Restoring hdd after a crash. If the BIOS or axis does not see your hard drive, then it is broken and needs to be disassembled. How to recover data in case of mechanical damage to the HDD

Any HDD - A fairly thin device. This is evidenced by the fact that the read head hovers several nanometers above the surface of the magnetic plate during operation. And that, in turn, rotates at speeds of up to 7200 rpm.

Naturally, in such conditions the fall hard drive won't lead to anything good. Especially when it comes to external storage. Physical effects On a switched off disk they also do not pass without leaving a trace, but the device transfers them more easily.

Causes of damage during a fall

If contact with the floor occurs during operation of the device, then many types of breakdowns can occur in it. At a minimum, the reading head will come into contact with the surface of the disk, after which an impressive scratch will remain on the latter, along the entire length of which the data will become inaccessible.

In the worst case, magnetic plates made of glass or a special alloy will break. Then even the slim chance of data recovery disappears. It is also possible that the motor spindle to which the plates are attached may be damaged.

And if the disk beeps when you try to turn it on after being dropped, it means that the reading head is stuck to the surface of the plate and does not allow it to unwind.

What not to do if you drop your hard drive

After such damage to the drive, it is better not to try to turn it on after it has been dropped. Even to check its performance. Especially if it stores critical data.

Moreover, you should not try to use any recovery software. The fact is that user programs of this kind, even the most advanced ones, are designed to recover data lost as a result of software glitches, accidental deletion or formatting of the disk.

It is also better to refrain from independently opening a protected unit with plates and a block of reading heads. In production, the air in this unit is replaced with purified air with a minimum content of any particles. Opening it at home will result in littering the surface of the plates.

"Folk" recipes

Recipes deserve special attention restoration of hard discs from folk craftsmen, which, for some reason, have become widespread even on more or less adequate resources.

More specifically– damaged hard drive with valuable data absolutely not possible freeze in the refrigerator or heat in the oven. In the first case, after removal, condensation forms on the surface of the magnetic plates, which will make normal work device is impossible. In the second because high temperature the magnetic layer of the plates will be damaged. The data simply evaporates from them. After this, even the most advanced engineer will not be able to recover either the device or the data.

What to do then?

If you drop your hard drive after a fall, the first thing you should do is check that you have backup copies of your important data. Their presence will reduce the entire solution to the problem to the acquisition new hard disk, connecting it and recovering data from backup copy.

If the services Reserve copy were not used (which is extremely imprudent when working with important information), then there is only one way out - carefully select a drive, prepare money, and go to a data recovery laboratory.

This is the only way not to miss last chance to return lost data. In addition, if the damage to the drive is minimal, then you will only have to pay for diagnostics. And upon returning to the place, be sure to set up backup.

What might you need?	Price
1.1. Visit of a specialist (Moscow region)	For free
1.2.1. Equipment diagnostics at the service center	For free
1.2.2. On-site equipment diagnostics	Accidentally deleted photos, documentation. Cases when the file system table is damaged Can be carried out at a service center	from 990 rubles
Complex cases when files are partially overwritten, encrypted or the media is damaged The cost depends on the volume of data recovered	from 1690 rubles
The cost depends on the nature of the fault Carried out only in our service center	from 790 rubles

If a sad situation occurs when the hard drive receives physical damage, be it damage from a fall or just being hit, then you do not rush to worry about the loss of data, because... We strive to talk about computers in Russian and as much as possible accessible language, prepared for you this article, from which you will learn how to restore external hard disk after falling.

In this article, we focus on methods and devices that can be used to eliminate mechanical problems, because it is because of them that violations occur that do not allow hard drive read the information.

How to recover a hard drive after a fall?

Even small ones falling hard The disk can produce displacements of the mechanical internals, which, even with minimal deviations, will be enough for the heads to scratch the magnetic surface.

This often happens when the heads stick to the magnetic surface of the disk and are subsequently unable to unwind.

