If your drive is clicking or grinding, it’s mechanical failure and each start up increases the risk of losing the remaining data. We will open your drive, replace components such as heads, motors and circuit boards using our vast inventory (10,000 parts) and retrieve your data in-house.
If your drive makes noise while running (i.e. “grinding” or “clicking”) then something mechanically is wrong with your hard disk. When you turn on your computer each time your heads are given one more shot at damaging the data on your disks as long as there is still some data on them that can be recovered. Stop immediately installing any form of recovery software, stop placing your hard disk in the freezer, and stop booting up your system repeatedly; shut down your system immediately and contact us.
The clicking or grinding noise is typically an indication that the internal mechanical portion of the drive is failing. We receive these types of drives almost weekly and many times we are able to recover the data.
We have been retrieving data from clicking and grinding drives of all major manufacturers since 2002. As long as the device has the capability to store data on spinning disks, there is a good chance we can assist you.
Internal and external • 3.5” desktop and 2.5” laptop • SATA, SAS, IDE/PATA and SCSI • from 40GB legacy drives to the latest 24TB helium models.
A clicker or grinder will be repaired by physically fixing the bad parts of the unit. When we have done this, we’ll read your files; but first we need to get into it.
Bring the device in (or post it) and we will identify the broken part(s), write you a price quote with no obligation, usually within 48 hours.
Our engineers open the device, check all of the heads, platter, and motor and identify specifically which part has failed.
From our stock of 10,000 parts we select identical working heads, motors or circuit boards that match those damaged, no long wait for another “donated” device.
We carefully swap out the faulty parts (generally the head assembly), allowing your device to read your disks once again.
Each sector on the repaired drive is cloned directly onto safe storage. We work carefully around each area with weakness.
Your files are restored from this “image” and compared with the original list then we ship them out to you in new media.
Depending upon size your files will be shipped back on an external drive, or via download at no charge, if they are under 75GB.
Since the identical head, motor and board are readily available on the shelf, most clickers and grinders can go directly into service, no waiting weeks for a replacement donor drive.
Tell us about your drive and we’ll come back to you, usually within half an hour during the working day.
We’ll be in touch shortly. If it’s urgent, call 0191 406 1051.
There are no additional fees and there is no pressure sales tactic: we provide you with a free diagnosis prior to beginning any work and provide you with a written quote of what services we would like to perform.
In-house we have completed several recent click and grind jobs that were processed locally. All identifying information has been removed to ensure your confidentiality, all results have also been confirmed by our engineers.
After being knocked a drive suffered a complete head stack failure. From our stock we took a matching donor head assembly. We then performed an in-house swap and successfully recovered the data from the second pass on the donor head assembly.
The issue was identified as a failed spindle motor. We removed the platters to a compatible donor drive, aligned the heads and recovered the entire volume with all data intact.
Due to a fall the heads became stuck. We freed and swapped the head stack from our inventory. We then imaged the drive and restored all files prior to the deadline.
When you send the unit in for its free diagnostic, let us know what happened with the unit. An engineer will review the unit and confirm your quote in writing prior to starting on your recovery.
Before you post or drop off your device, please get a quote from us by phone or with the form. Once we receive your device, our recovery process can start. Safely pack your device, include your name and contact information within the packaging and ship it to us. After performing your free diagnostic, we’ll send you a written confirmation of the exact price of our services prior to starting any work.
If you decide to post it, we would advise using a trackable and insured postal service. Or if you prefer to drop it off, we are open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm, and you don’t need an appointment. Just pack the unit as described in step one before dropping it off.
Would you like a little more background information prior to sending it? Fill in the form to provide more details about your problem; an engineer will evaluate it and reply with a customised quote.
We’ll be in touch shortly. If it’s urgent, call 0191 406 1051.
The most common questions asked of us regarding click and grind hard drive recovery:
In most cases when a drive emits a grinding or clicking noise this indicates that there has been a failure with either the read/write head(s) or an impending failure of the spindle motor. While the drive continues to try and self-recover this is what produces the repetitive ‘click of death’ that you hear. Your drive requires professional service (repair), not merely being plugged into a new system.
No. Every single time you turn on a bad head hard drive there is always an opportunity for you to damage the platters (or “score” them) when trying to recover the lost data. It is better to switch it off immediately and contact us as soon as possible to try to save the lost data.
In most cases, yes. Generally we will take the faulty drives in-house. We will remove and replace either the faulty head assembly or motor (usually). Then we will run a full backup of your hard drive (image) and build back your original files. This is generally something that we do on a daily basis as far as receiving drives from outside companies go.
The cost of repairing a clicking or grinding hard disk drive (HDD) will be £300 plus VAT. In addition, you will receive a complimentary report detailing the results of our initial diagnostic test. This way, you will have a clear understanding of what needs to be done. In most cases you only pay if we recover your data. However, we do charge a labour and parts cost when a hard disk has been damaged as a result of being dropped, contains platters that have been scratched or was opened prior to arriving here.
For most click drive recoveries, the rebuild will normally take approximately 2 business days after approval of the quote. And for normal diagnostics they should be completed within 48 hours. However if this is urgent please let us know so that we can push it to the top of our list.
All major manufacturers (Seagate, Western Digital, Toshiba, Samsung, HGST, Hitachi, Maxtor, Fujitsu, IBM, Quantum, SanDisk, LaCie, G-Technology, Buffalo, Verbatim, ADATA, Transcend, Silicon Power, Iomega, UnionSine, ModusTech and Intenso) in all three sizes (3.5 inch desktop, 2.5 inch laptop, external), and across all four interfaces (SATA, SAS, IDE and SCSI).
We offer two options for how to get your hard disk drive repaired. First, drop off the hard disk drive with us at our office located in Newcastle Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm. Alternatively, you may post your hard disk drive to us fully insured. When sending by post please ensure it is packaged securely and sealed and include all relevant contact information (name, postal address, telephone number and e-mail). On receipt of your hard disk drive, we will carry out the complimentary diagnostic test and issue a written quotation detailing the costs of any subsequent works prior to commencing those works.
We offer a complimentary written diagnostic and in most cases you only pay if we recover your data. We also have an inventory of 10,000 parts to support each and every job. Start recovering your files now.