A hard drive rarely fails without some warning first. The symptoms of an impending failure include clicking sounds, freezing, missing files, or when your PC is unable to read the disk. What you do in the next hour will determine what data you can recover. This page explains the common symptoms and tells you which safe first action to take. If you wish us to recover your lost data, then our in-house laboratory will be able to do this for you, from £300 + VAT.
Most of the time your drive will provide warning before it goes bad. If you learn how to identify the signs, you may be able to diagnose a problem before you lose access to your data. However, if you don't, what was once a recoverable error could potentially turn into a very difficult one to recover from. These are the common problems that we see on the Edinburgh bench, approximately by order of urgency.
The most dangerous indicator of failure. When you hear rhythmic clicking from your hard disk drive (HDD) read/write head(s), this usually means they have physically failed and are stuck in an infinite loop of parking and resetting. Turn off the power as soon as possible: each additional minute risks damage to your disk surfaces. This is a physical failure and needs a professional lab, not software.
A system where the HDD hangs up your entire computer operation or takes an extremely long time to simply open a directory or file often indicates the disk has "bad sectors" (failing areas) which it continues to attempt to access. Although the data on this disk may still be retrievable, the opportunity to retrieve this data is rapidly approaching its end. Immediately discontinue all use of the disk for critical purposes.
Information that existed yesterday but does not exist today, empty folders (that used to contain something) or folders renamed to gibberish suggest a corrupted file system. The actual files are likely still on the disk; however, when you write to the disk again you run the risk of writing over those same lost files.
A hard drive your PC no longer recognises (missing from Explorer or Disk Management) has failed electronically, mechanically or within its firmware, the last being a known problem for Seagate drives in particular, as well as some other manufacturers. When it comes to external disks, failure may be due to issues with the enclosure itself rather than the physical disk (which would be considered somewhat better news).
A blue screen of death (BSOD) or "no boot disk found" on a computer's startup, or a machine that won't boot, often indicates the failure of its system hard drive. Most of the time, the data will be recoverable even if the operating system itself cannot be restored.
The Windows prompt to "format" a known full disk is a file system error and not an indication of empty space. Do not allow the formatting process to begin. The lost files are nearly always still there, buried by an error in the file directory index.
Each hard drive failure will fall into one of two categories, and that categorisation will give you an idea of what it takes to recover all or part of your data. A physical or mechanical failure (failed heads, a seized motor, a burnt out PCB, firmware corruption) requires opening up the drive on the bench and replacing the bad parts with matched donor parts prior to being able to even read the first byte of data off the drive. These are what we call the "clicking", the "silent" and the "drive doesn't show up at all" failures. A logical failure (files have been deleted from the disk, a quick format was performed, a file system has become corrupt, an update has failed) causes no damage to the physical state of the disk itself, but makes it impossible to access your files by going down the standard path. In this case, recovering your files is simply a matter of making an image of the entire disk and then using some software to rebuild the structure from that image. Because physical repairs require more work to do (finding matching donor parts for each damaged item inside the drive, taking apart the drive on the bench to get to those items, many hours of very specialised labour) than logical repairs, physical repairs also generally cost more. It's worth noting that the purpose of our free diagnostic is to identify whether your drive is suffering a physical failure or a logical failure as accurately as possible. The reason is simple: if we cannot know which category your drive fits into before we begin quoting a price for your repair service, we are simply guessing, and you deserve better than that.
No matter why your storage device failed, our process always starts with copying the contents of the original and protects it throughout.
First we determine if there was a physical fault in the system, or a logical one. We also want to know what caused this issue and how much of the data can be recovered. Then, depending on our findings, we will provide you with a fixed written quote, usually within 48 hours.
Firstly, we will address any physical issues, as these need to be resolved prior to logical issues: finding matched donor heads, repairing the main logic board, fixing the firmware, whatever needs doing to allow us to read your drive once, on the bench.
Next, a sector-by-sector clone of your disk drive is taken while avoiding the problem area(s) where your disk drive fails. From here on, every action we take regarding your disk drive will occur on this copy of your disk drive. Thus, your original remains safe from any additional stress that could cause damage.
The file system will be rebuilt from your image and your files extracted, verified and returned to you on fresh media or a secure download. Most of the time, you only pay if we recover your data.
When a hard drive fails, or is suspected of failing, the best first course of action is almost always to stop and shut it off. Turn off the power and do not use the hard drive again, especially if it's making clicking noises. Do not attempt to fix a physically failing drive by running repair tools such as chkdsk or disk utilities; these cause the failing sectors to be worked even harder and could lead to a clean recovery becoming a partial one. Do not continue to restart your computer hoping that the drive will come back. Do not install recovery software to the very same drive you're attempting to recover. For those who value their data, the safest route is to get a quote first (by either telephone or the form) and then take the drive to our facility for a complimentary diagnostic assessment prior to allowing anyone or anything to touch the drive. We allow customers to drop off the drive at our South Gyle drop-off location, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm, with no appointment needed, or post it insured from anywhere within Scotland.
Failing hard drives will normally give you some warning before they completely fail. The signs of a failing drive include such symptoms as clicking or grinding noises, the drive freezing up or being slow to open a file, files disappearing from your PC, or an occasional system crash. A dead (failed) hard drive is one that the operating system can no longer locate or use. In both scenarios your lost data is often still recoverable; however, the sooner you stop using the bad drive, the higher your chances for recovery are. If you're unsure whether or not your drive has failed, our free diagnostic will tell you exactly where it stands.
Usually, yes. The reason a hard drive is dead to a computer is almost always a failure in either the mechanical, electronic or firmware part of the drive. Most of these failures do not result in loss of data. Enough of the failing component(s) can be repaired to allow us to read the disk at least once, make an image (copy) of the disk, then rebuild your files from that image. Even drives that click or won't spin are routinely recovered, as the platters holding your data are often perfectly intact.
Not if your data is important. Chkdsk and other repair tools will cause a failing physical disk to try to access its failing sectors repeatedly, causing damage. While "repairing" the file system they may also overwrite data that was otherwise recoverable. They are fine when you are trying to repair a healthy drive that has a logical error; they are dangerous on a drive that is physically failing. The trouble is that you cannot always visually identify whether or not you have a physical failure. Therefore, if in doubt, do not continue to run these types of tools but seek diagnosis first.
A single hard drive will cost you £300 + VAT for the normal service. There are no charges to carry out a diagnosis on your item. Once we have done this, and before we start, we provide a fixed, written quotation of how much it will cost to do your work. In most cases, you only pay if we recover your data. Only extreme examples of physical damage or where we require specialist chip-level repair would incur an additional charge beyond the base rate, and you would know the exact price first.
Many times it is the case, which is a positive. The external box has its own printed circuit board and connectors, both of which are more likely to fail than the internal drive. A portion of your free diagnostics will include an evaluation of the health of the hard drive itself. If all of the problems are with the enclosure (box), then recovery is straightforward.
Whether your drive is simply clicking, dead, or acting strangely, the first step should be to stop using it and have someone look at it. The diagnosis that takes place in Edinburgh has no cost for the diagnostic service, a fixed quote will be provided for any repair, and in most cases you only pay if we recover your data.