Hi,

I have the following drive:

SeaGate Barracuda 7200.7 (160GB) - ST3160021A (Firmware 8.01)

...the drive has been dead since I dropped it from a low-height (10 inches at most) and this was quite a while back now. The drive was my old backup drive and contains loads of pictures I'd really like to recover if possible.

Where to begin?

- Not recognised in BIOS/Windows
- Tried all jumper settings
- Mild vibrations suggest something is spinning when PC powered on

Really hope someone can help, reasonably good with computers but HDDs are not really my thing.

Almost certainly bad heads and/or media damage.

Not DIY

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I forgot to add, I tried to access the drive about 6 months ago and was able to retrieve a single photo using a software tool but this was the last time it worked.

If I were to 'try' and buy a new board, can I get another identical drive (same model/firmware version) or is there something else I need to look for?

This shows that the drive's condition is deteriorating, since the drive would have been recognised by the BIOS for typical "user" recovery software to work. Now, as you've explained, the drive is no longer recognised by the BIOS

As pcimage said, there is no realistic chance of DIY, since the drop likely caused internal mechanical damage to the drive, and the drive may continue to deteriorate further, the more you keep it spinning.


Useless for the symptoms and the cause which you have described.


You won't have the necessary tools, equipment & experience to have a realistic chance of success doing mechanical work.

Using the services of an experienced DR company seems like your best choice, if the data is valuable.

Thanks all