Clicking Seagate ST4000DM000 4TB: Donor Heads Fitted, 2 Weak Heads Read Last

Can a clicking Seagate ST4000DM000 be recovered? In this case, yes. Jennifer’s 4TB drive clicked and would not show up because its heads had failed. The platters were undamaged, so our data recovery engineer fitted matching donor heads, patched the ROM on the PC-3000, read the six strong heads first and the two weak heads last.

Sound familiar?

• Your hard drive clicks over and over when it powers on.
• The computer does not show the drive at all.
• It holds years of family photos you have no other copy of.
• You need the files back as fast as possible.

Same problem? Call 1300 444 800 or request a free assessment.

Years of Family Photos on a Clicking Seagate 4TB

Jennifer in Melbourne sent us a Seagate 3.5 inch 4TB SATA drive, model ST4000DM000. It had started clicking and would not show up on her computer.

The drive held years of irreplaceable family photos and personal files. She asked for our Emergency service. That means everything else stops, and the team works around the clock until the data is back.

The Problem: Why Does a Seagate ST4000DM000 Click and Not Show Up?

Our data recovery engineer recognised the problem the moment he heard it. That clicking is one of the most common failures on Seagate drives, and it pointed straight to bad heads.

The read and write heads are tiny parts that float just above the platters and actually read the data. When they fail, the drive cannot find its bearings. So it clicks over and over, trying to recalibrate, and never becomes ready for the computer to see.

The good news was that the fault was mechanical. The problem was in the parts that read the data, not in the data itself.

The Seagate ST4000DM000 Clicking Data Recovery Process

A head replacement needs donor heads from a matching drive. This is where Emergency service really counts, because waiting on parts would have held the whole job up.

Our lab holds over 30,000 donor parts, including around 20,000 donor hard drives. The team had a matching donor on hand straight away.

The data recovery engineer opened Jennifer’s drive in the dust free laminar flow cabinet and checked the platters first. There was no scoring or damage, so the data underneath was intact.

He swapped in the healthy donor heads. Then he used the PC-3000 to patch the ROM, so the drive would recognise its new parts. With that done, the drive came back to life and cloning began.

Why Were Two of the Eight Heads Read Last?

Partway into the clone, the data recovery engineer noticed something. Two of the eight heads were running slow and unstable.

Forcing them would have risked the weak heads failing mid-clone. So he ran the strong heads first, to secure the bulk of the data while the drive was reading well. Then he went back and worked the two unstable heads slowly and carefully to fill in the rest.

That order matters. Once most of the data is safely copied, a weak head can only cost the part that is still missing.

Seagate ST4000DM000 Clicking Case Study: The Results

With the clone complete, the job passed to another team member. They extracted the files, ran verification checks and saved everything to a new drive.

Jennifer was then emailed a full file listing and a video preview of her recovered files, before the new drive went back to Melbourne by overnight courier.

What Should You Do If Your Hard Drive Is Clicking?

Turn it off and leave it off. A clicking drive is searching for its data with heads that can no longer read it, and every power cycle keeps those heads moving over the platters.

Do not open it and do not run recovery software on it. Software cannot fix a head failure, and a drive opened outside a dust free environment is harder to recover.

There is never a guarantee with data recovery. Based on thousands of drives with these symptoms, we estimate about an 80 percent chance on a drive with damaged heads that nobody has opened. In 8 out of 10 cases the platters are undamaged or have minor damage we can work around. In 2 out of 10 we find severe platter damage after opening.

Why People Choose Payam Data Recovery

A failed hard drive needs an experienced data recovery engineer, and often a matching donor part. We work on 10 to 15 drives with failed heads every day.

• We are a specialist data recovery lab, not a computer repair shop. We have been recovering data since 1998, from over 300,000 devices.
• The best equipped data recovery lab in Australia: an ISO 5 certified laminar flow cabinet for head replacements, an anti-static lab, microscopes and microsoldering stations for circuit board work, the Ace Lab PC-3000, Atola Insight Forensic and DeepSpar Disk Imager, and over 30,000 donor parts, including around 20,000 donor hard drives. When your drive needs a matching part, it is usually already on our shelf.
• Over 2,000 IT companies and computer shops across Australia send us their customers’ complex cases, and data recovery labs and IT companies in more than 50 countries have sent us their difficult cases over the past ten years.
• Rated 4.9 from more than 2,300 Google reviews.
• About 90% of our jobs are no fix, no fee. The hardest 10% carry an attempt fee.
• See your files before you pay. You tell us which files matter most. Before you pay for the recovery, we’ll send you a list of your recovered files so you can check them. If any of the files you listed are missing, tell us and we’ll search again.
• There is no card surcharge. Pay by Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Afterpay, Zip or bank deposit (EFT).
• Everything is done in our own labs in Australia and never outsourced overseas. Call or visit us, and you can speak with the data recovery engineers who do the work.

We are not the cheapest. We are the best in Australia at this work. We know what to do, how to do it, and we will do our very best for you. Your best chance of getting your data back is with us.

Hard Drive Data Recovery Pricing and Services

Every hard drive case starts with a free assessment and a written quote. We test the drive, then email you the problem we found, how we can help, the cost and the time involved, for your approval before any chargeable work.

A hard drive with damaged heads needs donor parts and work in the laminar flow cabinet, so it carries an attempt fee that forms part of the total price. You pay the attempt fee to begin, and if we are successful, you pay the remaining balance. Current prices are on our hard drive data recovery page. Priority and Emergency service, the level Jennifer chose, cost more and are faster. Your quote confirms the exact price.

If you need to know sooner, an urgent written quote within 1 to 2 hours is available for a fee. We can supply a destination drive, or you can send your own.

