Toshiba Laptop Hard Drive Making Grinding Noises & Failing to Read Data

A local dentist contacted us after their Toshiba laptop’s hard drive started making grinding noises, with the following issues:

  • Laptop failed to boot, remaining stuck on the loading screen.
  • Grinding sounds were heard from the Seagate hard drive, suggesting physical damage.
  • Attempts to connect the drive externally failed to recognize it.
  • The drive contained critical patient records, appointment schedules, and financial data.

Since continued operation of a grinding hard drive can cause permanent platter damage, an immediate cleanroom recovery solution was required.

Diagnosis & Evaluation

When the Seagate 2.5” SATA hard drive from the Toshiba laptop arrived at our cleanroom facility, we conducted a full hardware diagnostic. Our findings:

  1. Read/write head crash – The drive’s heads had physically impacted the platters, causing damage.
  2. Internal debris detected – Fragments of the damaged heads were loose inside the drive.
  3. Surface platter damage – Minor scoring on the platters due to head contact.

Since grinding noises indicate severe mechanical issues, we prioritized cleanroom head replacement and platter resurfacing to maximise data recovery.

The Recovery Process

1. Cleanroom Head Replacement & Platter Resurfacing

Since the read/write heads were damaged, we:

  • Opened the hard drive in our cleanroom.
  • Replaced the failed heads with donor parts from an identical Seagate drive.
  • Carefully removed internal debris to prevent further damage.
  • Resurfaced the platters to repair minor scratches and stabilize data readability.

2. Imaging & Cloning the Hard Drive to Preserve Data

Once the drive was mechanically stabilized, we:

  • Created a sector-by-sector clone to extract as much readable data as possible.
  • Used specialised tools to bypass damaged areas and recover fragmented files.

3. Extracting & Verifying Business Data for the Dental Practice

Once data extraction was complete, we:

  • Recovered patient records, financial transactions, and appointment schedules.
  • Repaired corrupted database files and spreadsheets.
  • Transferred the fully restored data to a secure external SSD for future backups.

The Results: 95% Data Recovery Success

Thanks to our cleanroom repairs and sector-level data extraction techniques, we successfully recovered 95% of the dentist’s lost business data, including:

✅ Patient appointment schedules and dental records
✅ Financial reports, invoices, and insurance documents
✅ Digital X-rays and medical imaging files

The dental practice was able to continue operations without losing critical patient data, preventing regulatory and financial setbacks.

Why Choose Us?

With 25 years of experience and tens of thousands of successful recoveries, we are the leading laptop hard drive data recovery specialists in Leeds and the UK. Our expertise includes:

✔ Grinding noise hard drive recovery & head replacement
✔ Cleanroom platter resurfacing
✔ Dental & medical records data retrieval
✔ Secure & confidential business data recovery

If your hard drive is making grinding noises, failing to boot, or showing signs of mechanical failure, stop using it immediately and contact us for expert data recovery.

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