My external hard drive fell!

CIAwesome526

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Nov 5, 2013
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So a while ago my external hard drive fell over, it made a loud scraping noise for a split second as it fell but continued to function. I didn't test it because I was scared it wouldn't work, so I immediately turn off my computer and put the hard drive in a drawer. What are the chances of me plugging it in and having all the data in tact? If it isn't how can I recover whats lost?
 

Recycled

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Oct 31, 2013
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As for not touching it...Your first step is to try it. It will (almost certainly) work.

You may or may not have a few damaged spots on it if You run HdTune.

I've done this to several HDDs, and all hard disks made in the last 3 years still work. (I know, I know...I should not stack USB hard disks I am using for backups on top of piles of RatBert dolls.) HDDs have gotten much more durable!

If You had a million dollars of data on it, and it did not work, it might be worth sending it to a special lab where they take them apart and try to fix them. That kind of service is (usually) not worth the thousands of dollars it costs.

--Andy
 

CIAwesome526

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Nov 5, 2013
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Yes but this hard drive is from 2000, would that make a difference?

 
If there is any data worth recovering, then make sure you have even available free storage space for the data on the external hard drive. If you do not have enough free space, then buy another hard drive.

Once you confirm you have enough available storage space / a new hard drive, connect your external hard drive and start copy the data.

If you have important files that cannot be copied, then you can try sending the hard drive to professionals that do data recovery. You should as how much the service is to determine if it is worth the cost to recover. Data recovery is not 100% guaranteed, but you are likely to receive an invoice for services rendered regardless.
 

Recycled

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Oct 31, 2013
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Regardless, Your only option is to try it and then decide if it's worth the bucks to have it recovered.

I disagree with those who say "always send it out..." Data recovery costs $thousands$. Don't waste time of a recovery company. Because of this time-wasting, most recovery companies assess Your ability to pay just by the sound of Your voice and never look at drives that seem like they come from poor people and hobbyists. A former boss of mine REALLY NEEDED 20 years of customer records off a hard disk, and had one heck of a time convincing the creep who said "we could not recover anything" (without looking at the drive) to actually look at it. It took a lawsuit to get the drive back, then they admitted when they finally looked at it 2 years later, it took 30 minutes to recover everything. I don't think people understand how much it hurts to waste a company's time.
 

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