Laptops are portable and convenient, but they are also susceptible to physical damage from drops and falls. Hard drives in older laptops (HDDs) are especially vulnerable, as sudden impacts can cause head crashes, motor failure, or platter damage.
This case study explores how we successfully recovered crucial legal documents from an Acer Aspire laptop that was dropped, causing the internal hard drive to stop working. The device belonged to a solicitor’s office, where it stored confidential case files, contracts, and client data.
As Ireland’s oldest and most trusted data recovery specialists, we applied cleanroom head replacement and platter imaging techniques to restore the lost data.
The Challenge: Laptop Fell & Hard Drive Stopped Working
The solicitor contacted us after their Acer Aspire laptop slipped from a desk and hit the floor. After the fall, the laptop:
- Wouldn’t boot into Windows.
- Made clicking noises, indicating internal mechanical failure.
- Was no longer recognised by the BIOS, making data completely inaccessible.
Since the drive contained critical legal documents, a secure and immediate data recovery solution was required.
Diagnosis & Evaluation
Upon arrival at our cleanroom facility, we performed a full assessment of the damaged hard drive. Our findings:
- Read/write head crash – The impact caused the drive’s read/write heads to physically collide with the platters, damaging them.
- Seized spindle motor – The sudden shock prevented the platters from spinning properly.
- Potential platter surface damage – Small scratches were detected, increasing the risk of partial data loss.
Because the drive had suffered serious mechanical failure, it required a cleanroom head replacement and motor repair before data could be accessed.
The Recovery Process
1. Cleanroom Hard Drive Repair
To prevent further platter damage, we immediately:
- Opened the drive in our cleanroom.
- Replaced the damaged read/write heads with a matching donor part.
- Repaired the spindle motor to restore platter movement.
2. Imaging the Drive Without Causing Further Damage
Since some areas of the platters were scratched, we used specialised imaging tools to:
- Clone the drive sector by sector, bypassing unreadable areas.
- Extract as much data as possible, avoiding additional stress on the damaged platters.
3. Rebuilding Corrupt Files & Data Verification
After successfully imaging the drive, we:
- Reconstructed corrupted files caused by minor platter damage.
- Verified data integrity to ensure all recovered files were usable.
- Transferred the solicitor’s data to a secure external storage device.
The Results: 98% Data Recovery Success
Despite the physical damage, we successfully recovered 98% of the solicitor’s critical legal documents, including:
✅ Client case files & contracts
✅ Court filings & legal research documents
✅ Confidential business records & emails
The solicitor was able to resume operations immediately, without losing any essential case information.
Why Choose Us?
With 25 years of experience and tens of thousands of successful recoveries, we are the leading data recovery experts in Ireland and the UK. Our expertise includes:
✔ Hard drive recovery after drops, falls, or physical damage
✔ Cleanroom head replacement & motor repair
✔ SSD, HDD, and NVMe drive recovery
✔ Secure recovery for sensitive legal & business data
If your laptop or hard drive has suffered physical damage, don’t power it on! Contact our experts immediately for a professional recovery solution.