External Harddrive dropped to the floor...

[xusword]

Hi

I bought a external harddrive 6 months ago. Put all the data on my old computer on it before selling my old computer. Guess what... I have dropped the harddrive on the floor while it is reading this morning... It has now stopped working...

Best buy warranty most likely is not going to cover this kind of repair. Called NCIX they told me they can't fix anything like this and maybe I should contact manufacturer. Maybe I will go to bestbuy later today and ask about it.

Has anyone been in this situation before? Any suggestions? How much would it cost to fix/recover all the data?

thanks

P.S. I live in Vancouver

[spandexninja]

Recovery depends on what is broken. Try taking the hard drive out of the enclosure and installing it in your computer. If that doesn't work, you can try taking out the hard drive platter and moving it to another hard drive. If the platter itself is damaged, then data recovery could be impossible.

Any computer shop that has computer repair services will be able to do this.

[thinfilms]

Try to remove the drive from its external housing and see if it is detected on a desktop computer. If it is, you can try using recovery programs to grab the files. If not, you might have to call up a specialist (gonna cost $$$, but depends if its worth it to you)


Recovery depends on what is broken. Try taking the hard drive out of the enclosure and installing it in your computer. If that doesn't work, you can try taking out the hard drive platter and moving it to another hard drive. If the platter itself is damaged, then data recovery could be impossible.

Any computer shop that has computer repair services will be able to do this.

I'd highly recommend against taking apart the drive (you're likely to get the platters damaged/dirty). You "could" try swapping the controller instead.

[f33dme]

Do not take the case apart unless you know what you are doing or have a clean room. Any dust will ruin the HD for good.

[WildWolf]

Try to remove the drive from its external housing and see if it is detected on a desktop computer. If it is, you can try using recovery programs to grab the files. If not, you might have to call up a specialist (gonna cost $$$, but depends if its worth it to you)



I'd highly recommend against taking apart the drive (you're likely to get the platters damaged/dirty). You "could" try swapping the controller instead.

Good Point, if the HDD is not within a enclosure close it up and phone the manufacturer.

[will888]

Good Point, if the HDD is not within a enclosure close it up and phone the manufacturer.

Best suggestion. The wife knocked over a drive while it was reading/writing and it stopped working instantly. It was a WD mybook. I took it out of the case to see if it would work on a different enclosure, no go. I did an RMA sending the bare drive. I took a chance that it may not be covered on warranty. The cost was only postage to try. They sent me a replacement drive in an enclosure and I ended up with a 2 TB drive in place of the 1.5 TB. Win-win situation.

[navigator416]

Do not take the case apart unless you know what you are doing or have a clean room. Any dust will ruin the HD for good.

They are not suggesting the OP take apart the actual harddrive, just the enclosure.