On Mon, 26 Mar 2007 22:30:09 -0500, "Rod"
<thelanmanNOSPAM@cox.NOSPAM.net> wrote:

>I purchased a new ST3320620AS SATA hard drive to replace another failing
>Seagate hard drive. I transferred the information from the old hard drive to
>this new one before I sent the hard drive back to Seagate for warranty
>replacement.

Did you get the replacement from Seagate?

>I have used this hard drive in a Windows XP Pro environment for
>less than a month and yesterday my computer blue screened and rebooted. At
>this point, the hard drive was still somewhat functional because Windows was
>trying to check that drive letter for errors. Then the computer locked up
>and I had to turn it off. When I turned it back on, the computer would no
>longer recognize this hard drive. I have 3 SATA hard drives in this computer
>and this is the only drive it would not recognize during the bootup process.
>I tried other cables, power connections, and ports on the SATA controller
>card without success. I even took it to another computer and it would not
>recognize the drive either. The drive spins up and is not making any strange
>noises but the system just does not recognize it.

I suppose it could be the drive's fault, but I would wonder
if this drive model is just a little more susceptible to
problems like overheating (due to case placement) or power
problems, if either of these two issues are present... which
they might not be, but we can't see the system.



>
>When I bought this drive, I also bought another identical drive. I thought
>that maybe the interface card on the drive had gone bad. I have the tool to
>remove the 6 screws that hold the interface card onto the bottom of the
>drive. I was surprised to find that all the screws were just finger tight.

Depends on what you mean, that you can turn them only using
your fingers, or using a tool in your fingers. There is no
need for massive torque on a circuit board, but maybe your
particular drive just didn't have the screws as tight as
others do.


I
>swapped the interface cards on the 2 drives and cleaned the contacts on the
>bad drive but it did not make any difference on the bad drive as the system
>still would not recognize it. However, when I put the interface card from
>the bad drive on the good drive, the good drive still worked. I don't know
>what else it could be as the card is the only visible electronics on the
>drive. I even tried putting the drive into the freezer for about 10 minutes
>to see if that might make a difference.
>

There's probably another chip or two inside the drive
cavity, but were there any odd mechanical noises? Was the
drive spinning?



>I really need the data off of this drive since I had not made a backup of
>the drive since it was installed. Does anyone have any idea if the data on
>this drive might still be intact and how I could get the drive working long
>enough to get the data off of the drive? Has anyone had any good luck with
>any commercial hard drive recovery services that are reliable and
>affordable?

I would expect a recovery service to be able to get the data
off. As for "affordable", that is relative but I would say
no, they're all pricey... enough that it is in your best
interests from now on to back up any valuable data. Since
this model of drive seems problematic for you, I would not
make only one backup to the same model drive.



>
>I used to hate Maxtor drives because I had so much trouble with them but in
>the last couple of years, I have personally had about 4 or 5 Seagate hard
>drives go bad. I'm not very impressed with Seagate hard drives these days.
>

I never had much trouble with Maxtors, only their first-gen
7K2 RPM series, might've been Diamondmax Plus 8, seemed
poor. Since then I've had roughly as many Seagates fail as
Maxtors, but it still makes Seagate preferrible in my mind
since the warranty period is longer - except if the price
difference exceeds the value of the warranty.

Barring any other evidence, I think I would not use that
model of drive for anything of value, unless you determine
it to be a system heat or power problem.