Let’s begin the discussion by trying to understand the hard drive’s structure. Every hard drive is made up of moving components resembling a record player. Like a record player, a hard drive features disks- platters – where the data is written to and read from. The write/read heads are elements of a hard drive placed at the end of the actuator arms. These are responsible for writing/reading data on the platters.
It’s one of the easiest and the most vivid explanations that users with different backgrounds can understand. Why your HD cannot read or write? Let’s use the same approach and explain the process by comparing a hard drive with a record player. Whenever the record player’s needle is damaged or broken, it needs to be replaced unless it won’t able to read the record properly. The situation is similar in the case of a hard drive. The failed or damaged read/write heads will float on the air produced by the floatation of platters, traveling at 5400 to 12000 RPMs (depending on the hard drive you use and its speed).
Reasons, why read/write heads, can go bad
There are many occasions. The heads can be broken and go out of order whenever anything comes into contact with them. Some of the most common causes of the issue include:
- Check parts of the hard drive;
- Contact with platters;
- Damaged platters;
- Debris floating around inside the hard drive, etc.
How to change the read/write head stack assembly?
To be honest, it’s a very tedious process requiring certain skills and knowledge. When you decide to replace the write/read head with a new one, you need to find an equal part in another hard drive that would become a perfect donor of an identical part for you.
Once the optimal solution is found, you need to ensure that it’s dust-free before installing it into your hard drive. The industry standard for clean room data recovery is ISO 5 CLASS 100.
Every detail matters during the process of replacing the old read/write head with a new one. Ensure you complete the installation error-free. Any mistake made during the replacement can make things get worse and potentially scratch the platters.
