• How To Convert WD USB To SATA

    by May 20, 2023

    This is another post in our Tech Series for new data recovery professionals. Modern Western Digital portable USB hard drives use an integrated USB PCB rather than a USB to SATA adapter, so it may seem obvious to attempt recovery of these drives over USB, however, it’s not recommended to attempt hard drive recovery over […]

  • Seagate Rosewood Read Channel Short Points

    by Apr 26, 2023

    At Blizzard Data Recovery, we try to help new data recovery professionals as they learn the trade. Sometimes it’s by email and sometimes by remote work, and when that’s not possible, a number of data recovery companies will outsource their cases to us. We try to publish information that is not easy to find or […]

  • Seagate Rosewood Head Connector Codes

    by Aug 31, 2022

    When data recovery professionals are selecting a matching Seagate drive for parts, it’s important for them to get a good match so the heads can read and write to the drive. In a previous post, I listed some common rules for identifying a Seagate donor drive. This post is specific to the Seagate Rosewood family […]

  • Hard Drive PCB Failure and ROM Swap

    by Sep 09, 2021

    At Blizzard Data Recovery, we occasionally get emails, phone calls, and comments on blog posts asking about failed hard drive PCBs (printed circuit boards). One of the most common things we hear is the user swapped the PCB with a donor PCB from an exact same model and the drive still doesn’t work. The reason […]

  • WD Portable SMR Hard Drives with MCU Encryption

    by Jun 22, 2021

    Each year, we see new hard disk drive models released and each year, we see the firmware get more complicated or the drive security increased by the manufacturer. Two of the most common portable drives we see by Western Digital are the 2TB Charger and the 4-5TB Spyglass models. Both drive families already presented specific […]

  • Portable WD SMR Drive – Data Recovery

    by Oct 06, 2020

    Most modern portable hard disk drives use relatively new technology, first implemented in the early 2010s, called shingled magnetic recording (SMR) to write data to the platters. SMR can achieve higher areal density than the older method of perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR, sometimes referred to as conventional magnetic recording or CMR) which simply means more […]

  • Data Recovery Lab Best Practices – For Hard Drives

    by Jul 15, 2020

    In the past few years, there has been a spike in new data recovery labs opening up across the USA and other countries. When researching topics on data recovery forums, it looks like a number of computer repair shop owners are looking for a new business, and data recovery is enticing. Let’s be clear: PC […]

  • Western Digital USB Hard Drives – Cross Reference

    by Jan 28, 2020

    In this post we provide you with some useful insight to help determine what model Western Digital drive might be Inside: a particular model of enclosure. We have included pictures of the shell to help you identify these drives quicker when searching for a matching donor. If you have done some research you have probably […]

  • Platter Swap – Clean Room Data Recovery

    by Dec 08, 2019

    It’s a common misconception that a large percentage of hard drive data recovery cases involve removing platters. The truth is platter swapping is only necessary in a low percentage of recovery cases for most data recovery labs. For mechanical failures, the most common reason for in-lab recovery service is removal and inspection of the read/write […]