Dropped External, HDD won't appear in Explorer

[ShreveportMac]

I have a 5TB Seagate External HDD that fell off my desk and now won't appear in explorer! I removed it from the enclosure to make sure it wasn't the connector, and I have the exact same issue when it is in the dock. I have 15+ years of family photos on that thing....In fact, I just consolidated many old HDD's INTO this Seagate and was backing them up to the cloud when this happened!

Facts:
-It sounds functional when it gets power, It spins and has no obvious loose pieces
-It appears in the Device Manager, but none of its properties populate.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Cleanroom]

Dropped... Seagate... stop powering it on, I am betting the heads are failing/dead. Plus it might have some media damage. Have a pro look at it if the data is that critical.

[pcimage]

Dropped... Seagate... stop powering it on, I am betting the heads are failing/dead. Plus it might have some media damage. Have a pro look at it if the data is that critical.

Absolutely right, please stop playing with it before it fails totally and catastrophically!

[ShreveportMac]

I appreciate the input, but certainly this is something that can be repaired at home? I may need some specialized tools, but there certainly must be something I can do? I have opened my fair share of drives, just never with the intent on repair...

1. Are there any resources for learning about the heads that you would recommend?

2. If this really isn't worth trying on my own, are there any trusted recovery services that you can recommend? Does anyone have a ballpark for professional recovery/repair?

Thank you guys,
M

[data-medics]

I appreciate the input, but certainly this is something that can be repaired at home?

No, it isn't something you can do at home. Thousands of people try this every year, and thousands of people fail every time. Plus this is most likely either an archive drive which uses SRM (shingled magnetic recording) or even worse a DM series drive (e.g. ST5000DM001). In either event you have a 100% chance of failure if you try on your own. Even if you were able to successfully swap the heads, which I highly doubt, you'd never get it stable enough to actually extract any data. Not unless you've got $15,000 to invest in professional data recovery equipment. However pro recovery will run you far less than that.

I don't know what most other companies are charging, but here we charge $650 + Parts in most cases where it needs read/write head replacement. Maybe you'll get lucky and it's only a bit of firmware damage or media cache issue and it'll only be around $450.

[labtech]

I appreciate the input, but certainly this is something that can be repaired at home? I may need some specialized tools, but there certainly must be something I can do? I have opened my fair share of drives, just never with the intent on repair...

1. Are there any resources for learning about the heads that you would recommend?

2. If this really isn't worth trying on my own, are there any trusted recovery services that you can recommend? Does anyone have a ballpark for professional recovery/repair?

Thank you guys,
M

Buy the same drive, drop it in the same way. Buy another and start experimenting. Then once conclusions are drawn, decide whether to come back and work on the critical data drive that currently needs recovery. Costly and tedious likely, right? Seeing is believing. This is what specialists do every day. Hence the suggestions.

[karel.izaac]

I have a 5TB Seagate External HDD that fell off my desk and now won't appear in explorer! I removed it from the enclosure to make sure it wasn't the connector, and I have the exact same issue when it is in the dock. I have 15+ years of family photos on that thing....In fact, I just consolidated many old HDD's INTO this Seagate and was backing them up to the cloud when this happened!

Facts:
-It sounds functional when it gets power, It spins and has no obvious loose pieces
-It appears in the Device Manager, but none of its properties populate.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Hi
I have a Hitachi external hdd and it dropped 2 times. after first time it work but after the second time the computer didn't detect it anymore and it makes a noise like tik tak or clicking. i don't want to lose my data. It's 320 GB and I have done everything in my capacity to make it functional .Do I need Data Recovery Services and I need to know if i can find Data recovery Company in Kolkata. I am on a business trip to India..

Any Help would be Appreciated!!

[labtech]

I am sure there is a lab near Kolkata. However, if you will go back to Germany soon, then I suggest seeking a company in Germany. Why? Because data recovery process can take a long time, days even weeks, all dependent on extent of damage. So, submitting the drive for service in one country and then having to leave with or without the drive causes friction either for you or the company in India.

[pcimage]

I am sure there is a lab near Kolkata. However, if you will go back to Germany soon, then I suggest seeking a company in Germany. Why? Because data recovery process can take a long time, days even weeks, all dependent on extent of damage. So, submitting the drive for service in one country and then having to leave with or without the drive causes friction either for you or the company in India.

This makes perfect sense.