Machine_1760 wrote:

If you've over-voltaged your hard drive you can get some life out of it by simply removing the TVS diode (Transitional Voltage S […]
Show full quote

If you've over-voltaged your hard drive you can get some life out of it by simply removing the TVS diode (Transitional Voltage Suppressor). Most drives that people think are 'fried' actually just have blown diode.

If you can solder, it would be best to add a new one as you don't get any second chances with it gone!!

Interesting reading here from Seagate but the info translates across all drives:

http://forums.seagate.com/t5/Barracuda-XT-Bar … -FAQ/m-p/118908

I would try that, but there's only two problems with that idea; I can't solder worth a crap, and this is on a laptop hard drive, so if I can even find that component it just makes it all that more difficult. 😜

I've had drives with corrupt clusters that went away after a low-level format. Don't write those "bad" portions off, yet.