A failing hard drive rarely dies without warning. Sounds like clicking, freezes, files disappearing silently or when using the disk, the computer has no access to it at all: these are the signs of a dying hard drive. What you do within the first hour will decide how much of this information will be recovered. The purpose of this web page is to help explain what each of these symptoms means and also give you safe options to proceed. When you need the data recovered, our lab does it in-house, from £300 + VAT.
Most drives will tell you that something is wrong before they fail completely. Take note of what your drive says, and by the time you realise there’s an issue with your data, you may still have enough time to retrieve it; if you don’t pay attention, you’ll likely find out once you’ve lost access to the data. The common problems we encounter in-house appear to follow this order from worst to least severe.
More serious than the rest. Rhythmic clicks are usually due to the read/write heads losing their ability to function and parking/resetting over and over. Shut it down now: each minute you wait will increase the risk that the platter(s) will be scored. Since this is a physical failure, you need the laboratory, and not software.
When you can’t use your drive because all functions freeze, or when opening a folder takes an excessively long time, this is indicative of the failure of hard drive sectors (the parts of the platter where data is stored). In many cases the drive may still be imageable, but the window is closing. Stop using your drive for any critical applications now!
Files that existed yesterday, but are now gone, or folders that open empty or have names changed to something nonsensical indicate the file system is breaking down. Usually, the files in question are still located on the hard drive; however, it’s likely when you attempt to write anything else to the disk you will be writing over some of those existing files.
A disk that your computer can no longer see (either it is not visible to Explorer, or you cannot find it in Disk Management) has failed. This means the electronic components (circuits) are faulty, the mechanical parts of the disk are faulty, or there is an error in its firmware. Firmware errors on some models of disks have been well-documented, notably those manufactured by Seagate. If it’s an external drive, the fault can be in the enclosure rather than the disk, which is better news.
Often, if your computer won’t boot, boots up in blue screen mode or says “no bootable device”, it indicates that there’s an error with your system hard drive. Your files should usually be recoverable, even if your operating system will never work again.
When Windows asks to reformat a disk you know has files on it, this means the file system is corrupt, so don’t click yes; the data is almost certainly still intact.
Every hard drive that fails falls into one of these two categories. Knowing whether your drive is failing either physically/mechanically (failed head, motor seized, burned out circuit board, firmware corrupted) or logically (files have been deleted, quick formatted, file system has been corrupted, an update has failed) helps you know how much of the recovery will be required. If it is mechanically/physically failing, the drive will need to be taken apart and repaired with compatible donor parts prior to even reading a single file. This is the “clicking”, the “silence”, the “drive not detected”. If it is logically failing, then the hardware itself may still be good; however, the data cannot be accessed using the normal method. Recovery is typically just a matter of making an image of the disk and restoring/rebuilding the logical file system using software. Since recovering from physical failures requires more resources (e.g. finding donor components, disassembling the drive carefully, etc.), physical recoveries are generally going to be more expensive as they require more time and labour than logical recoveries. The free diagnostic’s first job is to tell you which category your drive is in, so the quote is real rather than a guess.
Regardless of the problem you are experiencing with the hard disk drive, we will follow this procedure: first copy, and protect the original at every step.
The next steps include identifying if the problem was due to a hardware (physical) failure, or a software issue (logical), determining what caused the failure and how much can be recovered, and providing a fixed-price written quote for all work required to restore the data from the failed disk drive, in most cases within 48 hours.
All physical problems are identified and repaired first (e.g. fit a donor head, repair a faulty circuit board, fix firmware), just enough to get the disk drive readable once.
A bit-for-bit (sector-by-sector) copy of the original disk is made by bypassing the sectors that are failing. Once this copy is complete, every subsequent operation for the disk is run against the copy. This ensures the original fails no further.
Your file system will be recreated from an image of your drive. We extract all of your files, verify them and then we deliver these files to you either via a new piece of media or via a secure download. Most of the time there is no cost to recover your data unless it has been recovered successfully.
If you suspect your hard drive may be going bad, the best thing you can do first is to shut it down and leave it turned off, especially if it’s making a clicking noise. Running repair tools such as chkdsk or running any form of disk utility on a failing physical drive makes it work harder over the exact parts of the drive that are failing. As a result, what would have otherwise been a full recovery could now potentially be only partially successful. Do not continue to power cycle the machine in hopes that it may “come back”. Additionally, do not install recovery software onto the same physical drive you are attempting to recover. In cases where data is critical to the client, it is generally recommended that the client bring the drive to us prior to any other attempts being made to access its data so that we can provide a complimentary diagnostic review. Once we have provided a quote for your data recovery needs, clients are invited to drop off their drives at our Leeds drop-off location (drop-offs without appointments are accepted) or send them to us by post from anywhere in Yorkshire (clients should insure their package).
A failing hard drive will normally let you know when something has gone wrong: the most common signs are a “clicking” or grinding noise coming from the hard drive while it’s working, your computer freezes up on occasion, or it takes an extremely long time to read/write information to/from your hard drive, files go missing, and/or you get the occasional blue screen of death. A completely dead (failed) hard drive means that the hard drive is no longer seen by your computer as a valid source of data storage. In both cases the data stored on either type of hard drive can often be recovered, but the earlier you stop using the drive, the better the odds. If in doubt, the free diagnostic tells you exactly what state it’s in.
Most of the time, yes. A hard drive that will no longer be recognised by your computer is either defective with mechanical issues, electronic failures or faulty firmware. In most cases, we can recover the original data. Once we have repaired the fault enough to access your data, we then create an exact replica of your hard drive and rebuild your files from that copy. Drives that make noise when trying to access them or those which will not even attempt to rotate do not necessarily mean the platter(s) containing your information cannot be successfully recovered.
If your data is important to you, then no. Chkdsk and repair utilities will pound a failing physical drive in the same area of failure as they attempt to fix the file system. While they may correct an error or two by overwriting some recoverable data, they can damage more data than they correct. Tools like this are safe to use when you’re working on a good drive with a logical issue, but they’re hazardous for use on a dying drive (and there’s often little to distinguish them from the outside). So, take a step back and get the drive looked at before using them.
A single hard disk will be charged at £300 + VAT for standard recovery. There is no charge for the diagnosis. You’ll receive a fixed written quote of how much it will cost prior to doing anything else. In most data recovery cases there is absolutely nothing to pay if we can’t recover your files. All work that would exceed this (e.g. serious physical damage or chip-level repair) is explained to you as to what the exact additional costs will be up front.
It’s common for external cases to be at a higher risk of failure than the internal hard drive. This can be considered positive news. In addition to having its own printed circuit board (PCB) and connectors, an external case will generally experience failures in the PCB and connectors before experiencing a failure with the actual hard drive inside. A part of our complimentary diagnostic process is determining if there are any issues with the actual hard drive itself; if there are no problems with the hard drive itself, but instead only with the enclosure, recovering the data from the enclosure is usually relatively easy.
Clicking, dead or just acting erratically? Either way, the best course of action is always to immediately stop using it and contact us. We provide a complimentary diagnostic service. Your fixed quote is provided to you in writing prior to any repair work being performed on your unit. On most projects, you only pay if we successfully recover your data.