The fault · drops and impacts
Hard disks take falls better than most people expect when switched off (the heads are lifted away from the disks and the casing absorbs the shock); however, when powered up there is no room for error: the heads fly over the disk at either 5,400 rpm or 7,200 rpm and have absolutely no place to go. So, whether the disk fell in Hull or elsewhere, make sure you do not plug it back in to try to recover anything. The first spin up cycle after a drop usually results in the final read left on the drive and testing it will destroy that read.
An engineer will take the details
0800 6890668
| The symptoms | What the fault is | What to try |
|---|---|---|
| It has been making clicking noises since being dropped | The fall caused the heads to go out of alignment; it continues attempting to realign them | Don't turn the power back on |
| After having been bumped around, it starts making beeping sounds | Nothing will cause the spindle to rotate: the heads may lie flat on the platter, or the bearing may have become stuck/seized. | No amount of shaking will fix it |
| The computer no longer recognises it | Heads stuck on the platters or damage to the spindle motor itself; damage to the drive's board/port | Have it evaluated; do not try to diagnose/test it yourself |
| Initially worked fine but has got progressively worse since | There is minor damage which will continue to get worse as you continue using it. | Do something now before you lose access to it |
| If your flash drive or solid state disk (SSD) failed during its drop | There is no movement from within, so suspect the board, a joint or a connection. | Repair at the board level. |
Every piece of gear that shows up receives a case number on the very same day it arrives. An engineer examines it and determines what is really wrong with it and there is no charge for this. We give you straight language about which files we will be able to copy from the disk and which ones we won't be able to. Then we provide you with a single price quote, in writing, based upon these findings. We don't begin working on anything until you agree to the quoted price.
An engineer does not activate power until he/she manually inspects every single part of the failed drive. On the initial rotation of the spindle after a fall, a bent head impacts the platter. If activated, it is activated only once, and someone is watching it.
The head stack containing the matching donor heads replaces the destroyed one. Seized spindles are released, and heads that were left on the platter are removed and elevated above it. Repairs are made to any damaged boards and/or connectors.
Any data that reads cleanly is copied off and placed into storage immediately prior to any additional actions being performed. Subsequent efforts then focus solely on the area of the platter affected by the damage resulting from the fall.
You will not be charged while you think about this. First, you receive a list of everything that was recovered from the drive. Once you have seen the list and given us the go-ahead, the bill comes next. Files are returned to you on media purchased specifically for this job and we cover the return postage as well. Your job is kept open by us until you can view them on your personal computer.
What the datasheets say: the specifications tell you what sort of acceleration (in G's) both types of drives are designed to withstand. Your average 2.5" notebook drive is rated to withstand about ~300G while operating and about ~650G when parked. In comparison, some 3.5" desktop drives are specified as low as ~30G while the platters are rotating. There is no cost involved in shutting the machine down before moving it. Nothing else mentioned here will help as much.
It crashed into concrete while they were packing up after a wedding, and on the workbench, it started clicking again right away. Three years' worth of paid work sat on it. We put new heads from a donor unit in, imaging took us two days, and all galleries were successfully restored, even the one taken that morning.
Generally yes. Provided no one has messed with it already. We do not need to save the mechanism for future use; we simply want the broken part of the drive to stay intact long enough for one very slow read. Replace the head stack with a properly matched replacement, carefully image it, and normally most of the disk will be readable.
This is by far the most important factor here. If the power is turned off when the drive crashes, the damage will likely be far smaller. When a head flies nanometres over a spinning platter there is no place to go and it could scrape the coating. Leave the power off.
Rarely. Because nothing in there moves, all the impact occurs at the board level (a connector ripped off, a solder joint separated); that's bench electronics, and it can be repaired. Most of the time, your data (on the flash chips) survives this process.
Nearly always. The initial displacement of a head or a bearing by even a small amount will continue to grow as the drive is cycled up again. The fall itself determined that it would fail; each start after that only brought the failure nearer.
Leave it off. There are only a few start attempts left in your failing drive and each attempt uses up a little more of what remains. Our complimentary diagnosis will determine what files are readable.