Recovering Toasted Hard Drive

Today I was inserting a second hard drive into my computer case just below my first hard drive. The mistake I made was that the computer was still on. Yes, I know this is really really stupid. What happened was the second hard drive touched the first hard drive, and first hard drive sparked and then started to shoot flames at me. I realized where I had gone wrong in the first place and unplugged the computer, thereby extinguishing the flames.

OK, now the hard drive that was shooting flames is called a Quantum Fireball, and it is only a few GB in size. So I am not worried about repairing the hard drive, I only want the data on it.

This is the extent of the damage.



I am aware that the only way to recover the data will probably be to send it to a professional will will recover the data for some big bucks. I believe it will be recoverable because the disks itself are probably not damaged, just the circuitry on the bottom.

So, my question is:
1. Is there any way I can fix this myself?, I am software/hardware literate, (yes I know I messed up) so if it is possible I would like to do this as quickly and cheaply as possible.
2. If I need to send this to a professional, what is the best source for send away hard drive recovery for a reasonable price?

Please help me out, I need pictures of my dad for his memorial.

1. you will probably need to replace the chip w/ an identical chip from the same hdd. good luck w/ that.

2. you will probably spend $1,000 +

If you can find an identical hard drive swapping the circuit boards may work.

The disks are probably fine, but circuit board is what is messed up.

EDIT: You beat me sandman.

There was another user who was asking this same question, his topic can be found HERE and the advise given to him applies well to your case.


However, in your case you would need to varify that any contacts on the drive itself (under the damaged board) are not damaged as well. I do not remember if those early fireballs did or not. If the contacts below the board do exist on that model and are damaged then you may not be able to get the data off it yourself even after swapping the boards.

There are companies that will be able to recover the data from drives the user can't repair by themselves, because these companies have very expensive equipment and are very skilled at what they do. Its not cheap, but if you need that data no matter what, I would suggest contacting some companies and finding out what they say on the matter. Some of them will do a free estimate and tell you how much they would charge in attempting a data recovery.

In many cases they will be able to get more data off the drive than you could alone. But again, this is assuming swapping the board wont for you.

Alright, Thank you everyone, especially Stang. I read the other post and it was very helpful. I will check to see if this hard drive is even fixable, and if the damage is not too extensive, then I will be spending some time on E-bay. I will let you know how things go. Thanks again.

Next time, never change any hardware when the computer is running! It's not good for them and it might not be so good for you.

Well... Never say never.... Can't forget about hot swappable hard drives

So, I have been looking on e-bay for an identical hard drive to use the PCB from. I am looking for a Quantum Fireball 13.0AT CX13A011 REV 02 - B.

So far I have found a 13.0AT CX13A011 REV 02 - B A3F.0B

I assumed that because the revision number was different that the PCB would not be a match. So I let the auction expire. Is this true? Because now I have found another hard drive, and the full model and revision number are CX13A011 Rev 01-B.

So should I eliminated these hard drives as non matches because the revision number is different. Or should I continue to hassle to seller for a picture of the PCB so I can compare the two PCBs.

I would like to ask when the HDDs were made, but that information is located under the PCB and I doubt that many sellers would be willing to take the PCB off to find out. So if I am unable to find out the date of manufacture, what aspects should I look for when buying a replacement PCB. What I have gathered from advice on this thread is that the firmware is the second most important aspect after date of manufacture. So far I have had no luck in googling the various components of the PCB, so would someone be able to tell me more about the firmware on the PCB and how to identify if the two PCBs have the same firmware.

Thanks again guys.

I don't know much about all that, but I've got 2 Quantum Fireballs at home, both 40gb that I can take a look at to see if they match yours if you want. I'd be willing to get rid of them cheap, to.