Dropping an electronic device is never a good thing. Have you ever wondered about the consequences if your hard drive slips out of your backpack or accidentally gets knocked from your desk? Will your data be erased? Or are there protections in place to keep it safe? A dropped hard drive is one thing, but it’s what you do afterward that can have the greatest impact. So, whether you’re curious or just downright clumsy, be sure to stick around as we explore these questions and many more.
What Happens to a Dropped Hard Drive?
At worst? A complete loss of all data, not to mention anywhere from $50 to a couple hundred dollars down the drain. At best? Nothing … there’s really nothing good that comes from dropping an expensive electronic device.
When your hard drive suffers a fall, various components can shift or suffer damage. In certain circumstances, this can lead to the dreaded head crash — a specific type of hard drive failure. Regardless of the outcome, dropping a hard drive is a serious problem that will only worsen if you attempt to operate on the device.
What is a Head Crash?
A head crash occurs when the read-write heads of a hard disk drive make contact with the platter(s), scratching its surface and permanently damaging the data stored on it. When functioning properly, these heads float on tiny air cushions — they don’t actually touch the platters.
A head crash is often the result of… You guessed it, a jolt caused by dropping a laptop or external drive. Your best-case scenario outcome after experiencing a head crash is working with a data recovery lab and walking away with ~99.9% of your original data. In the worst-case scenario outcomes, you either do nothing and accept that your data is gone, or you attempt to resolve the issue yourself and walk away with 0% of your data. You may even put your data beyond the reach of a trained data recovery lab if you open your hard drive’s case. Which leads us to the next section…
Should you Ever Open Your Hard Drive’s Case?
While Data Savers LLC faces difficult questions on a daily basis, this isn’t one of them. No. You absolutely should not open your hard drive’s case.
We understand the temptation to unscrew the case and tinker around, but a hard drive that requires data recovery should never be opened; even a speck of dust can mean the end of your data.
Hypothetically speaking, even if you were to pop open the casing, you wouldn’t be able to retrieve any missing data on your own. Physical data recovery requires specialized tools, knowledge, and access to an ISO-5 Class 100 clean room — a work area that uses special filtration equipment to ensure a limited quantity of airborne particles. While you may not be able to see them, there are almost certainly dust particles in the room you are in right now. Data recovery clean rooms are often equipped with features such as plastic walls and ceilings, external lighting, and a continuous influx of clean, dust-free air.
Seagate External Hard Drive Beeping After Dropped?
Is your Seagate external hard drive making a beeping sound? Before you finish the article, unplug your external hard drive and don’t plug it back in. The beeping sound you hear is happening when your hard drive’s read-write heads come in contact with the platter(s). In other words, it means your hard drive can’t read or write any data, and all data stored on the drive is in jeopardy. This is a sign of physical damage that’s typically the result of the Seagate external hard drive being dropped or sustaining a similar impact.
The reason we suggested unplugging your external hard drive is because improperly handling a damaged hard drive limits the possibility of successful data recovery. If we are correct in our assessment that a head crash occurred, it’s very likely Data Savers LLC will be able to recover almost all of your data. If you open your hard drive to poke around a little bit, and then send the drive to Data Savers LLC, our capacity to recover data will likely be limited or even eliminated.
Dropped Hard Drive Data Recovery at Data Savers
If you’ve dropped your hard drive and now you are experiencing issues with the device, do not attempt to resolve the issue yourself. Instead, consider Data Savers LLC — a professional data recovery company with nearly twenty years of experience restoring data from dropped hard drives. With us, recovering your data is as easy as one, two, three:
- Enjoy free inbound shipping to get us your hard drive.
- Receive our free data recovery estimate.
- Our expert technicians get to work restoring your data.
Once the recovery process is complete, your data is transferred to a new external drive and shipped back to you. In the rare but unfortunate event that your data cannot be recovered, there is no data recovery charge.
Request an Estimate for Hard Drive Data Recovery!
Why Choose Data Savers LLC for Dropped Hard Drive Data Recovery?
We’re one of the nation’s leading data recovery companies.
- For nearly 20 years we’ve maintained a success rate among the highest in the industry
- Other data recovery firms rely on us for cases that are too challenging for their engineers
- Industry-leading customer service – we keep you informed throughout the entire process; you can even speak with the techs working your case
- Recognized by Apple as experts in Apple™ data recovery
- Free evaluations
- Free inbound ground shipping of all drives within the continental USA
In conclusion, a dropped hard drive is never a good thing. However, it doesn’t have to mean the end of your data. If you’re concerned that your data may be at risk due to a fall, remember: do not open the casing; do not power it up; never attempt to retrieve the data on your own; and most importantly, contact Data Savers LLC today!