Dropped 2TB HDD, is it damaged?

[Shindou]

Hey guys, I own a 2TB external HDD by LaCie (2 HDDs in a casing, each 1TB), It was dropped yesterday from my bed which is

The HDD was dropped while it was off, from about HEIGHT. I have NOT turned it on after the drop because I can hear a strange sound from both drives. I am not sure whether this sound was always there as I've never put my ear next to the drives and shaken it before, this is why I am asking here as I know you're experienced in this area. I have recorded a video of the sound it's making below, can you please tell me if this is normal and I should turn it on?

Here is the video below, please turn your speakers up. This sound is only produced when shaking it quite hard, but moving it around normally it makes no sound. There is also another sound which cannot be picked up by my camera, but when I put the drives close up to my ear I can hear a very tiny squeaky sound only when rotating the HDD, pretty sure it's the disc rotating, is that normal, since it's a 1TB platter?

VIDEO: http://vimeo.com/57548030

Eagerly awaiting your suggestions, thanks.

[Cleanroom]

Shaking Bad....you may of caused more damage

Dropped drives should get evaluated from a professional.

[Shindou]

Whoops, can't edit my post. It was dropped from about 40-45cm high (my bed). What do others think of that noise? It only occurs if I shake hard as seen in the video?

[warnerr]

drive had a likelyhood of surviving fall as it was off- shaking drive while on- probability of issues is very high now.

[Shindou]

warnerr, I've not shaken the drive while it was on. I've not even turned it on yet. Are you suggesting the noise is normal?

[sathyan]

If you have important data in the drives, take pro help, avoid DIY.
Do not shake the drive (even without powering on) like that, its not good for the drive.
Most drives make a small amount of sound , which is normal.
(from your video clip, cant properly distinguish the sound,
also handle the drive gently, the THUMP in the end is quite audible)
If you are not sure, and need your data, better seek a pro.
The drives may have survived the fall, but its not worth taking risk if your data is important.

[Shindou]

Right, I'll take your advice, but I'll wait for another reply just to have more opinions.

[Keatah]

Time for pro help. You do not know what you are doing. No offense intended.

[warnerr]

Hard to understand exactly what youve done- but shaking and spinning platters is not healthy. It appears you have removed drives from cabinet- the cabinet is then not what your shaking. If you set up the Lacie as raid mirror- (Raid 1) the drives are carbon copies of each other- great as two chances to get data. Likely its raid 0 giving you two terabytes storage- far more complex and requires both drives be returned to working status. Safest way to proceed is to send to REAL recovery business where drives will be opened in a cleanroom to check for damage: if data is important this is only way to go. If not feel free to power up- if severely damaged they wont work anyways however minor damage could still be present and may materialize and increase until drive fails. You have been warned! Its up to you to decide if you want to throw the dice.

[Keatah]

The squeaking doesn't sound right. The heads should be retracted off the platters. And therefore no noise.

[Shindou]

But what I'm nervous about is that if I do send it to data recovery just to check if there is damage, they will intentionally cause or lie and say there is damage if there is none.

[Shindou]

But what I'm nervous about is that if I do send it to data recovery just to check if there is damage, they will intentionally cause or lie and say there is damage if there is none.

[lcoughey]

I'm sure that if you were to take your drive to Sean at pcimage.co.uk or to Andy at databusters.co.uk, they will not take advantage of you. It would be a nice gesture to offer to pay them something for their time if you just want them to confirm whether or not it is safe for you try things on your own.

[Cleanroom]

But what I'm nervous about is that if I do send it to data recovery just to check if there is damage, they will intentionally cause or lie and say there is damage if there is none.

I agree with Lcoughey

[Shindou]

It seems like you know them, how are you so sure they won't take advantage of me? I'm willing to do it though.

[lcoughey]

It seems like you know them, how are you so sure they won't take advantage of me? I'm willing to do it though.

It seems you have an issue with trust.

[Shindou]

Well, it's only from what I've gathered around the forums, that some DR companies lie. Just trying to find a decent service, and it seems like you've just told me one. I've contacted Sean now. Thanks.

[Keatah]

It takes just 1 unscrupulous deal to jade someone. But here, I think we're all ok.

I also tend to think that many companies don't lie or don't lie on purpose. What's happening is that they're pushing their own frontiers and capabilities forward, at the expense of the customer's data. Taking on jobs that are out of their league and skill level.

And many places, especially these IT consultant operations where they all wear 3-piece suits and provide web-hosting services.. They honestly believe they know what they are doing. In reality they have no idea of the complexity and exactness required for disk drive recovery.

The idea that they know more than you isn't enough. They have to know the right material.

[labtech]

The idea that they know more than you isn't enough. They have to know the right material.

Nicely put.

@ shindou: if you do not feel comfortable with the place, never send it in. It is nothing more irritating for honest data recovery companies when a customer accuses them of being a scam, fraud, shady, etc. Mind you many times for free at the company's expense and then you get called names!? Not cool.

+1 for pcimage

[gtd4242]

That thing almost sounds like the spindle shaft may have fractured and the hub (which is holding the platters in place) is just rattling loosely. If this was a Seagate I'd say it's almost certainly that, but being that it's a Samsung that would be somewhat unusual. Either way, it sure sounds louder than other drives that are the same model. I even went back and shook a few of our parts drives that are like yours, and none of them make that much noise. You can hear a little bit of a rattle, probably from the limiter shaking, but it sounds much more dense in your drive. Maybe you're just using more force than what I'm doing here.

As far as the "squeaking" sound...that's pretty common in drives where the heads park on the platters and you quickly rotate the drive. It's the platters turning underneath the heads. Not a good idea to shake your drive if you're wanting your data back. Like others have said...you're most likely causing even more damage, and it might end up unrecoverable by anyone.