Occurs due to the fact that as a result of the fall they are displaced magnetic disks and the heads cannot find access to servo information. This is a critical case when the magnetic head unit needs to be replaced; a special “donor” is purchased for this procedure.

In this case, this is due to the heads scratching the magnetic surface, which leads to irreversible data loss without the possibility of recovery. It is under no circumstances recommended to use such a disk and immediately take it to a service center.

The disk does not spin up, but produces strange noises when trying to work.

This happens due to the sticking of the hard drive heads to the magnetic surfaces, the motor tries to spin up, but it doesn’t work, which is why squeaks occur.

Traces of impacts and dents.
Engine bearing wedge.
Scratches on the disc surface.
Damage to the magnetic head unit.

Most frequent problems The non-functioning of the HDD is physical, which we similarly discussed above. Physical damage occupy 59% of all cases when the hard drive becomes faulty. That is why in this article we will reverse Special attention how to repair a hard drive after a shock.
Logical problems. They occur in cases where the hard drive was infected with a virus or was carelessly formatted. Among all cases of requests to service centers, logic problems account for 33 percent.
Software problems. Occurs when disruptions occur in personal operating system, on which the drive is running. Hard drive uses great amount profile information: lists, placement zones, tables. From time to time, as in any other system, failures are also possible here. However, compared to other problems, software problems are still quite rare and occupy only 8% of all cases.

Since various damage to the magnetic head unit is the most common among physical problems, with whom they contact the service, then let’s focus on this problem. We will need a donor, that is, a model identical to the one we will be repairing, and special professional tools, since we will be replacing magnetic heads. Also, experience in these technical operations will also be very welcome, so if you are not confident in your abilities, then give this work to specialists.

Before starting work, properly prepare your workplace, completely remove all dust from it; the specialized instrument must also be sterile and free of dust as much as possible.

Keep the work area sterile.
Don't rush, work carefully.
Select a compatible BMG donor.

Donor. What is it and how not to make a mistake when choosing it

A donor is a drive that is identical to the one you are about to replace in damaged HDD. In order not to make a mistake when choosing it, choose one that has the same model, record reading type and HDA.

After we have selected the right donor, we get down to work:

Often the BMG axle on the HDA cover is bolted, we unscrew it first. Next, unscrew the bolts that secure the HDA to the frame. Next action the cover will be removed, but do this carefully, there is a sealing gasket underneath it, which in no case should even be scratched. After removing the cover and protective film we see all the mechanisms that make up the HDA. Since we need to replace faulty heads, some of these mechanisms will have to be disassembled.

First, remove the main magnet in the positioning system located on top. We unscrew all the bolts securing it and carefully take it out and press it with wire cutters, but hold it firmly, the magnets in the HDD are very strong, they easily attract each other and also easily fail if damaged.

Below the magnet you can see the positioning system along with the VCM coil. The head control connector is tightly screwed to the frame; we unscrew the screws holding it in place. Next, in order to remove the heads from user zone, we are removing the limiters and parking system.

Now comes the most difficult stage. If your HDD uses external system parking, then first you need to remove the heads from it. This is done like this: we continuously rotate the plates so that the heads do not stick to the surfaces, and remove the heads from the user area along with removing the parking system.

To remove the heads from the plates, make sure that they do not stick together. IN in this case It will not be possible to do without a container from HDRC specialized for these purposes, in which we place one of the heads.

If everything was done correctly, the heads will be packed and removed without damage. The time has come to remove the BMG. However, remember that it is very vulnerable to static voltage, so we advise you to properly ground the tools and work with gloves made of dielectric material. Well, unscrew the screw holding the BMG and pull the top and remove it from the axle. It is best to pull it with pliers so as not to damage the conductors.

Now we perform exactly the same operations for our donor and we have at our disposal big set from good heads, which we use to replace faulty heads in our damaged HDD. Now we carry out all the same operations that we performed above, but only in reverse order. If you managed it before, you can do it now. However, it is especially worth paying attention to getting the heads on the surface. In order to move the heads apart, we will again use special tools from HDRC or tools from other specialized companies.

