Your Hard Drive Is Not Detected.
It May Not Be Dead.
Your computer does not see your drive. That does not mean your data is gone. A shorted circuit board, corrupted firmware, or a mechanical fault each have a different fix. We diagnose the actual cause. No generic "bad drive" excuses. No evaluation fees.
No Data, No Charge. Firmware repair: $600-$900. Mechanical: $1,200-$1,500.
First Question: Does Your Drive Spin?
The sound your drive makes, or does not make, is the single most important clue. Before you download random software, listen closely.
Drive is Silent
Symptom: No vibration, no noise, light might be off.
Likely cause: Electrical short on the PCB, or seized motor.
PCB repair has good success rates if the platters are undamaged.
Spins Up, Sounds Normal
Symptom: You feel vibration, hear it spin, but no data.
Likely cause: Firmware corruption or slow-responding bug.
This is often the cheapest fix. Do not run chkdsk.
Clicking, Beeping, or Grinding
Symptom: Repetitive mechanical noises.
Likely cause: Head failure or stuck heads.
What Causes a Drive to Not Be Detected
PCB and Electrical Failure
Hard drives have a circuit board that manages power and data. If you use the wrong power adapter or experience a surge, the TVS diodes can blow to protect the drive. The board is dead but the platters are fine.
The myth: Just swap the board with a matching one from eBay.
The reality: Modern drives store unique calibration data in a ROM chip on the PCB. If you swap the board without transferring your original ROM chip, the drive will not spin or will click. We repair the original board or perform the ROM transfer properly.
Firmware and Service Area Corruption
Hard drives have their own operating system called firmware, stored on the platters in the Service Area. When this gets corrupted, the drive spins but reports 0GB or refuses to talk to your computer.
Translator bug: Common in WD and Seagate drives. The module that maps data sectors becomes corrupt.
Seagate Rosewood locks: Modern thin Seagate drives often lock themselves in a busy state due to background process errors.
SSD firmware failure: SSDs using Phison controllers can drop into a fallback mode called SATAFIRM S11 or SATABURN, reporting 0 bytes or 8 MB capacity and an incorrect model name. The controller is alive but has lost its Flash Translation Layer (FTL) map.
In some cases, SMART warnings appear before the drive stops being detected entirely. Once the firmware is too corrupted to initialize, SMART data is no longer accessible through normal tools.
We use PC-3000 hardware to access the Service Area, patch the corrupted modules, and rebuild the translator. This is not something consumer software can do.
Mechanical Failure in Disguise
Sometimes "not detected" is actually a mechanical issue.
Weak heads: The drive spins but the heads are too weak to read the Service Area during boot. It gives up and stays silent.
Seized motor: The drive is silent because the motor is physically stuck. Common in dropped drives.
Mechanical recovery requires opening the drive in our clean bench and using donor parts. It costs more than firmware or PCB repair. We tell you which one it is before we bill you.
Encrypted External Drives
Many external drives, especially WD My Passport and My Book models, encrypt your data through the USB bridge chip in the enclosure.
If you remove the drive from the enclosure and connect it directly via SATA, you will see encrypted gibberish, not your files.
If the USB bridge failed but the drive is fine, we can often repair or replace the bridge. If the drive itself failed, we recover through the original encryption path.
Watch Real Diagnosis and Recovery
Here is what diagnosing a not-detected drive actually looks like.
Why a dead drive might just be a PCB issue.
Fixing a locked Seagate firmware.
What You Can Safely Try
Safe to Try First
- Change the cable. USB 3.0 Micro-B cables fail constantly. Try a new one.
- Try a different computer. Rule out a bad USB port or driver issue.
- Check Disk Management. Press Win+X, select Disk Management. If you see the drive as Unallocated or Unknown, it is alive but needs help. Do NOT format it.
- Listen to the drive. Does it spin? Click? Beep? That tells you which page to read.
Do Not Do This
- ✗Do not open the drive. Breaking the seal allows dust in. One particle is enough to cause a head crash.
- ✗Do not shuck encrypted drives. WD My Passport drives encrypt data via the USB bridge. If you bypass it, you get encrypted gibberish.
- ✗Do not run chkdsk /f. If the drive is failing, this command will stress it and can scramble file fragments.
- ✗Do not swap the PCB without ROM transfer. The calibration data is unique to your drive. Wrong board equals dead drive.
NVMe or SATA SSD Not Detected?
Quick Answer
If your NVMe SSD is completely invisible to the BIOS, do not assume the controller is dead yet. It may be hidden by Intel VMD or disabled by PCIe lane sharing. Reseat the drive and try a different M.2 slot first. If it remains invisible after ruling out motherboard configurations, the controller has failed or shorted. Software cannot detect or recover data from a dead controller; PC-3000 firmware-level tools are required.
When an SSD disappears from your BIOS or Disk Management, there are no sounds to diagnose; SSDs fail silently. However, if your SSD is scalding hot to the touch immediately upon booting, disconnect it. Do not attempt to recover data via software. You have a shorted PMIC. Otherwise, an invisible SSD is commonly a controller lockup, firmware corruption, or a motherboard configuration issue masking the drive. Try these steps:
- 1.Reseat the M.2 drive at a 30-degree angle and check the standoff. A loose connector accounts for many "dead" SSD reports. Never screw the drive directly flat to the motherboard without the proper standoff; bending the drive will crack the solder joints under the controller and permanently destroy it.
