The most used types of hard drives are Western Digital and Seagate. These two brands represent approximately 70-80 % of external hard drive sold and therefore 70-80% of them have mechanical problems.
We will discuss the external hard disks of 3.5" specific to the two brands. In case of Western Digital it happens most often that following a fall or a shock an uncontrolled movement of the read-write pins occurs, which can lead to the scratching of the platters or the blocking of the reading pins on the surface of the platters. In case of Western Digital external hdd it is extremely rare that the motor of the hard disk is blocked . In these cases the chances are extremely variable and depend on the type of drop the hard disk has suffered, if it was working or not at the moment of the drop.
In case of SEAGATE 3.5" the most frequent type of defect following a shock is the blocking of the motor. Free Agent 3.5" series from Seagate use in the vast majority of cases which are extremely sensitive to shock. We have sufficient cases in which as a consequence of the topple over of that hard drive the motor was blocked. In these situations the only possibility is the operation of moving the platters. BIT DATA RECOVERY is the only company in Romania which has the necessary equipment for such operations.
In addition of the mechanical defects there are also cases of electrical defects or firmware defects and these are a relatively low percentage.
In case of external hard disks of 2.5" (we only refer to the ones charged by memory stick such as the one in this image) the most problems appear also as a consequence of shock or hitting the hard drive.
Due to the fact that they are very small, they can be carried around in pockets, handbags or bags and therefore the chances of shock are very high.
There is a large number of manufacturers of external hdd of 2.5" Western Digital, Seagate, Adata, Verbatim, Samsung, Transcend, Toshiba, Samsung, Apple, Hitachi, HP, Lacie, Lenovo, Prestigio, Silicon Power, Teac, Fujitsu Siemens, Freecom but inside are the same 4 or 5 types of hard disks (Seagate, Western Digital, Toshiba, Samsung, Fujitsu Siemens) of which Western Digital holds more than half the market ratio.
For the recovery of the data from such hard drives we need specialised equipments which allow for the operation of opening up the disks and for the data recovery to take place in conditions of maximum safety. In case of mechanical defects, the opening of the hard disk takes place in an adequate Clean Room Class 100.
Case No. 1 - Hard WD30NMVW-11C3NS2 3TB WDBBKD0030BBK-05 - hard drive is no longer recognized by the computer
According to the client, this hard drive was connected to a ROUTER equipment that was somewhere on a support at a height of 2m. The external hard drive was thus shared into the network and used as a network hard drive. After an inattention, the hard case fell off that support. It then worked for a while after it became inaccessible.
The hard was analyzed in CLEAN ROOM CLASS 100 and surface damage was found only on one of the surfaces of the platters. A recovery procedure was performed that lasted about 35 hours at the end of which more than 90% of the data was recovered.
Case No. 2 - Hard drive WD15EARS 1.5TB from WDBAAU0015HBK-01 - metallic noises
This hard drive has been brought to our service because the user has overturned it from the computer unit as it rises from the office, and at the time of the fall it opened some documents on the external HDD.
Subsequently, the hard drive started to make noises and the user came to our hard drive to recover documents from this HDD. Hard was removed from the casing and photographed attachment.
Subsequently, the WD15EARS hard disk was opened in CLEAN ROOM CLASS 100 and it was found that the read heads were damaged and some surface damage was occurring which allowed for a recovery procedure. In this case, our technicians have managed to recover over 87% of the data in a 25-30 hour working process spread over 10 business days.
Case No. 3 - Hard drive WD5000BMVW-11AMCS0 from WDBWWM5000ABL-NESN - Problem: The hard drive was recognized by the PC and for a short time could see the folder structure
These are only some cases we presented with the intention of giving you an idea of the failures we can solve.
For more examples and detailed photo galleries and concrete cases of recovered memory sticks please visit our FACEBOOK page.
Characterised by defects of the drives, deteriorations of the file system, accidental formatting or deletion. We can speak of a logical defect only if the hard disk is in a perfect operation state or has at most a few bad sectors. A few examples of logical defects which require hard drive recovery data: accidental deletion of a file, folder or a whole drive corruption of a file system due to a virus accidental formatting of a drive bad sectors determining the operation system to block
Characterised by a failure of the electrical plate of the hard . This failure generally appears as a consequence of power fluctuations following a faulty hard drive disconnectioni. The HDD Recovery data with burnt electrical partelectrical part of the hard drive is a unique component for the last general hdd and therefore, there is equipment necessary for the drive drive recovery, which allows access to platter surfaces. The exchange of the PCB with an identical hard drive does not allow the recovery of data in most cases, but can cause additional damage to the hard drive FIRMWARE.
These are some of the most frequent types of problems a hdd can have. Practically the FIRMWARE area of the hard disk represents an information allowing for the initiation and access of data from the disk surface. This information is stored on the surface of the platters and is not available on the electric part of the disk. Therefore a FIRMWARE problem cannot be solved by exchanging the electrical part. Recovery data for this type of problem involves equipments and experience from the technician working with the case.
These failures appear most often after shocks, power fluctuations, extended use and problems of manufacture. Most frequently when a hard disk emits repetitive sounds (clicking) there is a mechanical problem. Data recovery after this type of failure requires certain specialised equipments and stat-of-the-art solutions which lead to a high cost of data recovery. The most frequent cases of mechanical defects are : partial or total defects of reading / writing pins; hard disk motor block following dropping or shock; partial or total surface deterioration;
The best sold types of external drives are those from Western Digital My Passport of 2.5" and My Book of 3.5". These drives contain a means of data encryption on platters and a direct USB2 or USB 3 interface which makes the recovery procedure a very difficult process. External hdd in general are subject to shocks which could lead to the deterioration of the surface and loss of data.
BIT Data Recovery has developed a solution allowing for the partial recovery of data from these drives, according to the degree of data deterioration. Up to the present moment we have managed a partial or total recovery of data from the majority of Western Digital external hdd:
WD2500BMVS-11F9S0 WD2500BMVU-11A04S0 WD1600BMVS-11F9S0 WD3200BMVS-11F9S0 WD3200BMVV-11A9MS0 WD2500BMVU-11A04S0 WD2500BMVV-11GNWS0 WD5000BMVV-11SXZ1 WD3200BMVV-11A1PS0 WD5000BMVV-11GNWS0 WD5000BMVU-11A08S0 WD5000BMVV-11A1CS0 WD3200BMVU-11A04S0 WD3200BMVU-11A04S0 WD5000BMVW-11AMCS2 WD3200BMVW-11AMCS0 WD5000BMVW-11AMCS0, WD5000BMVW-11AMCS2 WD10TMVW-11ZSMS4 WD10TMVV-11TK7S1 WD10TMVV-11BG7S0 WD10TMVW-11ZSM1 WD10TMVV-11A27S1 WD10TMVV-11A27S0
All of these models come from casings such as My Passport Essential, My Passport Essential SE, My Passport for Mac, My Book Essential, My Book for Mac.
If you own a hard drive which is no longer functional or if you want to recover the data, please send it to us for a free diagnosis. You will find more details on sending us the external hard drives here.