salvaging a dying hard disk

[Amedee Van Gasse]

On Thu, July 28, 2011 17:00, compdoc wrote:

> Freezing hard drives sounds a bit voodoo to me - you might have the same
> luck by swinging a dead cat over your head three times. But good luck, and
> let us know if it helped.

It's not voodoo, it's physics. When you chill the drive, it shrinks and
tightens up the mechanical parts that may have loosened, improves
electrical issues (think cracked solder joints), as well as the old adage
that electronics generally run better when cold.

It works in some cases, but in other cases it may make matters even worse.
It will also put a lot more mechanical stress on the parts (thermal
shrinking/expanding), speeding up the final death of the drive. So it's
something you do when the drive is already written off as a total loss.

-- 
Amedee