A dropped hard drive can survive the fall completely, or it can knock the heads out of true — and you can't tell which from the outside. What you can do is not power it on to “check,” because a damaged drive that keeps running is exactly what turns a recoverable job into a lost one. Switch it off, and we'll assess it safely in-house.
$ bdr diagnose /dev/sda → Device: Seagate ST1000LM048 (1 TB, 2.5") → Status: DROPPED — head crash / heads not reading → Client: confidential · Belfast $ bdr engineer-working → Donor heads matched: from stock · 0 days wait → Head-stack swap: complete → Imaging: 0.81 TB / 1.00 TB (81%) $ bdr verify → ✓ photos — 58,210 files → ✓ university_work — 3,940 files → ✓ everything reachable — recovered
If a drive has been dropped or knocked, the heads may be bent, broken, or resting on the platters. Powering it up to see whether it still works can drag damaged heads across the surface and destroy data that was otherwise recoverable. Leave it switched off, resist the urge to test it, and get it to us for a safe assessment.
A knock or a fall can damage a drive in several ways — some trivial, some serious. Here's what actually happens inside, and why testing it yourself is the real risk.
We recover dropped and physically damaged drives from every major make — laptops, externals, desktops and portable drives alike.
3.5″ and 2.5″ hard drives · external and portable drives · the drives inside laptops, PCs and Macs · and NAS and server disks.
A dropped drive is assessed before it's ever spun up. We open it in clean-air conditions, check the heads and platters, repair the damage, and only then read it — always from a read-only image.
We open the drive in clean-air conditions, inspect the heads and platter surfaces, and establish exactly what the fall damaged before sending a written quote.
A matched donor head stack for damaged heads, freeing stuck heads, or board and connector work — whatever the impact broke.
Every step that opens the drive happens in clean-air conditions, so no dust settles on the platters while the heads are handled.
Once stable, the drive is imaged read-only and sector by sector, reading carefully to protect heads and any marked areas of the surface.
We reconstruct the files and folders from the image, so your data comes back organised and usable.
Recovered files are checked to confirm they open and are intact before anything is handed back to you.
Your files come back on fresh media, or via our free download service for up to 75GB.
From dropped laptops and knocked-over externals to desktop and portable drives, we recover physically damaged disks — always after stabilising the drive, and always from a read-only image rather than your original under strain.
Give us the short version of what the drive is doing and we’ll reply fast — typically within half an hour during office hours.
We will get back to you soon. If it is urgent, call 028 9002 0144.
Diagnosis costs nothing, and nothing starts until you’ve approved a fixed quote in writing. Where physical work is involved we ask for half up front to cover donor parts and bench hours — the remainder is only due if your data comes back.
A representative selection of dropped and damaged drives we've recovered across different makes — device types and outcomes shown, customer details kept private.
The fall damaged the heads but spared the platters. A donor head swap in clean-air conditions let us image the drive and recover everything on it.
The heads had touched down and left light scoring, but the drive was switched off quickly. We imaged the healthy heads first and recovered the great majority.
The impact had cracked the board, not the drive. We repaired it, carried the ROM across, and the platters read perfectly first time.
Verified write-ups from Belfast clients whose dropped drives we’ve recovered will be added here as they arrive — real ones only.
No invented reviews here. We're collecting verified, named reviews from our Belfast customers and will publish them here as they come in. In the meantime you're welcome to call and talk an issue through with an engineer on 028 9002 0144.
Post or drop in your device for a free diagnostic, with a note on what happened — an engineer reviews it and confirms your exact quote in writing before any work begins.
First step: get the device onto our Belfast bench. Wrap it well, tuck your contact details in the box, and post it over — the diagnostic costs nothing, and you’ll have a firm written price to approve before we touch a single sector.
Posting it? A tracked, insured service is best. Dropping it off instead? You’re welcome Monday–Friday, 9am–5:30pm — please still pack the device as above.
Not ready to send anything yet? Use the form to describe the fault in your own words and one of the engineers will come back with a quote tailored to your situation.
We will get back to you soon. If it is urgent, call 028 9002 0144.
The questions we're asked most about dropped and damaged drives.
Frequently, yes. A drop often damages the heads or the board while leaving the platters — and your data — intact. It becomes a bench job rather than a software one, but the key factor is whether the drive was powered on afterwards, which can turn head damage into platter damage.
Back up everything important off it right now, then stop using it. A drive can survive a drop and keep working for a while, but the shock may have weakened the heads — so treat it as living on borrowed time and get the data copied off while it still reads.
Not necessarily. Clicking after a drop usually means head damage, which is recoverable with a donor head swap — provided the drive hasn't been run for long while damaged. Switch it off and don't keep testing it; that's what protects the platters.
Because if the heads were knocked onto the platters, spinning the drive up drags them across the magnetic surface and scores it — and scored areas are lost for good. One “quick test” can be the difference between a full recovery and a partial one.
Sometimes only the enclosure or its board took the hit and the drive inside is perfectly healthy — the best possible outcome. We'll establish which at the diagnostic; either way, don't keep powering it up in the meantime.
A single drive runs £300 + VAT with a free diagnostic and no fix, no fee on most work. Because dropped drives need physical repair, a 50% deposit goes toward donor parts and bench hours, the balance due only when your data is back — all set out in writing beforehand.
Weekday drop-offs at Cromac Square run 9am to 5:30pm, or post the drive fully insured. Immobilise it in the packaging, add a note carrying your name, address, phone and email, and we’ll book it in, diagnose it free and quote in writing.
The worst thing you can do with a dropped drive is keep powering it on. Switch it off and let us assess it — free diagnostic, no fix no fee on most jobs, and the data is usually still there on intact platters.