a workable identical model, it is possible to "revive" the device. This is only partly true. The fact is that on the motherboard there is a ROM, in which specific information is entered (for example, about bad sites). Therefore, a simple replacement is not always effective, as it may require a flashing.