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Issue: My 4TB WD Passport Drive fell from the desk and since then makes clicking noise.

Video of the issue: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cfWMObC...

Video of Clicking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHjnaW3p...

I opened the HDD in a clean environment & closed the casing within 2 minutes. I wanted to do this to verify if the platter had broken or not. Or, if the heads were stuck on the platter or not. Both not being the case. It seems to be in the right position but keeps trying to read and fail. Ultimately the HDD stops rotating. The light of the HDD is ON throughout the process though.

One more thing worth noticing is, as soon as I connect it, while it clicks and rotates for a few seconds (before stopping), I do see it appear in Device Manager (but not in Disk Management). USB Mass Storage Code 43

The clicking noise comes for 16 times as if some algorithm has instructed it to do so as a fail safe mechanism. Then the rotation of the disk stops. Any thoughts?

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Data Recovery Guys are asking ~1,250 USD for the recovery.

Ramhound
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Shashank Sinha
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    Opening the drive has almost for sure damaged it beyond use. Can you live without recovering the data? – John Jul 19 '23 at 20:32
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    Your suspicion the drive is in trouble is accurate. I went ahead and removed your signature, name, and location since none of that is relevant to your question. Only you can decide if the costs to potentially recover the data is worth it – Ramhound Jul 19 '23 at 20:37
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    "*I wanted to do this to verify if the platter had broken or not.*" -- Why? That's an illogical examination that results in an unusable drive. You should have tested the HDD without opening it. If the platters were damaged, then any additional damage while attempting to test it would not matter. "*Any thoughts?*" -- The drive may or may not have survived the drop, but opening it up makes that irrelevant. You have a drive that seems to fail its recalibration sequence. – sawdust Jul 19 '23 at 20:48
  • There are useful rare-earth magnets in a HDD. And the (unbreakable) platters make fair first-surface mirrors, though the Cr overcoat is not as reflective as evaporated Al. – DrMoishe Pippik Jul 19 '23 at 21:25
  • So what's the question? Super User isn't about "thoughts". The options are on the table. Either the data is worth 1250 bucks for potential(!) recovery or it's not. – Daniel B Jul 19 '23 at 21:43

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Rule of thumb, if it fell, it's not DIY-able. It advised to limit drive activity and to not experiment.

If lab quoted 1,250 USD for recovery (unseen?!) then get a second opinion.

Only you can decide if the data is worth it.

I opened the HDD in a clean environment & closed the casing within 2 minutes.

If labs spot this, many will add some extra to the bill as 9 out of 10 times this results in extra work, example on this page. Again, this is common.

Also issue is not so much opening the drive, but actually running it with the lid off. Data recovery engineers do not even do this in their cleanrooms because, so I have been told, it messes with the air bearing that separates the heads from the platters while drive spins.

Any thoughts?

Drive can not read SA (firmware) and since it fell, likely due to a physical issue. Possibly running the drive with the lid removed has worsened the issue.

Joep van Steen
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