The next special point installation in progress parking element, special attention should be paid to ensure that it is installed without any noise, otherwise in the future during operation this will certainly lead to internal damage to the drive. Well, this is the most difficult stage.

We assemble the entire HDD together and close it with the lid. Now we turn it on to the network and if all the steps were carried out correctly and carefully, then reconnection will occur and the data will be restored.

If the BIOS does not see the hard drive, this does not mean that it is faulty or that its repair was unsuccessful. In this case, this is a purely software problem and can be treated by cleaning the bads or replacing software the disk itself.
A hard drive can last five hundred thousand hours, or about 50 years, without breaking down. In fact, this is not true. This just shows how much this model can theoretically hold out, but in practice we have the fact that half a ten percent of disks fail in the first year, so don’t rely too much on this number.
Don’t be fooled by the talk that professional data recovery from a hard drive after a fall is a very expensive procedure. This is not true, but only within one and a half thousand rubles, and diagnostics should be carried out completely free of charge.

If a sad situation occurs when the hard drive receives physical damage, be it damage from a fall or just being hit, then you do not rush to worry about the loss of data, because... In an effort to talk about computers in Russian and in the most accessible language, we have prepared this article for you, from which you will learn how to restore an external hard drive after a fall.

In this article, we focus on methods and devices that can be used to eliminate mechanical problems, because it is because of them that violations occur that do not allow the hard drive to read information.

How to recover a hard drive after a fall?

Even small drops of a hard drive can cause displacement of the mechanical internals, which, even with minimal deviations, will be enough for the heads to scratch the magnetic surface.

This often happens when the heads stick to the magnetic surface of the disk and are subsequently unable to unwind.

Occurs due to the fact that as a result of the fall, the magnetic disks are displaced and the heads cannot find access to the servo information. This is a critical case when the magnetic head unit needs to be replaced; a special “donor” is purchased for this procedure.

The disk does not spin up, but makes strange noises when trying to work.

This happens due to the sticking of the hard drive heads to the magnetic surfaces, the motor tries to spin up, but it doesn’t work, which is why squeaks occur.

Traces of impacts and dents.
Engine bearing wedge.
Scratches on the disc surface.
Damage to the magnetic head unit.

The most common problems with HDD non-functioning are physical ones, which we discussed above. Physical damage accounts for 59% of all cases where a hard drive becomes faulty. That is why in this article we will pay special attention to how to repair a hard drive after an impact.
Logical problems. They occur in cases where the hard drive was infected with a virus or was carelessly formatted. Among all cases of calls to service centers, logical problems account for 33 percent.
Software problems. They happen when failures occur in the personal operating system on which the drive runs. The hard drive uses a huge amount of profile information: lists, placement zones, tables. From time to time, as in any other system, failures are also possible here. However, compared to other problems, software problems are still quite rare and occupy only 8% of all cases.

Since various damage to the magnetic head unit is the most common among the physical problems that are addressed to the service, let’s focus on this problem. We will need a donor, that is, a model identical to the one we will be repairing, and special professional tools, since we will be replacing magnetic heads. Also, experience in these technical operations will also be very welcome, so if you are not confident in your abilities, then give this work to specialists.

Before starting work, properly prepare your workplace, completely remove all dust from it, the specialized tool must also be sterile and free of dust as much as possible.

Keep the work area sterile.
Don't rush, work carefully.
Select a compatible BMG donor.

Donor. What is it and how not to make a mistake when choosing it

A donor is a drive identical to the one you are going to replace in a damaged HDD. In order not to make a mistake when choosing it, choose one that has the same model, record reading type and HDA.

After we have selected the right donor, we get down to work:

Often the BMG axle on the HDA cover is bolted, we unscrew it first. Next, unscrew the bolts that secure the HDA to the frame. The next step is to remove the cover, but do this carefully, under it there is a sealing gasket, which in no case should even be scratched. After removing the cover and protective film, we see all the mechanisms that make up the HDA. Since we need to replace faulty heads, some of these mechanisms will have to be disassembled.

