Dropped your hard drive? Here’s why it’s stopped working (2024)
There is not a single person on this planet that has not, at some point in their lives, accidentally damaged a household electronic item. Televisions get knocked off stands, metal objects find their way in to washing machines, phones get stood on – these are just a few common examples and, here at Fields Data Recovery, we’re wellaccustomed to helping people who’ve dropped their laptops or external drives.It’s more common than you’d think and, sadly, the first thing that 99.9% ofpeople do after such an accident is the worst thing they could possibly dounder such circ*mstances.
We know from first-hand experience that the first thing you’ll want todo after dropping your laptop or drive is turn it on to see if it still works.It’s understandable: your anxious and want to find out if your expensive gadgetand valuable data are still fully-functional and intact. The second you pressthe ‘on’ button, though, you run the risk of losingallyourdata.
When a hard drive (or a device housing one) is dropped, variouscomponents can move or suffer damage. In either case, it’s a serious problemthat will only worsen should you attempt to operate the drive.
Onetypical outcome is a head crash wherein the drive’s head (used to bothstore and retrieve data) comes into contact with its platters (discs coated ina magnetic material). All of the data a hard drive holds is stored within thesurface of its platters. The surface is also extremely sensitive and isliterally stripped away when anything touches it.
As we’ve said previously, a head crash is a common following a drivehaving been dropped. We’ve also said that this results in the read/write headcoming into direct contact with the drive’s platters. So, if you were to thenpower up the drive and the motor began spinning the platters, the delicatesurface – the part that holds your important data – suffers more and moredamage.
This motor seizing is another common symptom of a dropped hard drive.This is problematic as a seized motor cannot turn but, power up your drive andit’ll try persistently, to do so, generating lots of residual heat in theprocess. Hard drives don’t like heat and trying to boot up your drive underthese circ*mstances is also a sure-fire way of losing your data forever.
What you should do if you’ve dropped your hard drive
We’ll be able to check your drive and determine what needs to be done torepair it without risking permanent data loss. The best part: we’ll thenprovide a no-obligation quote and, if you don’t like the price, we’ll simplyreturn your drive to you without needing to spend a penny. You literally havenothing to lose.
When a hard drive is dropped, the read/write heads
read/write heads
A disk read-and-write head is the small part of a disk drive which moves above the disk platter and transforms the platter's magnetic field into electric current (reads the disk) or, vice versa, transforms electric current into magnetic field (writes the disk).
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Disk_read-and-write_head
that fly above the platters can suffer severe damage. These heads operate with a clearance of as little as 3 nanometers. A drop can cause the heads to become mangled or bent.
IF the issue is the heads, you can attempt a head swap and regain access to the data. IF the issue is media damage (damage to the platters where the data is stored), then the data would most probably be unrecoverable.
When a hard drive (or a device housing one) is dropped, various components can move or suffer damage. In either case, it's a serious problem that will only worsen should you attempt to operate the drive.
Physical contact or damage, heat, humidity, dust, power surges, or even time can cause hard drive failure. Dust, water, or dropping are some reasons HDDs fail, shortening their lifespan. Avoid taking your device with you when it's not needed and cleaning it helps you conserve the hard drive and the data on it.
Of course, HDDs can be repaired! However, a repaired HDD should not be reused, but rather, have its contents recovered immediately and then be discarded as it cannot be trusted to work into the future.
What to do when your hard drive fails? Once you have backed up your data, you can try to repair the hard drive using a data recovery software program. However, if the hard drive is physically damaged, then it is unlikely that it can be repaired. If the hard drive cannot be repaired, then you will need to replace it.
To recover data from a corrupted external hard drive on Windows 11 First, check all connections and try Windows' built-in Error Checking and CHKDSK tools. If these fail, use data recovery software. Select your drive in the software, run a scan, choose files to recover, and save them to a different drive.
A traditional hard drive when “parked” (completely powered off) is rated to survive up to 250 Gs worth of shock over 2 milliseconds. In use however, hard drives are rated to endure 30 Gs of shock when writing (saving), and 60 Gs when reading.
Circuit failure: components of the electronic circuitry may fail making the drive inoperable, often due to electrostatic discharge or user error. Bearing and motor failure: electric motors may fail or burn out, and bearings may wear enough to prevent proper operation.
Sticking a hard drive in the freezer is not a reliable method for data recovery. It is absolutely not recommended or a long-term solution. In fact, it very likely will cause much more damage to the drive due to moisture condensation.
Dropping a hard drive can cause damage to its read/write heads and the platters that store the data. The severity of the damage depends on the height from which the hard drive was dropped, the surface it landed on, and whether the hard drive was turned on or not at the time of the impact.
On average, you should expect to pay around $300-$500 for data recovery when you have accidentally erased directories or files. A logically damaged (ransomware) hard drive will probably cost between $500 and $1,000 to fix, while a physically damaged hard drive will probably cost between $1000 and $3,000 to fix.
Repairing a hard drive will not restore the data it holds. In fact, the task of putting a broken hard drive back together again is – if not done within a unique environment – certain to result in it being lost altogether.
If your hard drive is no longer in warranty, you should probably just upgrade to a new one. While there are vendors who offer physical hard drive repair, and there's nothing wrong with at least getting a quote for repair, the truth is you simply may not want to risk another failure from faulty or aging equipment.
For More Complex Problems: If your 1TB hard drive faces more severe issues like stuck heads or substantial firmware problems, the cost can escalate to anywhere between $300 and $2000. The intricacies of dealing with larger drives at this level of recovery can sometimes influence these costs.
When the file system on an external hard drive becomes corrupted the data stored on it can become inaccessible. In these cases, recovery software can often restore access to the data by navigating the complexities of the damaged file system and retrieving the files without needing to repair the file system itself.
Introduction: My name is Jonah Leffler, I am a determined, faithful, outstanding, inexpensive, cheerful, determined, smiling person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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