is it possible to fix a clicking hard drive?

ExoMale

ExoMale

ExoMale

Soldato
Joined
9 Jan 2016
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Derbyshire
my original sata 3 1tb toshiba drive first had with my gaming system now acts as storage for half of my stuff that is also of some importance is now not working properly, it clicks.

i took the casing off and identify the clicking is from the arm doing a 'to me to you', i tried pressing down on it while running, but did nothing, this was after a couple runs with the casing off to see whats happening plus slow system loading, prior to this i tried to unscrew the arm before connecting up and they just seem too tight :rolleyes:, so i dont know what to do? i need to access the drive..


on a quick google it was suggested a drop might have caused it which i did do inside a motherboard box full of bubble wrap and my 6 other hard drives on individual layers, but only this drive seeming to have issues, it first started the click in my dock station, but does it connected to motherboard, so im hoping someone be able to help me?
 
thanks for replies lol, but why would taking the top cover off do any more damage? it was still doing the same thing regardless.

how will i be able to access if its not being detected? would pressing down on the arm do anything for contact? ive put the cover back on now and left it, but what would cause the arm to just go back and fourth like that?
 
Sometimes freezing a drive can allow temporary access, depending on the problem. Wrap it up in plastic and pop it into the freezer for 24 hours then reconnect and see if you can backup.
 
ExoMale said:
thanks for replies lol, but why would taking the top cover off do any more damage? it was still doing the same thing regardless.

how will i be able to access if its not being detected? would pressing down on the arm do anything for contact? ive put the cover back on now and left it, but what would cause the arm to just go back and fourth like that?
Click to expand...

Hard drives are sealed in a dust free environment for a reason.

I'm having a hard time even believing you, pushing down on the arm? Lol, this isn't a vinyl.

You're lucky it's even reading it, back it up yesterday if you haven't already.
 
ExoMale said:
thanks for replies lol, but why would taking the top cover off do any more damage? it was still doing the same thing regardless.

how will i be able to access if its not being detected? would pressing down on the arm do anything for contact? ive put the cover back on now and left it, but what would cause the arm to just go back and fourth like that?
Click to expand...


You might get lucky but even the smallest amount of dust can damage the surface of the disk, which is very delicate.. they are manufactured in dust free 'clean rooms' and sealed for that reason.

If it's still working I'd unplug it to prevent it spinning which could easily ruin it if there's any contamination in there, until you can take a back up.

Don't mess further with it.
 
Always exhaust all other options, including the freezer trick and swapping the PCB before opening the drive - it's extremely rare for a HDD to have any sort of lifespan following an opening of its case.
 
Sp00n said:
Hard drives are sealed in a dust free environment for a reason.

I'm having a hard time even believing you, pushing down on the arm? Lol, this isn't a vinyl.

You're lucky it's even reading it, back it up yesterday if you haven't already.
Click to expand...

Not quite as good as the liquid metal on CPU thread...but up there :D
 
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