It is important to remember that hard drives are made up of incredibly delicate parts and, as such, are not designed to be opened once assembled.
This is the main reason that hard drive manufacturers will normally offer to replace a defective drive if it’s within the warranty period, but recovering your data is another matter. Furthermore, there are no industry standard manuals or designs for hard disk drives, meaning data recovery technicians like our own at Data Recovery Specialists have spent years studying the inner workings of hard drives. What makes matters even harder is that no drive is the same; although all applying the same basic principle, different manufacturers utilise different techniques when constructing hard drives, and these are typically closely-guarded.
The manner of which a hard disk drive fails will determine the solution to its repair; a laptop that has been dropped and its hard drive suffered a head crash will require a different strategy to an external hard drive dropped in the bath. It is important to remember, though, that hard drive recovery should only be attempted by professional data recovery specialists, and not high street PC repair shops or big computer superstores. These establishments lack the skills, knowledge and expertise to successfully get your data back, and in many cases, they can make matters worse. Many of these companies, including a well-known large electronics superstore, ask for payment upfront. This is why at Data Recovery Specialists we offer a free diagnostic service in our ISO-accredited lab, complete with a listing of recoverable files and a no-obligation quote that you can choose to accept or decline.
Hard drives aren’t invincible and don’t last forever. In fact, due to the multitude of intricate parts located within them, they’re incredibly easy to break. While all hard disk drives share the same basic structure, manufacturers will assemble them in different ways. Inside a hard drive, you have the read/write heads, the platters, the actuator arms and the spindle motor. All of these components are delicate, and don’t handle shocks well, to put it lightly.
The first sign of hard disk failure is typically a clicking noise, which can be indicative of a head crash. This can be caused by a sudden drop, causing the read/write heads to come into contact with the magnetic platters where they hover a fraction above. In some cases, this can cause irreparable damage to the hard disk drive, so it’s important to power your drive down immediately if you suspect a head crash. Another type of noise that is quite distinctive from the clicking or ticking associated with a head crash, is a grinding or screeching noise – this highly suggests an issue with the spindle motor.
To conclude, then, it’s clear that hard disk drives are not resilient pieces of equipment, and are easily prone to damage. In the event of hard drive failure, it’s vital that you contact a professional data recovery specialist who will be able to diagnose and, fingers crossed, get your data back.
Give Data Recovery Specialists a call on 0800 223 0162, or fill out the form on our contact page, for a free, no-obligation quote.