- 2.Check if the drive appears in BIOS but not in Windows. If you have an 11th Gen or newer Intel CPU, your drive may simply be hidden by Intel VMD. You must inject the Intel RST driver during Windows setup or disable VMD. Otherwise, visible in BIOS but absent in Windows points to a partition or firmware issue.
- 3.Try a different M.2 slot or a USB adapter. M.2 is a shape, not a protocol. A SATA M.2 drive in an NVMe-only slot will not be detected. Also, motherboards often share PCIe lanes, disabling M.2 slots if certain SATA ports are in use. A second slot rules out these conflicts.
- 4.If you ruled out configuration issues and it is still invisible, the controller is dead. If VMD is disabled, the slot is correct, and the drive is not shorted, a completely invisible drive has a dead controller. Software cannot help. Professional firmware-level tools like PC-3000 are required. See our SSD data recovery service.
See also: SSD Shows 0GB or Wrong Capacity
What This Costs
Many data recovery labs charge one high price for everything. They bill you the mechanical rate even if it is just a firmware fix. We charge based on what the problem actually is.
| Problem | Rossmann | DriveSavers / Big Labs |
|---|---|---|
| Firmware / Not Detected / 0GB Capacity | $600-$900 | $1,000-$2,500 |
| Logical Recovery | $100-$500 | $500-$1,500 |
| Head Swap / Mechanical | $1,200-$1,500 | $2,000-$7,000+ |
| Evaluation Fee | None | Free eval, but fees common elsewhere |
We provide a firm quote after free evaluation. If it turns out to be firmware instead of heads, you pay the firmware price, not a flat "worst-case" tier.
Data Recovery Standards & Verification
Our Austin lab operates on a transparency-first model. We use industry-standard recovery tools, including PC-3000 and DeepSpar, combined with strict environmental controls to make sure your hard drive is handled safely and properly. This approach allows us to serve clients nationwide with consistent technical standards.
Open-drive work is performed in a ULPA-filtered laminar-flow bench, validated to 0.02 µm particle count, verified using TSI P-Trak instrumentation.
Transparent History
Serving clients nationwide via mail-in service since 2008.
Media Coverage
Our repair work has been covered by The Wall Street Journal and Business Insider, with CBC News reporting on our pricing transparency. Louis Rossmann has testified in Right to Repair hearings in multiple states and founded the Repair Preservation Group.
Aligned Incentives
Our "No Data, No Charge" policy means we assume the risk of the recovery attempt, not the client.
Technical Oversight
Louis Rossmann
Louis Rossmann's well trained staff review our lab protocols to ensure technical accuracy and honest service. Since 2008, his focus has been on clear technical communication and accurate diagnostics rather than sales-driven explanations.
We believe in proving standards rather than just stating them. We use TSI P-Trak instrumentation to verify that clean-air benchmarks are met before any drive is opened.
See our clean bench validation data and particle test videoCommon Questions
Can data be recovered from a hard drive that is not detected?
Yes. In many cases, a drive that is not detected has a firmware issue or a failed PCB component, not a catastrophic mechanical failure. If the platters are intact, data recovery is possible using specialized tools like PC-3000.
Why is my hard drive not showing up?
For hard drives, common causes include electrical failure such as a shorted TVS diode, firmware corruption, or mechanical issues like a seized motor. For modern NVMe SSDs, the drive may simply be hidden by Intel VMD or motherboard PCIe lane sharing. It is rarely just a basic OS driver issue, unless you are missing the Intel RST driver for VMD.
Can I fix it by swapping the PCB from another drive?
No. Modern drives store unique calibration data in a ROM chip on the PCB. If you swap the board without transferring the ROM chip, the drive will not work. This requires soldering equipment and knowledge of which chip to move. A botched swap can make recovery harder.
Do I pay if you cannot recover my data?
No. No Data, No Charge means exactly that. If we cannot get your files, you pay nothing for the attempt. You only pay return shipping if you want the original drive back.
Should I run data recovery software first?
Only if the drive is detected and reads quickly. If the drive is not showing up, or if it is slow and unresponsive, running software forces it to work harder. This can turn a recoverable drive into an unrecoverable one. When in doubt, do not run anything.
Why are DriveSavers and other big labs more expensive?
They spend a lot on marketing. DriveSavers is an Apple partner, Ontrack does enterprise contracts; they have big sales teams and advertising budgets. That overhead gets passed to you. We use the same class of equipment; PC-3000, laminar flow benches, donor inventory. The work is identical. The price is not.
Related Hard Drive Issues
Full HDD recovery service overview
SSD not detected or firmware failure
Mechanical head failure
Pre-failure warnings and diagnostics
Circuit board failure causing detection issues
Transparent cost breakdown
Stop guessing. Get a real diagnosis.
We tell you if it is a $600 fix or a $1,500 fix before you pay anything. No data, no charge.