A clicking or grinding hard drive is a mechanical failure — and every power-on risks losing more. Our engineers open the drive, replace the failed parts from our 10,000-strong inventory, and recover your data in-house.
$ bdr diagnose /dev/sda → Device: Seagate ST2000DM008 (2 TB) → Status: CLICKING — head stack failure → Client: Henderson, J. · Clifton BS8 $ bdr engineer-working → Donor heads matched: from stock · 0 days wait → Head-stack swap: complete → Imaging: 1.78 TB / 1.81 TB (98.3%) $ bdr verify → ✓ wedding_photos — 142,318 files → ✓ tax_records — 4,201 files → ✓ everything else — back home
A clicking or grinding drive is failing mechanically. Each time it powers on, the heads can scratch the platters and destroy data that is still recoverable today. Don't run recovery software, don't freeze it, and don't reboot it repeatedly — power it down and talk to us.
Clicking and grinding are the sounds of a drive's mechanics struggling. These are the faults we see most often — and recover from — every week.
In over 25 years we have recovered clicking and grinding drives from every major brand. If it stores data on spinning platters, we can almost certainly help.
Internal and external · 3.5" desktop and 2.5" laptop · SATA, SAS, IDE/PATA and SCSI · from 40 GB legacy drives to the latest 24 TB helium models.
Recovering a clicking or grinding drive means physically repairing it. We open the drive, replace what has failed, and only then read your data back — carefully, in the right order.
Bring in or post your drive. We assess the fault and send a written, no-obligation quote — usually within 48 hours.
Our engineers open the drive in-house to inspect the heads, platters and motor and confirm exactly what has failed.
We pull matched heads, motors or boards from our 10,000-part inventory — no waiting weeks for a donor drive to arrive.
We carefully replace the failed components — most often the head stack — so the drive can read its platters again.
We clone the repaired drive sector by sector to stable storage, working patiently around any remaining weak areas.
We rebuild your files from the image, check them against a file listing, and return your data on fresh media.
We backup your data to either an external drive and ship it back to you, or we also offer a free download service for your data up to 75GB.
Matching heads, motors and boards in-house means most clicking and grinding drives move straight to repair — no waiting weeks for a donor drive to be sourced.
Tell us about your drive and we will get back to you, usually within 30 minutes during the day.
We will be in touch shortly. For anything urgent, call 0117 332 1137.
No hidden fees and no pressure — just a free diagnostic and a written quote before any work starts.
A snapshot of recent clicking and grinding recoveries, handled in-house. Names redacted, results verified.
Classic head-stack failure following impact. We matched a donor head assembly from stock, performed an in-house head swap, and imaged the drive on the second pass.
Diagnosed a seized spindle motor. We moved the platter pack onto a matched donor base, re-aligned the heads and recovered the full volume intact.
Stuck heads after a knock. We freed and replaced the head stack from inventory, imaged the drive, and returned every file ahead of the deadline.
Reviews from real clients whose clicking and grinding drives we brought back.
My external drive started clicking and Windows stopped seeing it. Bristol Data Recovery opened it up, replaced the heads and got back twelve years of family photos. Faultless from start to finish.
Our office PC drive was grinding and would not boot. They diagnosed a seized motor, swapped the parts and had our accounts back within the week. Clear pricing and no surprises.
I thought my clicking laptop drive was gone for good. They recovered every file — coursework, photos, everything. I cannot recommend them enough.
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 clicking and grinding hard drive recovery.
A clicking or grinding noise almost always means a mechanical fault — usually failed or crashed read/write heads, or a seizing spindle motor. The drive keeps trying to reset, which produces the repetitive click of death. It needs to be opened and repaired, not just plugged into another computer.
No. Every time a drive with failed heads is powered on, it risks scratching the platters and turning a recoverable job into a permanent loss. Switch it off, leave it alone, and get in touch with us before any data is lost for good.
In most cases, yes. We open the drive in-house, replace the failed parts — most often the head stack or motor — using components from our parts inventory, then image the drive and rebuild your files. Drives that other companies turn away are routine work for us.
Our standard price for a clicking or grinding hard drive is £300 + VAT. You get a free, written diagnostic first so you know exactly where you stand, most jobs it is no fix, no fee — some jobs we charge a parts and labour fee if drive has been dropped, scratches on disk platters or drive has been opened before we have received it.
Most clicking-drive recoveries are completed within 2 working days once you approve the quote, and the initial diagnostic is usually finished within 48 hours. Urgent cases can often be prioritised — just let us know.
Every major manufacturer, including Seagate, Western Digital, Toshiba, Samsung, HGST, Hitachi, Maxtor, Fujitsu, IBM, Quantum, SanDisk, LaCie, G-Technology, Buffalo, Verbatim, ADATA, Transcend, Silicon Power, Iomega, UnionSine, ModusTech and Intenso — in both 3.5-inch desktop and 2.5-inch laptop and external form factors, across SATA, SAS, IDE and SCSI interfaces.
You can drop it off at our Bristol location Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm, or post it to us fully insured. Ensure the drive is packaged and sealed, include your full contact details inside the package including Name, Address, Phone Number and Email Address so we can fully book in your drive. Once we have it, we will run the free diagnostic and send you a written quote before any work begins.
Free written diagnostic, no fix no fee on most jobs, and a 10,000-part inventory behind every repair. Start your recovery today.