Crashed hard drive help!

[kfowler8]

My external hard drive crashed over the weekend. It's making the clicking sound of death and a high pitch squeal. I'm pretty sure it's a mechanical failure. My PC tries to connect but can't see the hard drive. It's guy some important photos of our girls I'd like to get off of it.

I know there's services you can send it to and they can try and recover the data. I hear they can be expensive.

Anyone got any suggestions or ideas?

Thanks.

 

[50WPLEXI]

If it's making the chain saw of death noise that drive is most likely toast. When the mechanical part fails, not much you can do. There are services out there that might be able to get the data off but it's going to cost.

 

[chazza]

Anyone got any suggestions or ideas?

Back up your data regularly?

 

[50WPLEXI]

Might want to try these guys. Stay away from the dreaded Geek Squad...


#1 Rated Hard Drive Data Recovery Service by SERT

 

[riffhard]

Maybe this helps.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoVBHG4kajA[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m5cil6KezI[/ame]

 

[artis_xe]

Might want to try these guys. Stay away from the dreaded Geek Squad...


#1 Rated Hard Drive Data Recovery Service by SERT

Your Clicking Hard Drive is NOT Dead!
there's a video on that page that ( essentially ) gives an idea of what is involved in mechanical repair .

but if you came here in the first place __ with a question like this , it would not be recommended that you try to do this yourself

most externals are assembled in a way that makes them very difficult to open anyway . . .

 

[kfowler8]

Your Clicking Hard Drive is NOT Dead!
there's a video on that page that ( essentially ) gives an idea of what is involved in mechanical repair .

but if you came here in the first place __ with a question like this , it would not be recommended that you try to do this yourself

most externals are assembled in a way that makes them very difficult to open anyway . . .

I've already extracted the hard drive. It's just a normal hard drive inside a casing with an PCB board. I even took it out and hooked it up to one of my internal SATA cables without any luck.

 

[50WPLEXI]

If the data is important which it sounds like it is, don't screw around. Call a expert, pay the money, and start backing up your stuff from now on to a web/cloud based application.

 

[Howard2k]

Good luck man. I know it sounds crazy, but I keep 3 backup copies (plus the primary) of my key data (including digital photos). There's just no way to go and take them again...

 

[Howard2k]

if the data is important which it sounds like it is, don't screw around. Call a expert, pay the money, and start backing up your stuff from now on to a web/cloud based application.

+1

 

[artis_xe]

If the data is important which it sounds like it is, don't screw around. Call a expert, pay the money, and start backing up your stuff from now on to a web/cloud based application.

this this this +1
is not a DIY sort of thing that you want to lose any data over . if you came here asking about it __ I can promise that you're not ready to do the job yourself . . and is NOT worth trying to save some money over

while I'm a DIY person myself . . I also know my limitations . I never consider something that I can't do myself __ as a personal reflection of my ability










but in certain cases . you have to understand . respect where respect is due . hand it over to someone experienced in this sort of thing

 

[fl48]

Believe it or not, this is a solution I have read about and tried. It worked for me once, but not a second time. Put the hard drive in the freezer overnight. Then, if it works in the morning, copy all the data off the hard drive and throw it out. I'm not sure how this works. Maybe the cold causes the solder joints to contract, or affects the circuitry. But it might be worth a try.

 

[Penny Dreadful]

I have heard solid state hard drives are so much better. No moving parts and they last longer.

 

[Fiat Lux]

Mac or PC?

Cheers

 

[jkes01]

Man, that sucks, I really feel for you cause I been there. I learned the hard way from my data loss. I now use SyncToy and task scheduler to back up all of my drives to 3 separate external drives on a weekly basis. I set it and never touch it. If any go bad, I just swap it out and copy the files from one of the other drives.

I also do not store any files on the main Drive where the OS is installed, just in case I have to wipe and reinstall the OS or swap out the drive.

Did you have any of your files saved to disc or in the cloud?

 

[nauc]

My external hard drive crashed over the weekend. It's making the clicking sound of death and a high pitch squeal. I'm pretty sure it's a mechanical failure. My PC tries to connect but can't see the hard drive. It's guy some important photos of our girls I'd like to get off of it.

I know there's services you can send it to and they can try and recover the data. I hear they can be expensive.

Anyone got any suggestions or ideas?

Thanks.

hit up some computer forums. might contact this guy too. he has the best data recovery you can get, i guess. its called SpinRite

https://www.grc.com/stevegibson.htm

if you cant figure out how to contact him (i think its kinda hard), hes over at Twit too. he co hosts a weekly security show and you can contact him or Leo from there... https://twit.tv/shows?shows_active=1

i think he has a twitter page or 2. might check those

if anyone can help you get your stuff back, its him. dude knows SO MUCH. ive been listening to him/Twit for years

hes the guy that coined the term "spyware"

 

[Bownse]

1. Frequent backups
2. SpinRite (the best thing out there for data recovery short of sending it to a clean room for recovery - think in the thousands of dollars for a basic Windows data recovery)

Only a good backup or lots of cash (maybe) will work through a "click of death". If the host system can't see the drive at all then it can't work to recover corrupted data. ALL drives will fail eventually (even SSDs). Backing up is the only way.

Howard's right.

Backups:
1 copy = none (original only)
2 copies = 1 backup
3 copies = the recommendation with off-site storage of one of the 2 backups.

I back up weekly and rotate through 5 external HDDs. 3 of them are in hard shell carry cases in my safe so there's some level of fire resistance. The oldest it at my kid's house across town. That leaves the current backup available for whatever.

Bare SATA drives dropping into this when being used for backup/recovery: [ame]http://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-BlacX-eSATA-Docking-Station/dp/B001A4HAFS[/ame]

 

[JohnnyN]

I have heard solid state hard drives are so much better. No moving parts and they last longer.

Right about having no moving parts - wrong about them lasting longer.
If you have SSD disks check frequently for firmware updates - and be sure to take a complete backup before applying it.

To the OP. When it clicks it is dead beyond user repairable state. Take it to a pro company with valid references. They don't come cheap.

Good luck!

Real men that don't take backup are not the same real men that never cries

 

[rxbandit]

Sorry to hear about the drive, but in 2015 there is literally no excuse for not backing up your files except general laziness.