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.

 

 

 

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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)

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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?

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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!

Yeah, just be sure too look everywhere... they love to hide screws under stickers!

[N]F

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

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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

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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

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

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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.

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

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