How much does it cost to recover data from a failed hard drive?
The cost of recovering data from a damaged storage device is determined by the time and effort that goes into getting the data you need and not by the size of the drive or volume of data. This makes it difficult to give you a price without evaluating your situation first.In any case, we rely on our unmatched data recovery expertise and 35 years of industry experience to work as efficiently as possible, meaning you'll always get a great price from us.
Can you repair a hard drive that isn’t spinning?
A hard drive that isn't spinning could indicate a mechanical problem. For the safety of your essential data, you should turn off the drive or computer as soon as possible and contact us for further advice. If a hard drive spins up and then stops after a few seconds, it could indicate damage to the platters inside the housing. Damage can occur when the read/write heads scrape the surface of the drive platters. This condition is known as a head crash. To ensure the potential for a successful data recovery, do not leave the drive powered on or allow it to cycle on and off. The longer a drive with a head crash is left running, the more damage that can occur.
Does hard drive data recovery always need to be performed in a cleanroom?
A cleanroom is a static and dustfree environment that protects a hard drive's platters during the data recovery process. If a hard drive has suffered mechanical failure or physical damage, the sealed mechanism will need to be opened in a cleanroom to access internal components such as the actuator assembly, read/write heads, and the magnetically-coated platters that hold data.
Is it safe to open my hard drive?
Standard hard drives that contain internal spinning platters require a cleanroom—a special static and dust-free environment that allows technicians to access components inside the drive housing. It is not safe to open a hard drive outside of a cleanroom and doing so allows dust particles to enter the mechanism.Even airborne microscopic particles can cause the drive to malfunction, and the read/write heads will damage the platter surfaces. This reduces the chances for your data to be recovered and makes future attempts by a professional data recovery company difficult to impossible. If your files are irreplaceable and no backup exists, call us immediately for help.
Why does my hard drive make clicking sounds?
Mechanical hard drives that contain spinning platters make clicking (or ticking) sounds for different reasons. As part of normal functions, the drive will make clicking sounds whenever the computer or the external drive are switched on. You can even hear a recognizable rhythm to the sounds emanating from the drive when it first spins up. Beyond these perfectly normal sounds, a hard drive that clicks repeatedly can indicate a problem that could cause serious data loss. If your data is properly backed up, you can typically replace the drive with a new one and restore your data by transferring it to the new drive. However, if you find that your important files were not backed up, switch off the computer or the external drive as soon as possible and contact Ontrack for a free consultation.