Hi Guys, I have a quick question before I do something stupid. I have an external hard drive Hitachi Deskstar HDS721010KLA330 1TB.

The hard drive was dropped on the floor. It was running and reading data during the fall. Don't even ask how that happened. Now disk make bad noises and user tried to turn hard drive on and off few times.

I have some for me important data that I would love to get back. I consider myself handy and I am not afraid carefully take HDD apart if it even make sense.

Said that...

1. What is most likely damaged after this accident?
2. Does trying to turn hard drive on/off damage media inside if there is something loose?
3. Is it possible to replace/exchange safely damaged parts to get my data back if I buy same HDD model?

Please advice what should be next step in my case.

Thank you. Charles

1. Crashed heads / damaged platters / misaligned platters / damaged bearing or spindle
2. Absolutely
3. No! There is NO CHANCE you have the skill set, knowledge, or tools to do the job. There are multiple heads and platters in this drive. Any of the problems cited in #1 require a pro to fix and even then it is not assured that you will get good data back.

If you want to waste your money, time, and lose your data for sure, then go for it.

Sorry for your misfortune.

Jon

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http://www.datasaversllc.com

I would second that, this is one of the hardest DR cases, and there is no way a "home user" will fix that no matter who are they.

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Dmitry

Hi,

I recently suffered a similar problem, similar hard drive even. A 1 TB drive that was inside of a LaCie enclosure.

Once the drive fell, I tried plugging it back in and it starting making a sound like the drive was trying to spin up, then it beeped.

I immediately turned on the drive, and began looking into this, and what ive found is disheartening.

This disk contains video, raw, unedited video. Content that absolutely must be recovered, or at least attempted, and I am willing to pay.

what I am wondering however, is how much this will likely cost. I an in Vancouver, Canada and I've found several companies here locally that profess to be able to assist, but their sites don't list clear costs, nor are they open for me to call (currently 1 am or so...)

Thanks

It depends on drive model and media damage.

P.S. if there is heavy media damage, you can't recover what have been "dusted away" so take into account that some data CAN be gone forever.

The drive is probably having a seized bearing and/or heads stuck on the surface (less probable) and surely some damages on the surfaces.
I suggest waiting for the office hours at least and call them.

U can ask Starling on this forum, or them.

pepe

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Adatmentés - Data recovery