External drives fail in one of two ways: the enclosure’s USB bridge fails while the internal drive is intact, or the internal drive itself fails (dropped and clicking, seized or logically corrupt). We recover both, regardless of make (WD, Seagate, Toshiba, LaCie and the rest), first determining whether the failure is in the bridge, then working on the internal drive as required.
When an external drive stops appearing or makes unusual noises such as clicks or beeps, stop plugging it in. Following a drop, clicking sounds indicate the read/write heads are grazing the platter surfaces, and with each subsequent power cycle, more of your data is lost. Avoid formatting the device, leave repair software alone and do not attempt to remove a WD drive from its housing: the data is encrypted at the board level. Keep the drive, enclosure and cable together and send the entire set to us.
These are the external hard drive faults we see most, from a completely dead enclosure right down to a dropped, clicking unit: failed USB bridges, seized or damaged heads, damaged PCBs, encryption and logical data corruption.
We handle all types of external drives: portable and desktop units, USB or USB-C, current models or older ones. What determines our method is not the name on the case, but the enclosure and the drive inside it.
Seagate Expansion, Backup Plus and One Touch · WD Elements, My Passport, My Book, G-Drive and Easystore · LaCie Rugged · Toshiba Canvio · portable 2.5-inch and desktop 3.5-inch · USB 2.0, 3.0 and USB-C. Send the whole enclosure and cable every time, WD especially — on those the encryption key lives on the USB board.
Our process begins with identifying which part of your external drive is at fault: the enclosure’s USB bridge, or the drive inside? We rule out the bridge first, since a bridge failure often means that the drive itself is perfectly healthy.
Tell us what happened: is the drive not detected, was it dropped, is it clicking, or is it asking to be formatted? One of our engineers determines whether the problem is with your enclosure or your hard drive, and then provides a written quote, normally within 48 hours.
First, the USB bridge is tested: frequently the drive inside is healthy and only the bridge has died, resulting in a quick recovery. When the drive itself needs opening, that happens on our bench.
The USB bridge is either repaired or bypassed, and where the drive has failed, its seized or damaged heads are swapped and its electronics rebuilt using matched donor parts.
A strictly read-only image of the drive is made on specialist equipment designed to read weak and damaged sectors carefully, re-reading them to get as much data as possible off a failing drive.
If your WD drive is hardware-encrypted, or your drive is BitLocker-protected and you hold the key or password, we apply it and then rebuild the file system from an image of the original drive.
After recovering your files and folders, we verify that they open and are fully intact before anything is returned.
Your data comes back verified, on a new drive or by secure download for jobs up to 75GB.
External drives of any make, including Seagate, WD, LaCie, Toshiba and the rest, portable or desktop, are recovered by fixing the bridge or working on the internal drive.
Tell us what happened and we’ll get back to you, usually within a working day.
We’ll be in touch shortly. If it’s urgent, call 01483 901310.
There is a single fixed price for recovering one external drive, after a complimentary diagnostic assessment and a written quote, prior to any work commencing.
Samples of recent work on external hard drives, spanning bridge, mechanical, encryption and logical failures. All identifying information has been removed and each result was checked. There are complete write-ups available: a healthy LaCie behind a dead bridge, a My Book Duo mirror that wouldn’t open and why a My Passport is useless on its own.
The USB bridge had stopped functioning in the power cut, but there were no problems with the internal drive, so we bypassed the bridge, created an image of the drive and returned the data.
The fall had damaged the heads. On our bench we replaced them with matched donor heads and imaged the drive while the platters were still good.
The file system was damaged but the hardware was okay. We restored the file system using a read-only image of the drive, recovering the data.
The heads had adhered to the platters and caused the motor to stall. We freed them on our bench, then imaged the drive.
Both the board and the USB bridge were burned by the surge. We rebuilt the electronics, transferred the firmware to matched components and were able to recover everything.
The drive was fine and the deleted folders remained intact on the platters. We imaged the drive and simply pulled the folders straight back.
Nine times in ten, people who type ‘repair’ really want their files.
Sometimes, problems with external hard drives really are repairs, and quick ones too: a loose USB port, a dead bridge board inside the case, a worn-out power lead. We deal with these all the time, because a readable disk is where any recovery starts; and if the internal drive is okay, things get done quickly.
But a mechanically failing drive is another matter: we don’t repair it enough to use again. We repair it only as far as it needs to read (swapping in donor heads, working on the electronics), and what comes back to you is a checked copy of your files on new media. When your files are the whole point, recovery is the honest description, and both paths start with the same free diagnostic.
Regardless of what you typed (data recovery from an external hard drive, external HDD data recovery or external drive data recovery), on our bench it is exactly the same job.
Please send the entire unit in for our complimentary diagnostic, along with a brief description of what happened. An engineer reviews it and confirms the exact quote in writing prior to performing any work.
To get your data back, we need the entire unit (enclosure included) sent to us. Please package it securely, along with your contact information, and once our complimentary diagnostic has been completed, we will confirm your exact quote in writing prior to beginning any work.
Sending it by post? We’d recommend a tracked, insured service. Dropping it in? No problem: Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm. Please package the device as described above first.
Want a scoped quote first? Fill out the form with as many details about the drive and the fault as possible, and one of our engineers will review it and provide a quote specific to your job.
We’ll be in touch shortly. For anything urgent, call 01483 901310.
The technical questions people most frequently ask us about failed external hard drives.
Not necessarily. Very often, the failure is in the USB bridge within the enclosure, while the drive inside is perfectly healthy. We test the USB bridge first, and when the issue is with the internal drive, we recover the data on our bench.
Often, but stop using it right away. It’s likely the heads are damaged, and every time you turn it on there’s a chance you’re scratching the platter surface. Once we fit matched donor heads, we image the drive.
Usually, yes. My Passport units fail either at the USB bridge or on the drive itself, and many of them also use hardware-based encryption. We test the bridge, work on the drive if needed, and rebuild your data using your WD encryption key.
Don’t. That prompt usually indicates a corrupted file system, not lost data, and formatting the device only makes recovery harder. Disconnect it and send it to us; we will image it read-only and rebuild your file system.
A single external drive costs a flat £300 + VAT. We give you a free diagnostic and a written quote first. If we have to open your drive, we require a 50% deposit, with the balance taken only if we succeed, so in most cases you only pay if we recover your data.
On most jobs, yes. Mechanical work requires a 50% deposit before the job starts, and the balance is only payable on success; so if the recovery fails, the full fee is never charged.
All makes: Seagate, WD, Toshiba, Samsung, LaCie, Buffalo, Maxtor and others, both portable and desktop. As we work at bridge, mechanical and firmware level, the make rarely affects recoverability.
Please don’t pull it out. Many external drives, especially WD My Passports, are hardware-encrypted to their USB boards, so removing the drive from the enclosure can lock the data away for good. Send us the complete unit, enclosure included, and we will handle it safely.
Usually this is caused by either stuck heads or a seized motor, and the beep is the motor straining. Do not power it on. On our bench we free the heads or transfer the platters, and then image the drive.
Most external-drive recoveries are completed within three to five working days. However, mechanical and encrypted recoveries may take a little longer, depending on parts availability and the condition of the drive.
Send the entire unit, including the enclosure, fully insured to our Guildford address. Alternatively, drop it off in person Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm. Make sure to pack it securely and include a note with your contact information.
No charge for the diagnostic, a flat rate of £300 + VAT per drive, and in most cases you only pay if we recover your data. We recover external hard drives of every make, portable or desktop, enclosure and all. Start your recovery today.