WD HDD clicks, not recognised?!

MyBusinez.com

Hi Al,
I've had a WD HDD 250Gb for over a year now and no issues at all. I dropped it the other day and now my computer(s) won't recognise it. At first it buzzed and paused and buzzed and paused, then my PC wouldn't recognise it. But now you can hear it spinning and clicking and then it's not recognised. It sounds like something is lose inside.

I wonder does anyone have any idea how I can fix this or could anyone fix it?

cian1500ww

I'd say it's safe to say the hard drive is finished, hard drives are very sensitive to knocks. If you ever look at the internal parts you'll understand, they're quite complex little feckers !!

MyBusinez.com

cian1500ww wrote: »

I'd say it's safe to say the hard drive is finished, hard drives are very sensitive to knocks. If you ever look at the internal parts you'll understand, they're quite complex little feckers !!

I was thinking of sending it back to Western Digital so they can fix it as I think it's still under warranty. It would just be a lot quicker to fix it myself or in Ireland at least.

Is there any way I can get the data off the disk as I have many very important files on it?

Nehaxak

You can't really open HD's yourself and fix them, they are extremely sensitive devices inside, even the smallest piece of dust that gets in (which it will) when you open it can destroy whatever data there is there to recover.

WD will probably just replace the drive for you but don't expect them to recover your data, unlikely they'd do this for you.

Professional data recovery also costs a bloody fortune.

So, honestly, you're either going to have to replace the HD (from WD directly or buy another) or fork out a fortune to get the data recovered, assuming that is that they can even do this for you if it's damaged too much.

Whatever you decide, this time get yourself some form of backup device also and backup your important documents to it (though I'm sure you realise this at this stage).

You *might* be covered under your house insurance though (if you are insured) and worth giving them a call to ask, no harm, would help to pay the costs of the data recovery if absolutely needed.

MyBusinez.com

MyBusinez.com wrote: »

I was thinking of sending it back to Western Digital so they can fix it as I think it's still under warranty. It would just be a lot quicker to fix it myself or in Ireland at least.

Is there any way I can get the data off the disk as I have many very important files on it?

Was the drive turned on when you dropped it?
There is no way you can fix it yourself. Your looking at about a 2 week turnaround from wd.
If it was on when dropped it is very easy for the repair tech to tell it suffered excessive g which puts it outside of warranty. Lucky for you most reports say that it is cheaper for them to post out new drive immediately and do limited failure testing on the returned device if any at all.
Data recovery will cost you a fortune.

Komplett-Tech: Ryan

If the hard drive has been damaged by the customer there is no way the retailer, or manufacturer will replace the drive. Fixing the drive yourself is next to impossible to be honest. For professional data recovery there is a good chance you will get some of the data back, but its seriously expensive.

Nehaxak

In fairness though to Western Digital, they seem very open and easy (from past experience) when approached in regards replacing a drive that's become damaged so no harm at all in trying with them.