The noise tells us a good deal about what has failed — and how quickly it is getting worse. A steady click is the heads failing to find their bearings; a scrape is contact with the platter surface. Both deteriorate with every rotation, which makes the time between the first noise and the power switch the most important factor in the outcome.
$ bdr diagnose /dev/sda → Device: Seagate ST2000DM008 · 2 TB → Status: CLICKING — head stack failure → Client: confidential · Reading, Oxfordshire $ bdr engineer-working → Donor heads matched: from stock · 0 days wait → Head-stack swap: complete → Imaging: 1.79 TB / 1.81 TB $ bdr verify → ✓ wedding_photos — 142,318 files → ✓ tax_records — 4,201 files → ✓ everything else — back home
Clicking means the heads cannot read where they are. Grinding means they are touching the platter. Neither improves with another attempt, and the amount recovered correlates closely with how long the drive ran after the noise started. Switch it off now.
Drives are unusually informative when they fail. The pattern narrows the fault before anything is opened.
By the time a drive reaches us, most of the outcome has already been decided by what happened at home or in the office.
A head that has begun failing is not simply reading badly — it may be flying lower than designed, or contacting the surface intermittently. Each rotation at 5,400 or 7,200 rpm passes the entire track beneath it again. A drive run for ten minutes after the noise started is a different proposition from one run for two days, and the difference shows up as scored regions where nothing can be read regardless of technique.
This is why we are blunt about it. Nothing else you can do at a desk affects the result as much as switching the drive off promptly — not software, not cables, not a different machine. The recovery begins with whatever surface is left.
Precise bench work, and deliberately conservative.
The drive is examined and its family, firmware revision and head configuration identified before anything spins.
A matching drive is needed — same family, compatible firmware, correct head count. This is frequently the slowest part, and it is why an unusual or elderly drive takes longer.
The damaged assembly is removed and the donor set fitted without touching the platters. Alignment is preserved throughout.
The drive is cloned read-only with timeouts tuned per head, prioritising the regions holding what you need. A repaired drive may only give one good read, so it is used carefully.
File system repair, extraction and verification all happen against the clone. The original is never written to and is not expected to work afterwards.
Clean-air work has costs that are incurred whatever the outcome.
A single clicking or grinding drive is from £300 +VAT, confirmed in a written quote after a free 48-hour diagnostic. Because this work needs donor parts and clean-air time, it carries a 50% deposit, with the balance payable only on a successful recovery.
Send the bare drive rather than the machine, and do not attempt to power it again to check. Full write-ups: IBM Deskstar Recovery: The Click of Death.
Send the device in for its free diagnostic and tell us briefly what happened; an engineer reviews it and confirms your exact quote in writing before anything starts.
Getting your data back begins with getting the device to us. Pack it up safely, pop your contact details inside, and send it over — once we’ve run the free diagnostic, we’ll confirm your exact price in writing before any work starts.
Posting it? A tracked, insured service is what we’d recommend. Rather drop it in? You’re welcome Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm — just package the device up as above first.
Want a bit more detail first? Fill in the form with more about your issue and an engineer will review it and send you a custom quote.
We’ll be in touch shortly. If it’s urgent, call 01865 593000.
The questions we hear most about clicking and grinding drives.
Because the heads cannot locate their servo positioning data, so the drive retracts the assembly to its stop, recalibrates and tries again. That retraction is the click. It usually means the heads are damaged or failing.
Not in a way that leaves it usable, and not at a desk. Recovery means opening it under filtered clean air and fitting a matched donor head assembly, then imaging it. The drive is not expected to work afterwards — the objective is your data.
You shouldn’t use it at all. Head damage worsens with every rotation, and the amount ultimately recovered correlates closely with how long the drive ran after the noise began. It is the single biggest variable you control.
Grinding or scraping is contact with the platter surface, which is worse. It causes permanent damage that defines the ceiling on what can ever be recovered from those tracks, however careful the subsequent work.
No. Condensation forms on the platters as the drive returns to room temperature, and moisture where the heads fly is destructive. It has never been reliable and it complicates professional recovery.
From £300 plus VAT for a single drive, quoted in writing after a free 48-hour diagnostic. This work carries a 50% deposit because donor parts and clean-air time are committed regardless, with the balance due only on success.
Every repair is backed by a 10,000-piece donor store, opens with a free written diagnostic, and on most jobs is no fix, no fee. Begin today.