The counterintuitive fact of lost data from a fallen hard drive is that the fall will often leave some level of survivable damage. Heads can bounce, mispark, or get stuck; alignment may be off by just a little bit. And the reason for losing the data after this damage has occurred is due to something most people do immediately after dropping their drives: plug them back in to verify they are still working. Dragging damaged heads across a platter spinning at 5,400rpm takes seconds to do what pavement could never accomplish.
If a drive was on (i.e., in use) when it fell, because an external was knocked off the desk while in the middle of copying or a laptop was dropped while awake, for example, then the heads are moving across the platter as the unit hits the floor, and there is likely to be contact between them. These are the urgent ones. If the drive was off (i.e. powered down), then the heads would have been parked on their respective ramps. Drives that were off often survive the fall itself entirely, but if one tries to power up after such a fall, either the heads or the spindle may now be slightly askew and damage could occur.
Both scenarios will use the same testing methodology: no testing at all. The state of the drive should be determined by examination on a bench, not demonstration in a USB port.
The tiny tolerance for error inside is very tight. Heads fly nanometres over the platter; spindles are balanced with incredible precision. A fall can leave the heads stuck to the platter (that beep you hear when you turn it on); knock the spindle out of its rotational balance, which then has to be fought by the motor (you can hear it); or shake loose a micro particle that now waits on the surface like a landmine. None of these issues will be obvious just looking at the outside casing. All of them are fixable on the bench, but only if they haven't been subjected to the stresses caused by running the drive after the fall.
Crushed & deformed cases have to take their place in the same queue; the housing takes the abuse, and the discs are usually OK, but now we have to be even more gentle when taking them apart.
The first step for every dropped drive is to open it up and inspect it, before it is ever spun. Once the case is removed, the next step is to check the surfaces of the magnetic disk. After checking the surfaces, there will be an assessment of whether the read/write heads are functioning properly. The next step is to free any assembly that has become stuck during the impact, and to fit donor parts where the originals died in the fall. Then we take one gentle image on the DeepSpar, leaving the weak regions until last, and everything after that is done on the copy. It is the same process as any mechanical recovery; the drop just decides how much of it is needed.
If one single drive is affected it costs a fixed £300 + VAT regardless of the type or extent of failure. The rare chip-level exception is quoted in writing first. We offer a free diagnostic before any work begins and quote all costs in writing before proceeding. Most jobs will cost nothing if your files don't come back. There are no hourly rates, evaluation fees, or percentages of file value charged.
It may be (parked heads are generally very rugged); however, "it's probably okay" is just about the worst possible attitude to have while testing your drive. The safe way to find out if your data will still make it home (if this is important to you) is with a free bench test and not by plugging it into a computer. If you must test it, do so only once; at the first sign of any click or beep, stop immediately.
This is the more serious pattern: the heads were flying upon impact and the clicking tells us they're damaged. However, it's still a typical donor head recovery if you stop the clicking early. The thing you have to control is restarts; each time you start it again, the damaged heads drag across your files. Off at the wall, padded well, sent in just as it is.
Not much at all. It is the internal and microscopic failure modes (i.e., stuck heads, shifted spindles, loose particles) which count, and these can never be seen by looking through the casing. A lack of external dents will not rule anything out, but an unusual sounding noise or behaviour will likely include all possibilities. Behaviour and noise are the real external signs.
Yes, we treat the drive as having been dropped (regardless of how badly your laptop has been damaged); on soldered-storage machines we work at board level instead. We just need the hard drive. Take the drive out before shipping. Any local computer shop should have no problem removing the drive from your laptop in a matter of minutes if you'd rather not open the machine yourself.
Before you drop your device off or post it, please get a quote from us by phone or using the form first. Then there are two honest routes for dropping off and delivery. No vans. Hand in the device at Tay House, 300 Bath Street (right at Charing Cross, two minutes off the M8) Monday to Friday, 9am–5:30pm, without need of an appointment. Or wrap the device well and send by insured, tracked post from anywhere in the UK. All work is done in-house by our own engineers. We have documentation of the complete chain of custody and your data never leaves the UK.
The damage has occurred already; now it's up to you to protect the outcome. We offer dropped hard drive recovery for Glasgow, with the drive assessed on the bench prior to it spinning again. We can provide a price quote first, after which you will be able to select either a drop-off at our Charing Cross premises or a well-padded, insured postal option.