Below the magnet you can see the positioning system along with the VCM coil. The head control connector is tightly screwed to the frame; we unscrew the screws holding it in place. Next, in order to remove the heads from the user area, we remove the limiters and the parking system.

Now comes the most difficult stage. If your HDD uses an external parking system, then first you should remove the heads from it. This is done like this: we continuously rotate the plates so that the heads do not stick to the surfaces, and remove the heads from the user area along with removing the parking system.

To remove the heads from the plates, make sure that they do not stick together. In this case, it will not be possible to do without a container from HDRC, specialized for these purposes, in which we place one of the heads.

Now we perform exactly the same operations for our donor and we have at our disposal a large set of good heads with which we replace the faulty heads in our damaged HDD. Now we carry out all the same operations that we performed above, but only in reverse order. If you managed it before, you can do it now. However, it is especially worth paying attention to getting the heads on the surface. In order to expand the heads, we will again use special tools from HDRC or tools from other specialized companies.

The next special point is the installation of the parking element; special attention should be paid to ensuring that it is installed without any noise, otherwise in the future during operation this will certainly lead to internal damage to the drive. Well, this is the most difficult stage.

If the BIOS does not see the hard drive, this does not mean that it is faulty or that its repair was unsuccessful. In this case, this is a purely software problem and can be treated by cleaning the bads or replacing the software of the disk itself.
A hard drive can last five hundred thousand hours, or about 50 years, without breaking down. In fact, this is not true. This only indicates how long this model can theoretically last, but in practice we have the fact that half a dozen percent of disks fail in the first year, so don’t rely too much on this number.
Don’t be fooled by the talk that professional data recovery from a hard drive after a fall is a very expensive procedure. This is not true, but only within one and a half thousand rubles, and diagnostics should be carried out completely free of charge.

« Smart people decided to hang a working external hard drive by a USB cord; at the time of the presentation it fell safely, but when reconnection even decided and allowed me to finish the presentation. Upon arrival home, the drive was no longer ready, continuing to spin as usual...”

“The external hard drive fell and is now not detected, I tried to connect it to the computer - it periodically taps the heads.... "

“When working with files on an external hard drive, I accidentally touched it with my hand and the drive fell on the tiled floor... the drive works, but I can’t download the folders that I accessed last time”

"The laptop fell onto the carpet along with the external drive, the laptop is intact, but the hard drive beeps and is not detected.... "

If not every second, then every third hard drive suffers from such a malfunction. And if scratches and marks have not yet settled on the surface of the hard drive, after long attempts by the client to read something on his own, then there is still a possibility to restore the information.

I visited our laboratory WD20NMVW-11AV3S3 with one of these problems.
At first, the client made a reservation that immediately after the fall of Western, he connected it to the computer and it worked for a long time without knocking, but was not ready. And only after the Nth attempt, it began to click periodically, but continued to spin and did not turn off the engine.

At first glance, we are dealing with damage to one or more service heads, and possible damage to the service area of the drive. In the first case, if we are dealing with damage to one or more magnetic heads, then we can subtract information on the remaining workers. If the result is not satisfactory, then you cannot do without replacing the entire unit. The third option is damage to the service area, or more precisely to its modules required to initialize the drive. In this case, the modules are edited and if the service heads are still capable of writing, then the drive’s functionality is restored while the data is read from external drive it will succeed.

Before connecting the drive, think 10 times whether your actions will make it worse! If you do connect it, then you should not expect that if it is not detected within a short time, you need to wait another N - number of minutes until it starts clicking its heads and, holy Cats forbid, files down the surface!

If the manufacturer's warranty is important to you, I strongly recommend that you do nothing. In most cases, if the drive has no external defects, it will be taken away under warranty, but if you have it all open and scratched, difficulties will most likely arise.

Pre-preparing an external hard drive by replacing the USB controller

Let's return to our external hard disk after a fall. First, we will need to gain access via SATA because... It's not always possible to get full functionality via USB, and unnecessary calls We have no use for systems. For this, a donor board with suitable characteristics is used. After we have gained access through SATA interface, we try to start the drive. The drive does not become ready, sometimes the heads click, but continues to work. Let's start from the end and check the service area of the drive.

