Samsung S3 failure - "E:\ is inaccessible the parameter is incorrect"

Securit · 11 Jul 2015

Hi,

I have reviewed a number of posts on these forums and I am looking for some help to try and recover an external HDD that has failed.

The device is a Samsung S3 (ST1000M025 1TB Disc) and has recently failed. I researched the drive and identified that the heads were stuck on the platter of the disc, this was identified from the beeping. I opened the disc in a anti static environment and carefully removed the heads and then closed it back up. Prior to this it would not even boot however now I actually see the disc in Explorer however it will not open.

I have reviewed this thread

External HDD Error: You Need to Format the Disk Before You Can Use It

and have done the following....

1) Run chkdsk /r against it - this states that some repairs have been done etc.

2) Run Parted Magic Linux Boot however the drive is initially visible but when I try to mount it is just disappears from the available list, unplugging it makes no difference and it never reappears.

3) Used FTK Imager to try and make a raw .dd image of the device from within windows however a few % through the process (at no particular point) the USB device disappears from windows and also from FTK so it stops itself and says the media is not present.

4) Used Recuva and also Stella Phoenix data recovery however neither have managed to recover any usable files. Stella Phoenix got files but they were all corrupted.

5) Minitools partition wizard finds the device however is unable to recover any files.

I have considered buying HDD Regenerator as I have downloaded the demo and it does identify bad/damaged sectors on the disc. I just need to boot it long enough to image it or copy files from within windows.

Unfortunately I don't feel very confident on recovering anything now as I have tried so many things with no results.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

S

Mellon Head · 11 Jul 2015

Securit said:

I researched the drive and identified that the heads were stuck on the platter of the disc, this was identified from the beeping. I opened the disc in a anti static environment and carefully removed the heads and then closed it back up.

Very brave of you. I applaud your ingenuity.

Please explain the technique that you used to free the heads from the disk.

Hard disks operate on incredibly tight tolerances. It's why they are so fragile. Freeing the heads may have bent the positioning arms enough that they are now out of tolerance and won't read the disk correctly. This is possibly why you are getting corrupted files. If this is the case, no software is going to fix the problem and let you get your data off of the drive.

Securit · 12 Jul 2015

Hi,

It was a "last resort" if you like to touch the heads as I am aware they are very sensitive. It has been the only way to make some progress with the drive as prior to this it would not even spin up.

I undid the screws and removed the top, eased the heads back using a small hole in them with a tiny plastic tool, they were only at the edge of the disc and then once they were clear of the platter I closed it back up. I know this is not ideal however I have nothing to lose in this situation in the sense that prior to this I had not made and would not have been making any progress. I could not see any visible damage to the platter or the heads however appreciate that any damage would not necessarily be visible to the naked eye.

Thanks

S