Recovering data from external hard drive
July 26th, 2013
Data recovery apps are useless when the drive has a physical problem (which is clearly the case here)
This kind of problem (clicking) is more commonly known as a head crash. Taking it to Microcenter (or
any other PC shop for that matter) would be pointless, Only professional data recovery companies can recover
it (and the price range goes between $800-2100 depending on the capacity)
There’s one thing you could try, But there are no guarantees it’d work, Also, This method is only idle for recovering
small amounts of data (if it’d worked once it could work again, But it’d be extremely time-consuming to recover large amounts of data so it’s not worth the bother). Anyways, Let’s get to it:
1. You’ll need to open the enclosure (as in external box that houses the HDD) and remove it from it.
Do note that doing this will void your warranty (if still valid at least)
2. Google for the “HDD freezer trick”
Keep in mind that this is not a permanent solution, If it’d work, The HDD will function for 10-15 mins
before failing again, During that time, Your suppose to backup whatever you can. Since time is up the
essence, Hooking up the HDD internally (to a desktop computer) would be best, Just make sure the
boot order in BIOS is set correctly (you don’t wanna boot from it!)
Next time, Do keep backup to another HDD! there are plenty of backup apps out there to automate the process, And
as you know now, Keeping backup is significantly cheaper than pro data recovery! most ppl don’t get the importance of backup til a disaster happens.
look for percussive maintenance http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percussive_maintenance
once the platter is spinning the next thing to do is to clone the hdd using hirens boot cd
if that doesnt work you need to spend dollars to get it done
So if it doesn’t work, Hit it? That’s your advice? Seriously?