The fault · a clicking, beeping disk
Most weeks we have clicking drives coming in from Maidenhead. Heads which can't determine their location will leave and go back to their parking position. They then try to perform the same manoeuvre they did previously, again and again, passing over the recording surface each time. The files are generally still intact when the noise starts; if they start to degrade, this is a result of the repeated attempts. To preserve the chances, reach the power switch early, before your data is lost.
Describe the fault to an engineer
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| The signs | The likely cause | Start here |
|---|---|---|
| A steady ticking sound, occurring once per second or so | Data for position is stored on the platter as servo marks; unable to read them, the arm parks and begins the entire process all over again | Switch off the power |
| A very faint high pitched beep; almost always this comes from a 2.5 inch portable | Nothing rotates: either the spindle bearings have seized solid or the heads seated on top of the platter are holding it in place | Do not shake or tap |
| A sound like metal being ground into something else | Platter head impact: the problem is occurring right now | Any powered operation erases data |
| Each powered start-up will produce a chirp | Calibrating fails, frequently right after the unit has been knocked | Shut it down and let it be |
| Clicking bursts, followed by complete silence | After every attempt at a retry sequence the drive restarts | Remove power from the device; quit the loop |
| Clicking occurs only when attempting access to specific files | One weakened head or damage limited to one band | Stop copying; have it imaged |
Nothing is chargeable until you say yes. Every item gets a case number of its own immediately upon receipt, an engineer determines what has failed, and you get a clear picture of which files have a real possibility of being recovered. The single quote that follows is fixed, written down and does not cost anything.
Until the mechanism (and its associated surfaces used for recording data) has been visually inspected for potential issues, no power will reach the drive. Should a failing disk need to run, it will run supervised, in short bursts (seconds), and will never be left unattended.
Heads may be replaced using a matching donor drive when the head assembly becomes damaged; a locked spindle will be freed and heads resting on the platter will be raised using non-contact methods. At that point, the only task given to the drive is to create a full image of itself.
A hardware imager does not aggressively attempt to read data from the original disk. Instead, it reads past bad sectors and returns to the weaker areas at the end to recover readable information, until a good-quality image contains every bit of useful data possible. File system repair is performed using only this new copy.
You don't get charged anything until you've confirmed and authorised that everything is fine after seeing the entire list of what was recovered. Any recovered items are returned via brand-new storage media and the postage costs for these are covered by us. We do not consider a project complete here until we receive confirmation that you have been able to successfully access and review every item you received back.
The best thing you can do when faced with a problem like this is simply turn off the power to the hard drive. These extremely fragile devices contain multiple tiny heads that fly mere nanometres above disk surfaces rotating at thousands of RPM. Therefore, there is no room for error if/when things slip. Across the noisy disks handled at our bench, the best indicator of success is how quickly the power was taken out.
It arrived ticking around one beat per second, containing five years' worth of till records. After two donor head-assembly sets and a single, very slow and gentle image capture, all accounting entries were accounted for and the shop's VAT return made it on time.
Generally, yes. The noise reports a failure to position the heads correctly within the head assembly; it does not indicate anything about the condition of your recording surface. When matched donor parts are used and a low speed read operation is run, much of the disk can usually be recovered. It's the amount of time the unit spends powered up afterwards that will cost you your data.
Nothing. The concept dates back to old drives that were discontinued long ago. Cooling today's disks introduces moisture (condensation) and causes contraction of the metal components. Thus you introduce both corrosion as well as new mechanical damage to whatever problems existed previously.
What you are hearing is the head assembly attempting to locate the servo pattern that was written during manufacture, unable to find it, returning to the ramp and starting again. Only inspection can tell you if your damaged heads or an underperforming preamp or scoring of your recording surfaces are responsible for the noise you hear.
No. All scans run by every program go through the exact same failing heads; therefore, the software issues the exact same read commands that destroy the remainder of the disk.
Every additional power-up asks for even more of a drive that is already starting to fail. First open a case with us, and let the free diagnosis tell you how much remains.