Data Recovery Case File · Trust, Practice & Honest Limits · Procurement Is a Real Constraint
A Recovery Commissioned by an Organisation Needs a Document Before It Can Start
His enquiry contains a technical description and an administrative requirement. A drive that "makes a click noise when trying to start up but fails to spin up", requested on behalf of a public body, with a request for "a formal quotation as a PDF so that I can process it through our accounting system." That is not a detail to work around — an organisation that cannot raise a purchase order cannot commission the work, however urgent it is.
| Media | 500GB desktop hard drive — repeating sound at start-up with rotation not achieved; commissioned on behalf of an organisation |
| Reported situation | Internal desktop drive failed · repeating sound audible on power-up · platters not reaching speed · recovery requested on behalf of an organisation · formal written quotation required for internal procurement · contents required |
| Fault class | Rotation not achieved with mechanical restraint indicated — repeating sound at start-up consistent with adhesion or failed head load |
| Equipment used | Formal written quotation issued before any work was authorised · laminar flow bench inspection with head and platter assessment before any spin attempt · current draw measured on a controlled bench supply · matched donor parts as indicated · single controlled read pass and imaging in one supervised session |
The decode: the fault, and the process around it
What the two symptoms together describe: a sound at start-up and no rotation achieved. The drive is being powered and something is preventing the platters from turning — the sound is the attempt, and its failure is the absence of spin-up.
What most commonly causes it: heads resting on the platter surface and adhering to it. Smooth surfaces in close contact bond, and heads that came to rest on the recording rather than parking clear will hold the whole mechanism — the motor is strong, but it is turning against something.
Why that makes further power-up the thing to avoid: the motor will keep trying. Sustained turning force against adhered heads drags them across the recording, which converts a mechanical fault into surface damage — and the surface is where the data physically is.
What the alternative causes are: a seized spindle bearing, which presents almost identically, or a head assembly that fails to load from its parked position. All three are distinguished by inspection rather than by testing from outside, and all three require the drive to be opened under filtered air.
Why the drive not having spun is comparatively good: it has never run in a damaged condition. No head has moved across a surface while faulty, so nothing has been scored and no debris generated — provided it is not started again.
Why the quotation requirement is worth taking seriously rather than treating as friction: an organisation's finance process is a genuine constraint on the person making the request. Without a document their system will accept, they cannot proceed at all — and telling them to send the drive first is telling them to do something they are not permitted to do.
What a formal quotation has to contain to be usable: a fixed figure inclusive of VAT, a clear description of the work, and the terms that apply if the drive has to be opened. A range or an estimate subject to revision is frequently rejected by a purchasing system, which is why the figure is fixed and written.
Why the terms have to be stated in the document rather than raised later: where a drive is opened, part of the parts and labour cost is payable upfront with the balance only on success. An organisation needs that visible before approval, not discovered at invoice stage — and burying it would create a problem for the person who signed it off.
What the sequence therefore is: the drive is assessed and a written quotation issued, and no work is authorised until the document has been through their system. The assessment itself costs nothing, so nothing is lost by that order.
What must not happen meanwhile: no further attempts to start the drive while the paperwork is in progress. The waiting period is safe only if the drive is left switched off.
On the bench
A formal written quotation was issued before any work was authorised, procurement approval being a precondition of commissioning rather than an administrative afterthought, with a fixed inclusive figure, described scope and applicable terms stated in the document. Inspection ran under the laminar flow bench with head and platter assessment before any spin attempt — a start-up sound without achieved rotation indicating mechanical restraint, most commonly head adhesion to the recorded surface, against which sustained motor torque causes surface damage.
The outcome
A written quotation issued before any work was authorised, and the drive inspected under filtered air before any rotation. Free assessment, one fixed written figure including VAT, with 50% of parts and labour payable upfront where the drive is opened and the balance only on a successful recovery. The decode: a sound with no spin-up means something is holding the platters, usually heads adhered to the surface — so it must not be started again. And a formal quotation comes first, because a body that cannot raise an order cannot commission the work.
Commissioning a recovery through an organisation
Ask for the written quotation before sending anything — your finance process is a real constraint, and a document your system will accept has to come first. Make sure it states a fixed figure inclusive of VAT rather than a range, describes the scope, and sets out what applies if the drive has to be opened, since part of the parts-and-labour cost being payable upfront needs to be visible at approval rather than at invoice. The assessment itself should cost nothing, so that order loses you no time. Meanwhile keep the drive switched off — a sound with no spin-up usually means heads are holding the platters.
Ask before sending — call Easy Data Recovery on 028 9002 0144; written quotation issued before any work is authorised, inspected under filtered air before any spin attempt, single controlled read pass.
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Our case files are drawn from genuine enquiries received by our laboratory over the past ten years, anonymised to protect client confidentiality. Each one describes the diagnostic and recovery procedure our engineers apply to that fault, using the equipment listed.