Data Recovery and Disk Utilities Forum @R-TT

[quote="pixelwiz"] Now the HD is making that clicking noise that we've all heard and it's no longer recognized at all. Is it past the stage where I could recover any data from it?[/quote]

This is a result of the internal Head assembly seeking the media surface in failed attempts to read until it hits an internal 'limiter' after which it tries again. The clicking you hear is the constant hitting of the head assembly against the limiter. You should stop putting power to this HDD to prevent further damage. A reputable recovery company can make the relevant mechanical / electrical repairs to allow restoration of read/write abilities and at this point your data can potentially be salvaged.

Not with R-Studio or similar data recovery software. Now it's a work for a reputable data recovery pro who has an experience with working with hardware-failed hard drives.

Hi, I've used your software successfully in the past, but my friends laptop just blue-screened. I tried the recovery stuff, nothing worked, it wasn't even seeing the HD. So I pulled it out and plugged it into a little USB dongle thing they had at work for connecting them externally. R-studio recognized it and I started the scan. Said it was going to take 18 hours in the medium speed mode. Then a couple of hours later it stopped, basically completely froze, I had to reboot my PC. Now the HD is making that clicking noise that we've all heard and it's no longer recognized at all. Is it past the stage where I could recover any data from it?