Question 1

How is HDD data recovery different from SSD recovery?

Accepted Answer

A hard drive stores data on spinning magnetic platters read by mechanical heads, so HDD recovery means head swaps, platter cleaning, & firmware Service Area repair on a clean bench. An SSD has no heads or platters; it stores data in NAND flash chips managed by a controller, so SSD recovery is chip-level & controller work. The failure modes don't overlap, & neither do the tools.

Question 2

What should I do with a dead or clicking hard drive?

Accepted Answer

Unplug it & stop trying to power it on. Clicking usually means the heads are failing to read and recalibrating; beeping means the heads are stuck or the spindle is seized; grinding means the heads have crashed and are dragging on the platters. If the heads have crashed, every spin-up scores the surface & destroys more data. Don't run recovery software, don't freeze the drive, don't open it. Send it to us & we diagnose the head stack for free, then swap donor heads in a 0.02 micron ULPA-filtered clean bench if the platters are still intact.

Question 3

How much does HDD data recovery cost?

Accepted Answer

Hard drive recovery runs $100–$2,000 depending on the failure. A simple copy off a working drive starts at $100; file system recovery starts from $250; firmware repair is $600–$900; & a clean-bench head swap is $1,200–$1,500 plus a donor drive. There are no diagnostic fees, & if we can't recover your data you don't pay.

Question 4

How long does hard drive recovery take?

Accepted Answer

Most logical & firmware jobs finish in 2 to 6 weeks; head swaps & platter work run 4 to 8 weeks because we have to source & match a donor drive by model, firmware revision, & head map. +$100 rush fee to move to the front of the queue if you need to jump the queue. We diagnose first, quote a firm price, & don't start mechanical work until you approve it.

HDD Data Recovery by Hard Drive Model Family

Seagate

Seagate Rosewood

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11

Seagate Barracuda

Seagate IronWolf

Seagate Exos

Western Digital

WD Spyglass (My Passport)

WD Red / Red Plus (Mars)

WD Blue (Desktop)

WD Easystore (Desktop External)

HGST

HGST Ultrastar

HGST Travelstar

Toshiba

Toshiba MQ01

Toshiba MQ04

Toshiba DT01/DT02 Desktop

Toshiba Canvio External

Samsung

Samsung Spinpoint (Legacy)

Other Recovery Guides

SSD Recovery by Controller

Hard Drive Recovery Overview

SSD Recovery Overview

Hard Drive Recovery FAQ

Hard drive not working?