Short answer
Stop using the drive. Portable drives do not handle shock well, and the internal heads and possibly the platters are likely damaged. We assess it for free and give a quote. If you approve, we repair the drive temporarily in a dust-free environment, usually by replacing the heads, then clone it, starting with your most important files. If it stops, we repeat the repair with more spare parts.
We understand the distress this situation has caused.
It is common for portable drives to be susceptible to shock, as they are not designed to withstand significant impact.
To prevent further damage, we strongly advise discontinuing use of the drive.
We offer a complimentary diagnostic service to assess the damage. It is highly probable that the internal heads and potentially the platters of the drive have sustained damage.
Upon assessment, we will provide a free quote for the data recovery process. Should you approve the cost, we will proceed with a temporary repair of the drive in a controlled industrial environment. This typically involves replacing internal components, such as the read/write heads, to enable the cloning process.
The repaired drive is expected to function for a limited duration. Our priority will be to extract the most critical files. In the event of drive failure during this process, we will repeat the repair and cloning steps with additional spare parts until all your essential data is successfully transferred to a new hard drive.
Related help
- More about hard drive data recovery.
- Read a real job: dropped hard drive head replacement case study.
- And another: scratched platter recovery case study.
- See more data recovery success stories.
- Ready to start? Get a free assessment and quote.
International customers are always welcome. Post your device to us from anywhere.