Physical Data Recovery
A wide variety of failures can cause physical damage to storage media. Like the CD-ROMs that can have their metallic substrate or dye layer scratched off, hard disks can suffer any of several mechanical failures, such as head crashes and failed motors. Physical damage always causes at least some data loss, which may not be useful to users, and in many cases the logical structures of the file system are damaged as well. This causes logical damage that must be dealt with before any files can be salvaged from the failed media.Most physical damage cannot be repaired by end users. For example, opening a hard disk in a normal environment can allow airborne dust to settle on the platter and become caught between the platter and the read/write head, causing new head crashes that further damage the platter and thus compromise the recovery process. Furthermore, end users generally do not have the hardware or technical expertise required to make these repairs. The repairs must be performed in the "Class 100" / ISO-5 cleanroom facilities to protect the media.
Hard drive parts are not universal and excahangible unless a complete matching donor can be found. Finding a matching donor is very time-comsuming and sometime it is impossible.
We recommend to stop using a hard drive if it is making strange noises. Give us a call at (305) 228-6163, so we can arrange to have your data recovered by one of our engineers.