Clicking, dropped, dead or not showing up? We handle data recovery from hard drives of every make — Seagate, Western Digital, Toshiba and more. Where a drive needs opening, we replace the heads and motor with matched donor parts and recover your files.
$ bdr diagnose /dev/sdb → Device: Seagate Barracuda (2 TB) → Status: CLICKING — head crash, will not spin → Client: Hayes, M. · Fishponds BS16 $ bdr engineer-working → Read-write heads: replaced · matched donor → Service area: firmware modules repaired → Imaging: 1.9 TB / 2 TB · 99.4% read $ bdr verify → ✓ documents — 18,300 files → ✓ photos — 24,110 files → ✓ drive recovered — data back
If your hard drive is clicking, grinding or beeping, switch it off and leave it off. Those sounds mean the heads are touching the platters, and every minute it stays powered scrapes away more of your data. Don't run repair tools, don't open the drive yourself, and don't put it in the freezer — none of it helps and most of it does harm. The sooner a failing drive is stopped, the more we can recover.
From a dropped laptop to a drive that simply won't spin, these are the hard drive failures we recover from most often — mechanical, electronic, firmware and logical.
We recover every make and model of hard drive — current and decades old, internal and external. The brand rarely changes whether your data can be saved.
Including Barracuda, IronWolf, Exos, SkyHawk and FireCuda (Seagate) · Blue, Black, Red, Purple, Gold and Ultrastar (WD) · X300, N300, MG and Canvio (Toshiba) · internal and external · SATA, SAS and IDE.
Data recovery from a hard drive means making it stable enough to read, imaging it without ever writing to it, then rebuilding your files from that copy. Where a drive has failed mechanically, we repair it first.
Tell us what happened — clicking, dropped, dead, not detected. We diagnose the fault and send a written quote, usually within 48 hours.
If the drive has failed heads or a seized motor, we open it and replace the parts with matched donor drives. This work needs 50% of the fee upfront.
For a dead board we repair or rebuild the PCB and transfer its unique ROM. For firmware faults we repair the service-area modules so the drive reads.
We take a sector-by-sector, read-only image of the drive on specialist hardware, so the original is never altered and weak drives are read gently.
We rebuild the file system from the image and recover your files and folders, including data from bad or hard-to-read areas of the drive.
We check the recovered files open correctly and the folder structure is intact before anything is returned to you.
We return your data on a new external drive, or you can download it free for recoveries up to 75 GB.
We recover every make of hard drive — Seagate, Western Digital, Toshiba and the rest — working from a read-only image and carrying out head, motor and board repairs in-house.
Tell us what happened and we will get back to you, usually within one working day.
We will be in touch shortly. For anything urgent, call 0117 332 1137.
One fixed price to recover a single hard drive — with a free diagnostic and a written quote before any work starts.
A snapshot of recent hard drive recoveries across mechanical, electronic and logical failures. Names redacted, results verified.
The heads had failed and were touching the platters. We fitted matched donor heads, repaired the firmware and imaged the drive.
The impact had crashed the heads. We opened the drive, replaced the head stack and recovered every file intact.
The circuit board had failed. We repaired the PCB, transferred its ROM and read the drive in full.
The fault was corrupt firmware in the service area. We repaired the modules and recovered all of the data.
Water had reached the internals. We cleaned and dried the drive, replaced damaged parts and recovered most of the data.
The file system was corrupt but the data was intact. We imaged the drive read-only and rebuilt it, recovering the files.
Reviews from real Bristol and South West clients whose hard drives we recovered.
My Seagate drive started clicking and I was sure I had lost fifteen years of photos. They replaced the heads and got back all but a handful of files. I cannot recommend them enough.
Dropped my external WD drive and it just died. They recovered every single photo of my kids. Worth every penny and lovely people to deal with.
My laptop hard drive would not power on at all after a storm. They fixed the board and recovered my whole business off it. Fast, fair and completely honest.
The drive was not being recognised by any computer and two other places had given up. These got it working and pulled everything off. Genuine experts.
Quoted a clear fixed price up front, no fix no fee, and kept me updated the whole way. Got my dissertation back off a dead drive. Brilliant service.
A pipe burst and soaked my backup drive. I assumed it was gone but they dried it out and recovered nearly all of it. Honest, skilled and reassuring.
Send us your device for a free diagnostic, and tell us a little about what happened — an engineer will review it and confirm your exact quote in writing before any work begins.
Recovering your data starts with getting the device to us. Pack it safely, add your contact details, and send it over — after we run a free diagnostic, we’ll confirm your exact price in writing before any work begins.
Posting it in? We recommend a tracked, insured service. Prefer to drop it off? You’re welcome Monday–Friday, 9am–5:30pm — please still package the device as above.
If you need more information on our data recovery service, fill out the form with more detail about your issue and an engineer will review it and give you a custom quote.
We’ll be in touch shortly. For anything urgent, call 0117 332 1137.
The questions we are asked most about recovering a failed hard drive.
Usually, yes — but switch it off now. Clicking or grinding almost always means the read-write heads have failed and are touching the platters. We replace the heads with matched donor parts and recover the data. Every time the drive is powered on the damage gets worse, so stop using it.
Not necessarily. A drive that is completely dead, with no spin and no sound, is usually a failed circuit board, often after a power surge — the platters and your data are untouched. We repair or rebuild the board, transfer its unique ROM and read the drive.
Often, yes. A drive that spins but never appears, or shows the wrong capacity, usually has corrupt firmware in its service area rather than lost data. We repair the firmware modules and recover your files.
Yes. When a drive has failed heads, a seized motor or other internal damage, we open it and replace the parts using matched donor drives. Opening a drive is part of what we do where it is needed — we always confirm the price with you first.
It is a fixed £300 + VAT to recover a single hard drive, with a free diagnostic and a written quote first. If the drive has a mechanical failure we take 50% of the fee upfront, so most jobs are no fix, no fee. If the drive needs opening, we take 50% of the parts and labour upfront.
On most jobs, yes. For a mechanical failure we take a 50% deposit upfront and the rest is only due if we recover your data — so if we can't, you are not left with the full bill. Jobs that need the drive opened work a little differently, with 50% of parts and labour upfront.
Every make — Seagate, Western Digital, Toshiba, Hitachi, HGST, Samsung, Maxtor, Fujitsu and the rest, internal and external, SATA, SAS and IDE. The brand rarely changes whether the data is recoverable.
No — not if the drive is making any noise or is not being detected properly. Recovery software keeps the drive spinning and the heads moving, which can scratch the platters and lose the data for good. If the fault is physical, software cannot see it anyway. Stop and talk to us first.
No. It is an old myth that can ruin a drive — condensation forms on the platters and causes corrosion as it warms up. We have seen drives lost to it. Keep the drive switched off and dry, and send it in.
Most logical recoveries are done within 2 to 3 working days. Mechanical recoveries that need donor parts usually take a little longer — 3 to 4 working days — depending on the parts and the condition of the drive. The free diagnostic is normally finished within 48 hours, and urgent cases can often be prioritised.
You can drop it off at our Bristol location Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm, or post it to us fully insured. Wrap the drive well, seal it, and include your name, address, phone number and email inside the package so we can book it in. We will run the free diagnostic and send a written quote before any work begins.
Free diagnostic, a fixed £300 + VAT per drive, and no fix no fee on most jobs — every make of hard drive recovered in-house. Start your recovery today.