Our hard drive data recovery service covers every brand and size, internal and external, from a single clicking drive to drives out of a NAS.

How Our Process Works for International Customers

International customers are always welcome. The easiest way to reach us from overseas is by email at help@payam.com.au, which works in every time zone. Start with the free quote form. If the indicative pricing suits you, we send job instructions and you post the drive to our main data recovery lab in Rhodes, NSW by a tracked courier. Recovered data comes back on a new drive.

Frequently Asked Questions

My Seagate hard drive is clicking and not detected. Can the data be recovered?
Often, yes. Clicking with no detection usually means the heads have failed, not the data. In this case the platters were undamaged, so donor heads were fitted, the ROM was patched on the PC-3000 and the whole 4TB drive was cloned. Stop powering it on and have it assessed.

What makes a Seagate ST4000DM000 click?
On this drive it was failed heads, one of the most common Seagate faults. The heads float just above the platters and read the data. When they fail, the drive cannot find its bearings and clicks over and over, trying to recalibrate. It never becomes ready, so the computer cannot see it.

Is it safe to keep plugging in a clicking hard drive?
No. Every time it powers on, failed heads keep moving over the platters while the drive searches for its data. That can turn a head replacement into a job with platter damage. Unplug it, do not open it, do not run recovery software, and send it in.

What happens if some heads are weak even after the replacement?
They can still be read. On Jennifer’s drive two of the eight heads ran slow and unstable. The data recovery engineer read the strong heads first to secure the bulk of the data, then went back to the two weak heads and worked them slowly and carefully to fill in the rest.

How fast is Emergency hard drive data recovery?
With Emergency service everything else stops and the team works around the clock until the data is back. Donor parts are the usual delay on a head replacement, and our lab holds more than 20,000 donor parts, so the match for this drive was on hand straight away. Your quote states the timeframe.

If you cannot recover my data, is there nothing to pay?
Yes. The assessment and quote are free, and for most faults there is nothing to pay unless we recover your data. See your files before you pay. You tell us which files matter most. Before you pay for the recovery, we’ll send you a list of your recovered files so you can check them. If any of the files you listed are missing, tell us and we’ll search again. The one exception is cleanroom and other high risk work, where part of the quoted price is a non-refundable attempt fee paid upfront so we can begin. That covers the data recovery engineer time and donor parts we commit whatever the outcome. If an attempt fee applies to your job, it will be stated clearly in your quote before you approve anything.

Who sees my family photos?
Only our own team. On this job one data recovery engineer replaced the heads and cloned the drive, and another team member extracted and verified the files. Your data stays in Australia and is never sent overseas. You receive a full file listing and a video preview so you can check the recovery yourself.

I am overseas. Can I send you a clicking hard drive?
Yes. International customers are always welcome, and we take on hard drive work from all around the world. Request a free quote first, then post the drive by tracked courier once the indicative pricing suits you. The easiest way to reach us from overseas is by email at help@payam.com.au, which works in every time zone.

About Payam Data Recovery

Payam Data Recovery has been recovering data since 1998, with more than 300,000 devices recovered. Apple lists us as one of three recommended data recovery providers. For hard drives the lab runs the Ace Lab PC-3000, Atola Insight Forensic and DeepSpar Disk Imager, and head replacements are done in an ISO 5 laminar flow cabinet. Everything is done in Australia and never outsourced overseas. Head office and full service lab in Sydney CBD, with our main data recovery lab for complex cases in Rhodes, NSW, full service labs in Melbourne and Brisbane, and secure drop-off offices in Adelaide and Perth with free overnight express delivery to Rhodes, NSW. You can read more about Payam Data Recovery.

Request a Free Hard Drive Data Recovery Assessment

Related Case Studies

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• DVR hard drive with a head failure

Video Transcript

Hi, it’s Mike. Today, I’m back in Sydney, Australia, at Payam Data Recovery, watching one of their data recovery engineers take on a classic hardware failure from start to finish. A customer named Jennifer in Melbourne sent in a Seagate 3.5 inch four terabyte SATA drive, model ST4000DM000, that had started clicking and would not show up on her computer. It held years of irreplaceable family photos and personal files, and she asked for our emergency service, which means everything else stops, and the team works around the clock until the data is back.

The engineer recognised the problem the moment he heard it. That clicking is one of the most common failures Seagate drives have, and it pointed straight to a bad heads problem. The heads are the tiny components that float just above the platters and actually read the data. When they fail, the drive cannot find its bearings, so it clicks over and over, trying to recalibrate. The good news was that the fault was mechanical, not the data itself.

This is where emergency service really counts. With other companies, finding the right donor parts can take days or even weeks. Payam Data Recovery holds over 30,000 donor parts, including around 20,000 donor hard drives, so the team had a matching donor on hand straight away. The engineer opened the patient drive in the clean room and checked the platters first. There was no scoring or damage, so the data underneath was intact.

He swapped in the healthy donor heads, then used the PC-3000 to patch the ROM so the drive would recognise its new parts. With that done, the drive came back to life and cloning began. Then the engineer noticed something. Two of the eight heads were running slow and unstable. Rather than force them and risk the weak heads failing mid-clone, he ran the strong heads first to secure the bulk of the data, then went back and worked the unstable heads slowly and carefully to fill in the rest.

With the clone complete, the job passes to another team member who extracts the files, runs verification checks, saves everything to a new drive, then emails Jennifer a full file listing and a video preview before it ships back to Melbourne by overnight courier. If your hard drive is clicking, not showing up, or has damaged heads, there is never a guarantee. But as this case shows, Payam Data Recovery has the parts, the tools, and the experience to do it. Based in Sydney, Australia, with offices right across the country, they take on Seagate, hard drive, and data recovery work from all around the world. Thanks for watching.