Two units (drives) may be dropped from the same height but end up in completely different states. The difference is that one was powered on. Off, the heads are parked and the drive is able to tolerate real shock. On, the heads are “flying” a tiny amount of space away from the platters, and any impact closes this distance.
Almost everything about your chances of recovering your data is based on this one reality.
With modern drives all heads are pulled off the platter when idling. Therefore when you simply let a powered-down drive fall it has a pretty good shot of having nothing worse than a head stack that sticks or possibly a shifted spindle. Frequently this means that all of the data is recoverable.
At the time of the accident, the heads are microns away from a spinning platter (5400 RPM or 7200 RPM). An impact could potentially cause the heads to crash into the platter and create scratches in the coating. The damage caused by this event is irreversible.
If the drive keeps running after the impact, the damaged heads continue to run over the surface of the platters. They will continue to score the coated surface and turn what was a recoverable disk into one that is only partially recoverable. This is entirely avoidable.
Firstly, do not apply power to determine whether the drive still operates. It's natural to want to check; however, powering on will be the worst possible action you can take, because the instant a drive with a disturbed head stack starts spinning up, the heads will begin dragging across the platters.
Secondly, do not shake or tilt the drive, or hold it against your ear and turn it around to listen for sounds. If anything inside the drive came loose, any movement of the drive causes the debris inside to move across the surface of the platters.
Thirdly, package it correctly and post it. Put it in an anti-static bag, add plenty of firm padding, then put it in a box with lots of space all around it. A drive that has already experienced one fall does not need to experience another in the post.
Liquid as well as impact? If you dropped the drive in liquid or spilled something on top of it, please don't attempt to dry it out; also, please don't turn it on. A wet but unrun drive is much better off than a dry one that has been run.
Damage caused by impacts is considered mechanical-class work starting at £300 +VAT, and this would require a written agreement after our free diagnostic. We will let you know if there are signs of platter scoring at that time, and provide you with a realistic idea of how much data we expect to recover.
We charge a 50% down payment for bench work because when we begin, we incur cost; you pay the remaining amount due only upon successful recovery.
Yes, enough that you need to back it up today. Although a unit that was damaged during an incident may be operational until the damage shows up under load weeks later, copy every item of importance as soon as possible before the drive ceases operation completely.
Possibly. Hard drives are more delicate than their casings suggest, particularly when powered up. So, if your hard drive has made any new noise or has noticeably slowed down, consider it bad and do not continue to operate the unit.
Do not attempt to dry it out. Do not turn the hard drive back on. Fresh water is a lot better than salt water; however, both are workable as long as the hard drive has not been used (powered) since. Send it as it is, in a sealed bag.
The amount recovered varies greatly, from everything to very little, depending almost entirely upon whether the hard drive was operating at the time of damage and whether it operated again. The diagnostic determines what type of damage occurred before you commit.
No. Once it is opened, there could be dust particles landing on surfaces with sub-micron gaps between them. One speck of dust under the read/write head is all it takes to scratch the platter.
Entirely plausible. Damage to hard drives from impacts frequently occurs over time instead of immediately and, therefore, a drive may still function for a long time even though the heads have been altered by the original impact.
Each repair includes access to a 10,000-piece donor inventory, opens with a complimentary written diagnostic, and in most cases you only pay if we recover your data. Begin today.