The fault · a knock or a fall
A powered-off hard drive withstands a drop better than many expect: the heads are parked away from the platters and the frame absorbs the shock. When powered on, however, there is no margin at all: the platters are rotating at 5,400rpm or 7,200rpm, and the head, nanometres from the surface, has no room to move. Which of those it was dictates nearly everything that comes next. So, wherever in Plymouth it landed, do not hook it up to see if it works. The first spin-up after a fall is often the last good read you'll get from that disk, and testing it uses that up.
You will be talking to an engineer
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| The behaviour | What that points to | Where to start |
|---|---|---|
| Clicking ever since it fell | The impact knocked the heads out of position, so it keeps trying again | Do not power it up |
| A beep after the knock | A spindle that will not turn: the heads stuck flat on the platter, or a bearing seized solid | Shaking it does nothing |
| The computer has stopped seeing it | Heads on the surface of the platter, a failed spindle motor, or damage to the board or socket | Get it inspected rather than retried |
| Fine at first, worse now | Light damage that deepens with every hour it runs | Move while it still responds |
| An SSD or a stick that died on impact | There are no moving parts inside: check the board, a joint, a connector | Board-level repair work |
Whatever is delivered is booked in using a unique reference (case number) on the date it arrives at the bench. The engineer will identify the actual fault at no charge. This gives a straightforward answer on what can be recovered from the drive and what cannot, plus one written quotation. There will be no further activity until you have read and accepted the quotation.
No power reaches the drive until an engineer has physically checked it. After a fall, a bent head can reach the platter during the first rotation. When a drive is spun, it goes round once, with an engineer watching.
The damaged head stack is replaced with one from a donor that matches the drive. A seized spindle is freed, any head lying against the platter is lifted away, and boards and sockets are repaired.
First, anything that reads cleanly is taken off and stored safely. The sectors damaged by the fall are tried last.
Give yourself time to consider it. It costs you nothing. We list all of the files we recover for you before sending out an invoice, and we only ask for payment once you have authorised it. We also buy media specifically for your recovery and send it back to you, with the return postage paid by us. The case stays here on our bench until we have your confirmation that the files open properly on your own machine.
What the datasheets tell us: a typical 2.5" notebook mechanism is rated around ~300G while operating and roughly ~650G when parked; some 3.5" desktop drives are given ratings as low as ~30G with platters spinning. Shutting a computer down before moving it costs nothing, and none of the other advice here is nearly as important.
The drop happened while the equipment was being packed up, and the drive was clicking by the time it reached the bench. That drive held three years of paid shoots. A donor stack was fitted, two days went on a gentle image, and all the galleries came back, including that morning's ceremony.
Yes, generally speaking, provided nobody has already tried their luck with it. The aim is not to repair the mechanism so it is serviceable again; it only has to hold together through a single, slow read. A matching donor head stack is installed, the imaging is done gently, and most of the surface usually comes off.
More than anything else here. The same drop on an unpowered drive is a much smaller issue. Nanometres above the surface of a spinning platter, the head has nowhere to go and can scrape the coating. Leave it unplugged.
Rarely. No moving parts are involved, so the damage is to the circuit board: a connector ripped loose, a solder joint cracked. This is repairable bench work. The flash chips holding your files normally come through unharmed.
Most likely. Heads or bearings slightly out of line degrade a little each time the drive spins up. The fall decided how it would turn out; every start since then has brought it a little closer.
Diagnosis costs nothing. We give you a report listing which files can be read, which cannot, and what is needed to get them off. Do not connect the drive until then.