Toshiba 2TB External HDD- how to repair a external hard drive that has been dropped .

[Manoj_Bhauryal]

Hi
I have a Toshiba external hdd and it dropped 1 times from my table. And computer didn't detect it anymore and it makes a noise like tik tak . i don't want to lose my data. It's 2TB and I have done everything with my computer but i don't think it's from the computer. Can i do something or i have to take it to someone professional help ?

 

[Mattios]

Almost certainly you'll need professional help. If you value the data, and the drive is making clicking noises, then there is nothing more that you can do at home.

Moral of the story: keep backups of your backups

 

[SBMfromLA]

Could be that the enclosure itself is the problem and not the drive. PC Repair/Recovery shops charge an "arm and a leg" for their service... and unless you have something on the drive that's critical... it's usually NOT worth taking it to them.

One solution would be to just remove the drive from the computer and manually installing it inside your computer. That's what I did when an old WD drive stopped working for me.

 

[D_Know_WD]

Hi there Manoj_Bhauryal,

Your safest bet for recovering the data stored on the drive is to contact a data recovery company. Most of the times, clicking indicates a mechanical problem. Most of the HDD manufacturers offer their own data recovery services or have some sort of trusted data recovery partners. So, it may be a good idea to contact the manufacturer.
Apart from that, I guess you can try what the other guys suggested.(taking the drive out of the enclosure) Keep in mind that this will not work in case the drive is hardware encrypted or has some sort of a proprietary connector.

Cheers,
D_Know_WD

 

[SBMfromLA]

Hi there Manoj_Bhauryal,

Your safest bet for recovering the data stored on the drive is to contact a data recovery company. Most of the times, clicking indicates a mechanical problem. Most of the HDD manufacturers offer their own data recovery services or have some sort of trusted data recovery partners. So, it may be a good idea to contact the manufacturer.
Apart from that, I guess you can try what the other guys suggested.(taking the drive out of the enclosure) Keep in mind that this will not work in case the drive is hardware encrypted or has some sort of a proprietary connector.

Cheers,
D_Know_WD

As I stated before.. unless it's something you just can't be without.. the price charged isn't worth it and there's no guarantee all your data could be recovered. Expect to pay $100 just for a diagnostic... and $300-1500 for the actual recovery.

 

[SERT Data Recovery]

Just some information regarding dropped hard drives. Mostly what happens in this situation is the heads become unparked and move to either the platter, or the heads become damaged. Another problem with this type of situation is the actuator arm comes out of alignment.

The worst thing to do in these cases (if the data is important) is to plug in the drive and see if it still works. In your case, this has already been done, and in fact the drive is telling you by the clicking sound that there is something seriously wrong inside the drive. CLICK CLICK

The clicking sound is the heads trying to find the service area (initialization of the drive), which in turn tells them where to go next to start reading data. So the heads after trying to initialize, can't, and then return back to their parking position : "CLICK"

There is definitely something not right in there that needs to be repaired (temporarily) in order to get access to the data. There are plenty of good videos on YouTube that can show you what is happening in there. Beware of trying any of the "techniques" shown in some of them and definitely do not try to open the drive to see what is going on as this should only be done by someone who can actually fix the issue.

There is also a possibility that the platters were damaged by all of this, as well as turning it on after the fall. Hence the reason why we suggest not to power the drive on after a fall to see if it still works.

ALSO there are a handful of reputable data recovery companies that do not charge for evaluation and will even pay for shipping so you can get a professional's opinion without having to risk doing anything yourself.

2TB drives with this kind of repair can run you anywhere between $900 and $1200 at even the most reasonably priced company qualified to do this work.