Devices · hard drives (internal)
A hard disk drive (HDD) contains four potential weak points: the heads, motor, board and firmware; every dead HDD failed at one of these four weak points. However, it is what happens next that determines the outcome. Turn off the power and either get an initial quote by phone or fill out the form to get a quote. Once you have your initial quote, post the hard disk from Exeter or drop off the hard disk in person at our Bristol intake lab, and leave the rest to the lab. We are open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm, with no appointment needed.
Talk it over with an engineer
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| What it says | What it usually means | Step one |
|---|---|---|
| You need to format the disk in drive X: before you can use it | In Windows, when you see 'RAW', that is indicative that the file table is broken, and usually the files below it will remain intact | Just pull the plug, and do not touch 'Format' |
| Data error (cyclic redundancy check) | Checksum error during a read: bad sectors (nearly every time) | Stop the copying process and image it properly |
| The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error | Windows is now unable to count on responses from the drive | Shut it down, then record the model number of your drive |
| Windows detected a hard disk problem | SMART (self-monitoring, analysis and reporting technology) data predicts a drive failure | Rescue your files today, or image the drive before it fails completely |
| Error 0x800701E3 — a fatal device hardware error | Hardware failure occurring during transfer | Lab work needed: no further attempts |
| S.M.A.R.T. Status BAD at power-on | Your initial start-up self-test was unsuccessful | Do not boot from that disk again |
| BIOS reports 0GB, or garbles the model name | Damage to firmware or translator: the drive has forgotten what it is | We can only perform firmware work in the lab |
Your device will be logged under its own case number on the day it comes into our lab. The engineer who works on your device identifies the problem with it, clearly states what we think has a good chance of coming back and provides you with one fixed quote. There are no charges for this assessment; there is no obligation for you to do anything; and paid work does not begin until you authorise us to start.
Your drive is mounted on a hardware imager that has been designed to draw out data from bad areas as opposed to pounding them. Only once we have a good copy can we proceed with repairing or replacing anything else on your unit.
We will replace failed head assemblies with matching donor stacks for each. We will release a seized spindle. And, we will repair a damaged printed circuit board (PCB), which will be populated with your drive's original read-only memory (ROM).
Once we complete the imaging process, we can rebuild the file system on the image and show you a list of everything that was recovered prior to charging you for our services.
You have access to a complete list of every item recovered from your device, which you approve prior to any fees being applied. The files will be returned via new media (brand new) with the return postage paid by us, and the case remains open for as long as it takes to confirm that all the files open properly on your own machine.
How often are drives likely to crash? In an attempt to quantify that risk, we have Backblaze's Drive Stats, the one public dataset we know of on this topic. It shows that for 2025 the annualised drive failure rate was 1.36% across a fleet of 344,000-plus datacentre drives, which is down from 1.57% in the previous year. Home and business hard disk users don't use their hardware nearly as much, therefore their disks are less prone to failing; however, you get very little warning when it does happen.
Two of the heads had failed and the platters had remained stationary for weeks. The first time we ran our opening image pass after putting the donor heads into place, it produced a 96% success rate, and all invoices, account files and photos checked out.
Generally no. Clicks mean the head has quit reading rather than there being no data on the disk. Most of these units will return a majority of data with matched donor heads and careful low-speed imaging. It's multiple power cycles which cause problems in this type of unit, not the clicks.
Yes, as a general rule: get a quote first, by phone or with the form, and just tell us honestly about it. A drive that has been opened outside of a lab will only have its fixed quote given to you once we have checked the disks for damage, and previous damage may take the job outside of the terms under which, in most cases, you only pay if we recover your data.
The diagnosis is always at no cost to you. We will also give you a written price for your recovery before we even begin any paid work on your drive. The lower end of this price range is where we will charge for logical faults. Mechanical jobs requiring parts from another (donor) drive will be charged at the higher end of our quoted price range. In all cases you will receive the quote before we begin doing any paid work on your drive.
Yes. IDE, early SATA and SAS drives are staple work for this business. Age affects the tools we use but does not affect the final product.
Every time a failing hardware component is powered back up, there is additional lost data. First open a case with us: the inspection (look over) is always at no cost, whichever way it goes.