recover data from an external hard disk

[RubenLL]

Hello everyone, I need to recover data from an external hard disk Wd Elements de 12 tb, it suddenly stopped being recognized in Windows, I have tried on several computers and none of them displays the data. If you assign letter to the drive but it is blocked. I also have to say that it makes a clicking noise.
What can I do? Do you recommend any recovery software?
Thanks

[northwind]

If it's clicking, it's dead, Jim.
No recovery software will help you, it needs mechanical intervention ( =clean room ). And, according to your description, WD 12TB = HGST Helium, then I don't know anyone who can actually recover them.
Of course, it could be clicking for other reason too, maybe some fw problem, but that's to be confirmed by someone who knows what s/he 's doing.

[fzabkar]

These guys claim they can recover He drives:

https://www.attingo.com/hard-drive-recovery/helium-hard-drive/

Is there a catch?

[northwind]

I don't know them, nor can I vouch for or against them.
We can do Seagate He drives with any kind of problem (heads, fw), however I personally don't know anyone who can do HGST. The problem is not with the procedure of He filling, it's with the fw that needs to be adjusted.
If there is someone who can actually do them, show up, people!

[sempre]

Hi to all!

I have a seagate 12tb hd with physical problem.

[SOSdonnees]

Hello everyone, I need to recover data from an external hard disk Wd Elements de 12 tb, it suddenly stopped being recognized in Windows, I have tried on several computers and none of them displays the data.

As already mentioned by Northwind, this means a mechanical problem (or maybe firmware problem).
Sometimes mechanical problems are as simple as a bad cable, or a bad contact with the enclosure.
However, as your WD Elements is a 3.5'' hard drive, a bad contact of the cable at the USB socket is very unlikely.

The drive should be extracted from its enclosure and connected in SATA for diagnosis, and as Northwind told "by someone who knows what s/he 's doing".

If you assign letter to the drive but it is blocked.

Your hard drive still seems partly answering. This kind of symptoms often occurs when the hard drive has an growing number of bad sectors. Waiting too much before contacting a specialized company can make the data recovery much pricier and even possibly truly unrecoverable, especially for a 12TB drive with Helium inside. A data recovery company can tell you if something is still possible.

Clicking drives often mean one bad head or more, but the fact that your hard drive has been partially detected can also mean a possible firmware problem. With proper equipement, data recovery companies can repair firmware issues, desactivate bad heads to extract data only from platters with healthy heads. They can not always save your data, but most of the time, if you do not wait too much.

In your situation, you should not trying doing the diagnosis by yourself, but directly contact an experienced data recovery company.