Testing service area modules, searching for damaged modules

Having gained access to the service area WD20NMVW-11AV3S3, we check the modules by ID. As a result, we find that modules 11, 03, 40 and 31 are not readable. And since they are necessary for correct operation drive, their damage promises us some difficulties. All these modules are unique to of this drive and only 11 can come from the same drive of a given

List of Shrek LT family drives

Drive model	Number of discs	Read/Write heads	Drive model	Number of discs	Read/Write heads
WD20NMVW-11AV3S0	4	8	WD20NMVW-11AV3S2	4	8
WD20NMVW-11AV3S3	4	8	WD20NPVX-00EA4T0	4	8
WD20NMVW-1W68S0	4	8	WD20NMVW - 11AV3S4	4	8

Also, without module 11, it is not possible to work with the service area using other copies. Holy Cats!
When the module from a close relative was finally found, we gain access to the service area and other heads. Well, let's try to re-read the modules for all heads. The waves rocked our bank, the wind fluttered our sails with ferocious squeals: module 03 – yes, module 40 – yes…. The shores of a painfully familiar green clearing were visible, when suddenly we ran aground... The original module 31 and 11 were still unreadable. And a few seconds later the sails were torn off. The disk sank, and with it our hope of arriving on time.

Preparing an external hard drive for replacing the magnetic head unit

Most drives have so-called “control holes” under printed circuit board drive by the “controller” or from the side of the drive. Using these holes, you can inspect the bottom plate of the drive for nicks or scratches. Unfortunately, it will not be possible to check whether the magnetic head unit is damaged without opening the entire hermetic zone. Let's begin inspecting the containment zone and the magnetic head unit for scratches, chips and cuts; all work is carried out in a laminar flow hood in order to minimize the ingress of contaminants into the containment zone of the drive. And if such passengers cannot be detected, then you can proceed to the next stage - replacing the magnetic head unit.

Replacing the magnetic head unit. Fixing damaged modules. Data recovery from an external hard drive - proofreading (presence of bad sectors)

Fortunately, the ship did not collapse and we were able to tighten the sails. Now all that remained was to wait for the water to return to the bay, along with the current and wind. With the new heads, the drive allowed us to read 31 and 11 modules without unnecessary sounds. The damage affected only those areas that are not important to us. Therefore, all that remained was to write each module in its place. After some time, a beautiful view of a green meadow appeared before the tired team. The recent storm took its toll on her appearance. And the garbage thrown ashore could be seen from afar as black dots, but were not very noticeable. Having moored and read the first sector of the drive, and then seen the entire structure and folders stored on the drive, we proceed to creating a copy of the files.

The entire recovery procedure took no more than 8 days (6 days for reading the entire data block and 2 days for reading the files that were in the area with a large number bad sectors). The client needed some files that were in the area most affected by the fall. In this regard, the process was extended by 2 days - since when reading data in that area, the heads “caught”. This ultimately required additional processing plate surfaces external hard disk.

If the drive is dropped and not in working condition, you can check its functionality by connecting it to the computer for a short time. If the drive is detected as usual, then I advise you, if you have not already done so, to take care of a backup copy. Because today everything worked out, but there may not be a second time. And having saved today on data recovery, buy a second disk to store a copy, or better yet, a place in the cloud!

If the drive beeps (makes unnatural sounds) or sometimes taps its heads, then turn it off immediately! In this case, most likely you have a problem with the heads or sticking to the surface. Elimination similar problems produced only in a laboratory in clean conditions and with special equipment!

If the drive is detected, but an error or process appears when copying download in progress very slowly, then most likely bad sectors have appeared on the drive. Also, if the drive is not fully detected, that is, it is detected only as a WD USB device, etc. This may also indicate the emergence of bad sectors. Unfortunately, these problems can only be corrected in the laboratory.