Hey everyone! I have an internal hard drive that's definitely broken, and a professional mentioned it's a mechanical issue involving the head stack assembly, which has caused damage to the platter. I'm not entirely sure what's on the drive since it broke a while ago. My question is, if I get the drive back unfixed, is there any downside to just letting it sit for a while? Will the chances of recovering data get smaller over time, or will it be okay? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
3 Answers
You're totally fine letting it sit there. If it’s already mechanically dead, not powering it on is actually the safest bet! Time itself doesn’t really worsen your chances. Just keep it in a dry, stable spot and if down the line, you feel it's worth recovering, a lab can still take a shot at it. Your chances won’t just vanish because it’s sitting around.
As long as you leave it off, you should be good to let it sit. Theoretically, a mechanical hard drive can keep data for a really long time, like up to a century! Just make sure not to jostle it around, especially if the read/write heads are stuck.
Thanks a bunch for the info! I definitely won’t turn it on anytime soon. I keep wondering though, if the specialist opens it up, wouldn't they check to make sure the heads aren’t stuck before putting it back together?
If the expert is right about the damage, recovery could be really tough. Every time you power it on, there's a risk of causing more damage. So, waiting around for a miracle probably isn't going to change things much. It’s best to keep it off for now.
Wow, that's pretty concerning. I think I mostly had pictures on there, and the drive wasn't full, so I'm just hoping for the best!
Thank you for that reassurance! I was a bit shocked at how high the repair costs were, so I appreciate the advice. I had no idea opening and closing a drive was such a big deal!