Hello

WD My Passport 4Tb

It was reported that HDD was connected to a PC that suffered electrical failure of some sort, and also it has fallen on the ground.

When connected over USB when trying to initialize - it gives critical hardware error in Windows disk manager.

I opened the disk and it has no sata interface, only straight to USB. I did not find anything obvious(to me) or any shorts.

Is it a case where the HDD has to be opened? Because if yes then I will simply tell the customer to find someone who specializes in HDD data recovery.
(I fix electronics but I am an amateur when it comes to HDD data recovery)

Many thanks

Drives that hit the ground can do a lot of internal damage. Does it make any bad sounds such as clicking? Also problems with this model are very difficult to solve even at the professional level. Many complications including firmware security with that pcb.

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Zero Alpha: zeroalpha.com.au
Find Cheap Donor Drives App: https://www.zeroalpha.com.au/donor-drive-app Updated February 2026

No clicking, it seems very normal when I touch it to sense the vibrations.

Thank you, I will return it and advise on data recovery services.

Is there a place where I can find someone who might be able to recover the data? Europe is preferred.
Or should I just google it?

Its probably going to need new heads and pcb unlocking. This service is usually the most expensive for data recovery. I once did a charity data recovery job for a Norwegian and personally delivered it to them in Oslo from Australia Maybe someone closer to your country will post here to help.

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Zero Alpha: zeroalpha.com.au
Find Cheap Donor Drives App: https://www.zeroalpha.com.au/donor-drive-app Updated February 2026

Yeah, that drive isn't a piece of cake most probably.
Can't recall any expert from Norway here, which doesn't mean there is none of course. Bos is in Sweden, pcimage in GB, i am in hungary, if you decide to outsource it.

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Adatmentés - Data recovery

Hello

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

What's the website address of your place?

I couldn't find the Bos in Sweden, could you please tell me what is their website?

Customer is traveling to the UK and he's going to deliver the device personally, thank you for all the help