How's this idea for rebuilding a hard drive?
If I used a Tupper Ware container big enough to hold an air purifier that most likely uses ozone to clean the air, installed two gloves on to the side of the container for me to work on the hard drive, as long as the air in there was sterile as a result of the air purifier, could I rebuild a hard drive and recover my data? Does it seem logical? Can it work?
No this is not going to work. Like as not, the ozone will convert the media surface into a form that will not retain data. And it absolutely will play heck with any insulation that it encounters.
Additionally, it isn’t so much the bacteria, and the dust. Dust *much* finer that a household air purifier can collect.
Take it to pros. They can most likely get the drive to spin up one more time, and get the information off. Someone like Data Doctors.
And just how do you intend to "rebuild" this drive? I’ve heard of people transplanting the platters into a similar model hard drive, but you’ll be lucky if it doesn’t die before then, homemade clean room or not, and this would be ONLY for recovery, not continued use.
If your drive is already hosed then go for it.
Try reading this:
http://www.instructables.com/answers/Homemade-glove-box-clean-room-for-DIY-hard-drive-r/
Apparently the best way to make a clean room in your house is in the bathroom — by running a shower for a while to clean all the dust out of the air.
IMO i don’t think it’s that simple as that. Hard drive recovery experts use what’s called a "Class 100" Clean Room to perform hard drive repairs.
A Class 100 Clean Room maintains an air purity of less than 100 airborne particles over 0.5 microns in diameter in each cubic foot of air. This is to protect the sensitive internal components of hard drives.
I’m not sure if your little airtight tupperware box which has been exposed to the outside air will be as clean as that.