It Stopped, and Where Does the Data Go

The decode

Stopped working is a fault below the computer's reach. That the drive recently stopped working points at a fault below the level the computer reaches — a drive presents itself by powering, readying itself, and reporting, so one that has stopped has failed at one of those steps, in its firmware, board, or mechanism. So the fault is that the drive cannot present itself, not that the data is gone: it can no longer report to the computer, which is why it stopped, rather than the recording being lost. His data is usually still on the platters, behind that fault, reached by reading the drive directly. Stopped working is a fault below the computer's reach.

It's read directly and the fault addressed. Because the fault is below the computer's reach, the drive is read directly — connected on recovery equipment, its firmware, board, or mechanism assessed and repaired as the assessment finds, then imaged, so the data is read even though the computer could not reach it. If the fault is mechanical, the drive is opened in clean air; if it is firmware or the board, that is addressed without opening. His data is reached from the image, which is how a stopped drive is recovered. The free diagnostic establishes the fault, and one fixed quote goes in writing before anything goes ahead.

The data comes back on fresh media you can keep. On his question of form, the recovered data is written to fresh media he keeps — and a drive he supplies serves as well as one provided, so bringing a new drive along with the old broken one is a sensible way to keep the cost down. So the answer is straightforward: the stopped drive is read, and the data written to the new drive he brings, or to media supplied if he prefers, ready to use. His data is delivered on media he keeps, the old drive read for it. The data comes back on fresh media you can keep.

The honest prognosis is generally good, established at assessment. If the fault is firmware or the board over sound platters — common for a drive that stops — reading it recovers the data well, usually in full. If the mechanism is at fault, that's addressed in clean air, confirmed before anything is agreed.

On the bench

The drive was read directly behind a hardware write-blocker on PC-3000 UDMA, its firmware, service area, board, and mechanism assessed. The fault was addressed (firmware or service-area repair, board repair with this drive's ROM, or clean-air work under laminar flow if mechanical). It was imaged on DeepSpar, the data located in R-Studio and written to fresh media, supplied or provided.

The outcome

The stopped drive read directly, the fault addressed, and the data written to fresh media the owner keeps. The diagnostic stage is free and reports back within two working days of the media arriving; after it you hold one written quote, fixed with VAT included. Opening a drive commits donor stock and clean-air bench time, so half the quoted figure is payable before that stage begins, and the remaining half falls due only once the recovery has succeeded — if it fails, the rest is never billed. The decode: a stopped drive is read directly — and the recovered data comes back on fresh media you can keep. Read directly, your data comes back.

Our case files are written up from genuine enquiries our lab has handled for customers across Swindon and Wiltshire, anonymised to protect client confidentiality. Each one describes the diagnostic and recovery approach our engineers apply to that fault, using the equipment listed.