Dropping it, knocking it, or bumping it can force the heads into the platters, and every time you turn on the computer after that has the potential to scratch them further. Our engineers open your drive, replace what was broken from our parts store of 10,000, and recover the data in-house.
If you hear your dropped drive click, grind, or if it seems to be working at random times, this indicates that the heads have been damaged. Each time you turn the drive on the heads may be able to scratch the platter destroying data that will probably still be recoverable today. Do not try recovery software and do not keep trying it; switch it off immediately and contact us.
Because of their small tolerance, when a hard disk falls, the damage can be serious mechanically and these types of failures that occur due to a drop in a hard disk drive are seen, and reversed, most commonly.
Since 2002 we have retrieved lost data from damaged and dropped hard disk drives made by all of the well-known manufacturers. If it keeps its data on spinning platters, the odds are we can help.
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.
To get your data back from a dropped or damaged drive we first need to physically fix what was broken by the drop. Once this is done we will read your data off of the drive (in order) while handling the data gently.
Simply bring the dropped or damaged drive in, or post it in to us. Once we receive your drive we will inspect the head, platter, and motor damage and write out a quote (usually within 48 hours).
Our engineers open the drive in-house and look at it under magnification to see exactly how much damage was caused by the drop.
We pull off matching heads, motors or components from our inventory as opposed to spending weeks waiting for a donor hard drive to arrive.
In addition to the head stack (the most common area damaged when an item impacts) we replace any other failed components of your drive.
We then copy each sector of the drive you had repaired into stable media, going through all sectors one at a time until every sector is copied, avoiding any bad sectors or ones that may have been scratched.
Once we’ve completed copying your files from this good image, we will verify them against a file listing and ship them back to you on clean 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.
With matching heads and motors in stock (and parts), most dropped or damaged drives go directly into repair, no weeks lost finding a 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.
Recent examples of in-house repairs of dropped and damaged units; identifying details related to each job were omitted, but the results confirmed by verifying the data.
Textbook example of damage from a drop. A donor head stack was used (from our inventory) and the drive was repaired in-house and then fully imaged on the second run through.
Damage to the heads and the motor caused by an impact. Both items were taken from inventory and installed as replacements. After that, the drive’s alignment was performed and the entire volume of the drive was restored.
Damaged heads after falling. We have been able to replace them with a new matching donor head set, image the drive and recover nearly all of the files.
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.
These are items that people enquire about in regards to their crashed or physically damaged drives.
There is potential for significant damage when you drop your drive. Upon impact, there is a possibility that the read/write heads will crash down on top of the platters damaging either or both. In addition, you may hear what sounds like a ‘clicking’ noise as the heads continually reset attempting to find readable data. This type of failure is considered to be a physical failure which would require that the drive be opened and the heads replaced rather than being repairable through software means.
No. This is by far the most important thing regarding dropping a hard drive with damaged read/write heads. Each time you allow the drive to spin-up, there is additional risk of scoring (gouging) the platter surfaces, potentially causing what could otherwise be a recoverable item to become permanently unrecoverable. Please switch it off immediately and refrain from using it until we’ve had the opportunity to review it.
Yes, mostly. Typically we do all of this in-house. The first thing we’ll need to do is take apart the internal components, remove the bad heads that caused your failure and repair or replace any other damaged internal component(s) with an exact replacement part from our inventory. Next we will image (clone) the good parts of the failed hard drive. Then we will have enough information to reconstruct your files and put them back onto a functioning external drive. Dropped and knocked drives are common occurrences for us.
No. If you’ve experienced intermittent access issues after dropping your drive, it’s likely due to your head assembly failing. The longer you use a drive that has suffered such an issue, the greater the likelihood of damaging one of your data storage platters. It would be best to power off the device and contact us as soon as possible to schedule a recovery.
The base charge for a “dropped” or physically damaged hard drive (with our company) is £300 + VAT. We’ll send you a complimentary written diagnostic and, in most cases, you only pay if we recover your data. Some cases of extreme physical damage (e.g. severely scratched platters) will require an additional quote for critical recovery services. This will always be sent in writing prior to commencing any repairs.
Most dropped drive recoveries typically take anywhere from 3 to 4 working days after approval of the quote to complete. In many cases, a diagnostic is completed within 48 hours. In urgent situations, if you let us know how fast you need it done, we can try to move it up in priority.
All leading manufacturers of hard disk drives (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 3.5-inch desktop and 2.5-inch laptop as well as 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch external form factors.
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.