Tools Required To Open Up A Hard Drive...

[WeaponX 0]

Hi, I want to open up some old hard drives I have. They are all dead drives and I always wanted to open up one to see how it looks like inside. Always learning From what I gather, I should need a phillips screwdriver, a few different sized Torx screwdrivers and some snap ring tool. I didn't know I needed various sizes for the Torx screwdriver so I bought a set ranging from T3-T10.Question on the snap ring tool. I'm not exactly sure what they look like but from the searches on eBay, are they similar to pliers? These are suppose to help me raise the platters inside the hard drive, but I have no idea how to do this. I only saw images of what the platters look like from websites, but no instructions on how to take them out using a snap ring tool. Like where to grip it so I won't physically be touching the platters.Do I need any other tools besides the three I mentioned above? I know I should work in a perfectly clean room and discharge any static from my body, but since these are all dead hard drives, it's not necessary Thanks.

[wutske 0]

If they're already dead I wouldn't buy stuff for it. I've opened several drives using simple watch-screwdrivers (instead of torx) and some pliers.

Believe me, you'll need some serious amount of force to get the lid screws off (don't forget those under the stickers).

I'm not sure about the platter (the one I removed involved an axe, a few heavy stones, a hammer, a bechscrew and a lot of anger), but you'll only have to remove 6 torx screws.

 

This is what that platter looked liked (believe me, they are very hard)

 

[WeaponX 0]

If this was a good drive and I wanted to take out the platter, how would I do so using the snap ring tool?Yeah, yesterday I was trying to pry the lid off...finally gave up. Then it occurred to me that there was probably something screwing/locking the lid down. Found two areas where it was covered with a sticker. One has a Torx screw and another one had a nut/bolt on it. Need to find something that will remove that bolt there since it's very flat and small.I'm only doing this as a learning experiment. I have a few people I know that had hard drive problems and I want to repair them. Depending on the situation I guess, it might require swapping the platter to another identical, good hard drive.Thanks for the pics wutske. Did someone take a bite out of that platter there?

[nightfox1405241487 0]

I did this with some old drives... like the 800 MB drives! I turned one into a desk clock and I have to say, it looks cool! :DYeah, just be sure too look everywhere... they love to hide screws under stickers![N]F

[RoKeR 0]

well.. drives in my opinion don like having their clothes taken off... so i am sure opening one will be a good headache!!

[Pharoah 0]

You don't need all that crap. Just get a hammer and a hard surface to put the drive on and smash away! You'd be surprised at the quality results

[Grafitti 0]

There's usually a layer of sealant after you get the screws off. Wedge a screwdriver in and pry that off. You'll want to be extremely careful if you're working with live disks. If they're trash that's one thing, but you're supposed to open a hard disk only in a completely dust-free environment. Just about everything you can think of is bad for the platters. i mean, once open they're about as vulnerable as a floppy would be

[RoKeR 0]

obviously.. noone is out of their minds to try and open up a perfectly working harddisk for no obvious reason!!!!!!

[WeaponX 0]

Yeah, I wouldn't open a perfectly good drive just for the heck of it. I just want to see if I can recover some of the damaged drives. I read up a lot of this and you don't have to be in a perfectly clean room to get all the data off...although it is recommended to prevent any dust on the platter.I have some hard drives that I still couldn't get to open. Need to find the proper tools for it. These have a hex bolt/nut but the darn thing is like 1mm in thickness (...and I use that term very loosely LOL).For those who wonder why I want to do this, it's basically curiousity and also can be useful if I encounter another failed drive.

[KDEWolf 0]

Do I need any other tools besides the three I mentioned above?

Hammer, axe, chainsaw, two-handed-sword (well, you never know what people have hidden in their stash)... It's up to you, actually. ;D

[Grafitti 0]

If you're really interested in opening up your hard disk, check out this guy's step-by-step guide to defragmenting his hard drive. Opening a Hard Drive

[WeaponX 0]

That must be some kind of freaking joke.

[BCD 1]

Hello, I hope somebody could help me out here.I am trying to patch up the firmware of my faulty Seagate HDD 7200.11. Since there is no response from Seagate support I am trying to path up on my own risk.I need to open the screws on the PCB present at the bottom. They are torx screws, unfortuantely I didn't have the torx screwdriver, so instead tried to open with philips screwdriver (another mess! should have tried with flathead screwdriver instead). Now the holes of the torx screw heads are round, that basically means I stripped the torx screws.Any ideas on how can I get the screws out?

Edited March 26, 2010 by Spencer (see edit history)

[tansqrx 0]

I personally love the magnets in dead hard drives and I break them open every chance I get. Hard drives use neodymium magnets (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neodymium_magnet) which has one of the highest magnetic densities available. After you get one of these suckers, all of your regular refrigerator magnets will be thrown in the trash. I have one holding papers to my refrigerator right now and there is no need to hold your breath as you walk past it (I could hold a small phone book on there if I wanted). Moving the magnet may be a little hard once it is in place but it is still worth it. Nothing says hold the kids finger paintings like a hard drive magnet.As earlier attributors have alluded to, you shouldn’t open a hard drive unless it is dead, and certainly not if you value any of the data on it. Professionals use a clean room with virtually no dust and if a speck dust gets between a platter and the head moving at 7200 RPM, bad things can happen. This may be blown out of portion a little bit because I have heard of several acrylic hard drive mods that have worked and worked may years after the mod (http://case-mods.linear1.org/hard-drive-mod/).I actually have all the tools that you mentioned but I never even bother. I put the hard drive in a vice on my drill press, put a ¼” – 3/8” bit in the chuck and go to town on all of those torx bolts. Just drill out all of the heads and the cover will pop off. A flat head screw driver should do the rest. If you do want to do it the proper way, you can go to a hardware store and buy a torx driver set and some snap ring pliers. Sears is usually a good starting point for general tools such as a torx screwdriver set (http://www.sears.com/craftsman-5-pc-mini-torx-screwdriver-set/p-00941105000P) or those snap ring pliers (http://www.sears.com/k-tool-international-5-piece-reversible-snap-ring/p-00918739000P). Snap rings are usually associated with cars and trucks (ball joints, ect.) so you may have to look in the automotive section.You may want to be careful with those platters. There are generally two types, metal and glass (also silicon). The metal ones will just bend if you hit it and are virtually indestructible. The glass ones on the other hand will shatter into thousands of nasty little pieces if you hit them. Metal is good if you drop your good hard drive from a few feet in the air but the glass ones are nice if you need to get rid of evidence quickly. If you do drop your good hard drive and it doesn’t work any more, you may want to give it a shake and see if you can hear rattling where the glass platters broke.To answer Spencer’s question about stripped out bolts, get a set of screw extractors (http://www.sears.com/craftsman-10-pc-screw-extractor-set-w-vinyl/p-00966196000P) which should do the trick.

[Бојан 0]

You need a screwdriver and to be very careful when opening it.