The fault · drive not showing up
It's rare for a drive your computer won't list to be one that has lost all of its data. The level in the "chain" at which it disappears (BIOS, Disk Management, Windows Explorer) will help us identify which part failed. The most likely causes are the boards and the firmware, not the platters or NAND where your data actually resides, so we recommend that you get a quote first, by phone or with the form, before sending the drive. Once you have your quote, please post it to us from Exeter as it is, still sealed, or drop it off at our intake lab in Bristol (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm, no appointment needed).
Talk it over with an engineer
0800 6890668
| The error | What it usually means | Step one |
|---|---|---|
| Disk Management reports Unknown, Not Initialized | Windows can see the device but cannot get a signature or partition table from it | Do not initialise it |
| You must initialize a disk before Logical Disk Manager can access it | This is an invitation to create a new signature across your data | Refuse the prompt. Then shut down |
| No Media showing in Disk Management | You hear from the controller, but nothing comes from the storage behind it; usually hardware | Do not try to replug it again |
| The BIOS lists nothing at all | Firmware or electronics issues: a failed PCB, diode damage, service module damage | For the electronics bench |
| BIOS shows the wrong size — 1TB appearing as 8MB | Corrupted translator or firmware: the drive has forgotten how much space is available | A firmware job: software will never be able to reach it |
| Silent: no spin, no light, nothing | A dead board: in many cases, a high-voltage surge has blown its TVS diode | The odds of recovery are very good |
Your device will be logged under its own case number on the day it comes into our lab. The engineer who works on your device identifies the problem with it, clearly states what we think has a good chance of coming back and provides you with one fixed quote. There are no charges for this assessment; there is no obligation for you to do anything; and paid work does not begin until you authorise us to start.
We spend a few minutes looking at BIOS, then Disk Management, then Explorer, which will quickly separate the three possible causes (a failed board, corrupted firmware or a logical fault) before opening anything or turning it back on.
The blown diodes are then replaced and the dead circuit boards (PCBs) are swapped for donor boards. Your drive's own ROM chip is carried over to the new board, as these calibration values are what allow it to run the platters in your particular drive.
The drive will be completely copied, end to end, the instant that it starts answering again. Everything in regards to rebuilding will take place on this complete copy of the drive. The original drive will be retired as soon as the copying process is complete.
You have access to a complete list of every item recovered from your device, which you approve prior to any fees being applied. The files will be returned via new media (brand new) with the return postage paid by us, and the case remains open for as long as it takes to confirm that all the files open properly on your own machine.
Worth holding onto: of the many undetected drives that make it to this bench, most have been damaged either in the electronics or in the firmware, the equipment used to get to the data, not the data itself. Saying "it's not showing up" and saying "it's all gone" are two vastly different things.
The drive was dead by morning after an all-night power failure, as there was no spin from it; in addition, BIOS didn't see the drive. In this case, we found that the PCB was scorched (its TVS diode had blown), so we placed the ROM on a good donor board, and we had a full image of the drive on the very day the job was opened.
Yes, often. Dead electronic parts can be replaced, while the platters or memory chips behind them are usually left intact and unaffected. Some of the best results we see come from drives which will no longer turn on.
No. When you initialise the disk, Windows will write a new signature over the structures used to describe exactly where each of your files is located. Just decline the prompt, shut down the computer and have the drive inspected.
Rarely, if ever, by itself. If the BIOS (basic input/output system) cannot locate the hard drive, then the drive cannot communicate either, and this would indicate a problem with the drive's board or its firmware rather than erased data.
Likely not. What a surge usually kills is the protective diode attached to the printed circuit board (PCB), a component built in as a sacrifice for all the other components. In such an eventuality, you would lose the board; however, the data almost always remains intact.
Every time a failing hardware component is powered back up, there is additional lost data. First open a case with us: the inspection (look over) is always at no cost, whichever way it goes.