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Any ideas on how to open a hard drive?

It makes a strange ticking noise at the same interval. I think the head is stuck. The screws used on top are of a strange form;
http://www.maximumpc.com/files/u90693/drive_seagate-27945_full.jpg (http://www.maximumpc.com/files/u90693/drive_seagate-27945_full.jpg)

I think they are Torx headed screws. Your local hardware shop should have a set.

Good luck freeing it.

O.o removing the screws of the protective plate? but I believe it's one of the mechanical part of the head that is dieing, and won't be able to do much about it, just back up you harddrive while it's working

If you open it its gone, so why bother? There usually is a vaccum (sometimes a gas) and opening the drive will cause this to suck dust into your drive. Which will headcrash your drive.

The clicking sound usually indicates that your drive had a headcrash and needs to be replaced. Thats nothing you can repair on your own or without spending a lot of money.


http://www.tekbasics.com/dirtysecrets_files/hard-drive-head-gap2.jpg

As others said, don't open the drive, you're most likely to damage it completely.
If it is still working a bit, you should make a full backup while you can.
If not, you'll have to live with the most recent backup that you made (you do make backups, hopefully?)
Then go and buy a new drive, you will most likely get one that's both cheaper and bigger than the old one.
If the drive can't be accessed and you don't have recent backups, you might try disk diagnosis tools, maybe there's something that tells you a bit more about the cause of the problem. But I would not bother with that when you can recover the data from the drive, it's just not worth the effort.

Onkel Paul

You are in luck. At least the harddisk is giving you a warning before it dies  ;)

There is nothing you can do to revive it. Perform a backup as soon as possible. The disk may die while you are backing up, so start with small important files first, then move on to bigger files like music or video.

Sorry to burst your bubble..

but opening your hard disk is does more harm than good. 
since it has a ticking sound its going to die..(mine died and now it on hard disk heaven)

well if you still access your hard disk then recover all the needed files you need.

and eventually buy a new one..

Don't open it. There is nothing in there for such noob to be repairable. Sorry, You even don't recognize the screws. You will not be able to diagnose cause of problem, find matching donor, extract and rewrite calibration data and firmware and so on.Totally wrong. Harddrives contain normal air at ambient pressure. It is clean from dust and is actively filtered by built-in filter as the drive spins.

Hard drives are openable without using clean room and similar technology. But You must have absolutely be sure about cause of problem, have donor parts ready and have repair plan. The air must be clean and you must have steady hands. One single mistake could ruin the drive and data forever. I have repaired some harddrives myself as a last resort to recover data. It is more scary to work on drive containing precious data than disassemble rusty hand grenade.

I'm picking up the 6TB Helium filled disk drive if I can't find a suitable SSD...so some of them do have gas :)

After reading up on that, I have to say: indeed I was wrong. I allways hear a hissing sound when I open a HDD so I assumed there was at least low pressure. Then you read about these new drives with gas... well, thanks for that. :)

I have read about Hitachi planning to make sch drives. Are they available for purchase on jewegg.com? Damn I must be lagging behind in new technology.I think it is the o-ring seal being displaced that makes sound. And the helium filled harddrives if they are available for purchase then they of course must never be opened and unrepairable without specialized workshop.

If you don't know and still don't find the solution better go for service provider help