Basic principles of HDD repair using РС-3000:

The PC-3000 software package is a menu-driven set of utilities where every available HDD operation is presented as a menu item, resulting either in some specific actions or acquiring some status information. Primary HDD diagnostics are completed by using the universal utility "PC-3000 АТ". Diagnostic results are displayed on the screen and can either be saved as a file or printed. The recovery procedure itself is performed by using utilities that are specific to each HDD family. The entire recovery/repair process can be divided into the following optional steps:

· HDD controller board & interface diagnostics;
· Flash memory / NV-RAM firmware review/reload;
· Forced HDD boot up procedure by using an external loader from PC (in cases where the HDD cannot boot up by itself);
· Disk system area (maintenance track) read/write test;
· Disk system area (maintenance track) firmware modules integrity test;
· Fixing/reloading damaged firmware modules (RAM or disk);
· G-List & P-List defects tables and S.M.A.R.T. attributes review/clear;
· Replacement of defective sectors or tracks by assign, reallocation or skipping defects;
· Restoration/editing of the disk ID module (disk logical parameters, model, S/N, etc.);
· Servo test and concealment of tracks with damaged servos;
· Translator regeneration (Physical Head/Cylinder/Sector into LBA translation recovery);
· HDD reconfiguration by skipping defective areas of disk surface or turning off defective heads;
· Low-level formatting;
· Media scan - search for defective sectors and their concealment by assign, reallocation or skipping defects. The concealment is achieved by using the drive's reserved area which is specifically assigned for this purpose.
· Security sub-system operations.
· Launch and monitoring of the HDD self-test procedure;
· and more.

Using only the РС-3000 software recovery procedure, the user is able to fix up to 50% of all defective HDDs. This increases up to 80% for users that are able to repair hardware and turn off defective read/write heads. We provide a detailed technical documentation for the PC-3000, and a range of other first class customer support services.

With PC-3000 purchase you receive:

· Fully configured and functional computer with the actual PC-3000 PRO card (see the details below).
PC-3000 PRO Workstation
PC P4/up to 2.8GHz/512Mb/120Gb/DVD/CD-RW (w/o monitor)
Windows XP Home Edition
Windows 98 with preinstalled PC-3000 Pro utilities
Includes: 1 year warranty with 7 business days turnaround Technical support for 3 months after delivery
Supports: 3.5" ATA HDDs up to 120Gb in size

· Comprehensive and explicit 400 pages user manual. This manual has the information about almost every hard drive model. This information is unique and therefore cannot be found elsewhere.

· Full technical support for three months, which is enough for the user to easily master the PC-3000 workstation.

· We will lead you through the entire process or hard drive repair after the system purchase.

· Access to the online forum. . This forum has step by step procedures for repairing certain hard drive models as well as other tips and tricks. This forum is also used for information exchange and for requests of new firmware modules or loaders for different HDD models.

·You can request pricing information by submitting this form.

Basic principles of data recovery using Data Extractor:

The damaged drive is connected to the PC-3000 PRO testboard using the adapter PC-3K PWR, mounted on it using an ATA cable and power cable. When the application starts, power voltage +5V and +12V is supplied to the drive automatically. During the data recovery process, the retrieved data is initially transferred to the disk image file, and then this image (or any part of it) is copied to any ATA drive of suitable capacity. During the data recovery process a detailed map of the defective drive is described, giving the condition of each physical sector. The process of recovery may be stopped at any moment and then continued during another session when needed. The state-of-the-art algorithm combined with a power control system prevents a drive from entering a state that might cause any further damage to the disk, and makes it possible to retrieve the maximum amount of retained data even when one or more heads are damaged.

The Data Extractor contains a special "Explorer" which allows an analysis of the logical structure of the damaged drive and, where the degree of logical destruction permits, allows selection of the specific files that the user needs to recover. It is especially important in cases where the drive continues to deteriorate, has very high capacity, or a large number of defects. The Explorer may be used for data recovery in cases where the drive has no defects but its logical structure is destroyed (MBR, BR, sometimes FAT and ROOT). If the HDD translator module is damaged, Data Extractor provides a manual mechanism for creating a map of offsets and also facilitates the copying of the necessary data using both the explorer and the created map.

Before extracting the data, the defective drive should be diagnosed. This can be done using either the PC-3000 PRO or any other diagnostic software. All of the defective drives can be grouped according to the type of defect:
· Bad sectors and/or Servo defects. The amount of retrieved data is high and the recovery procedure is fully automated.
· Heads assembly defect. The amount of retrieved data is in inverse proportion to the quantity of the defective heads.
· Service area damage. The probability of full data retrieval is considerable, but the service area will have to be rebuild (this procedure can be done by the PC-3000 PRO) or a non-defective drive of the same HDD model will be required to perform the Hot-Swap procedure (replacing the controller board with the power supply turned on).
· Controller board defect. A non-defective controller board from the same drive model will be required.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Question: How often are new versions of РС-3000 software released?
Answer: New versions are released as new specialized utilities are incorporated into the PC-3000, which is normally twice a year. As a rule, a new version includes 4-6 new utilities that are compatible with a family of new drives.

Question: What is the purpose of the РС-3000 PRO testboard?
Answer: РС-3000 PRO allows a connection to the drive under recovery as an additional device of the PC. This makes it possible to control the drive's power supply without turning the PC off and to avoid conflicts with the standard equipment. РС-3000 PRO testboard has other features that make the process of HDD recovery quick and efficient, such as a built-in timer to test a drive's time parameters in a multi-task environment, support of PIO MODES 3/2/1, data cache and more.

Question: Does the РС-3000 work under Windows?
Answer: The package works under Windows 95/98 in DOS shell mode only. Some utilities of the PC-3000 are time critical so working in a multi-task environment is inadvisable.

Question: Does PC-3000 support the recovery of HDDs that are not included into the list of supported drives?
Answer: The universal utilities РС-3000АТ and PC-DEFECTOSCOPE are included in the PC-3000 package, and allow diagnosis and recovery of any ATA drives, but effectiveness can be improved with the help of specialized utilities.