How to perform a Western Digital hard drive physical data recovery?
Clicking Western Digital in need of a data recovery?
Western Digital physical data recovery inside clean room
A clicking Western Digital (WD) hard drive which has suffered a physical failure is an unusable device whose data it contains can only be recovered by performs a physical data recovery. The reason why WD drive failed physically is often due to an impact or a fall which have damaged internal components.
Performing a physical data recovery on a Western Digital hard drive
WD physical data recovery is a complex process which requires skills, equipment, patience and faith as it is not always possible to recover the entirety of data or none at all. A diagnostic of the internal state of the drive will allow the technician to get an idea of the best way to recover the data. Drives need to be opened and dismantled in a clean room in order to avoid dust particles coming on the surface and make it impossible to read it.
Finding a suitable donor drive to complete a Western Digital data recovery
Western Digital head swap for physical data recovery
When a WD hard drive comes in for a physical data recovery, technicians may need to order an identical hard drive in order to carry out a part transplant. From the hard drive labels, many important references can be gathered, including the hard drive serial number, the model number, the date of manufacture, the PCB reference and its revisions.
Here are some examples of WD hard drive labels:
HDD with Serial Number: WX41DC89D737
Model: WD40NMZW-11GX6S1
Date: 06 FEB 2019
Product of: Malaysia
PCB Sticker: 800041-N03 AE
PCB Revision: 2060-800041-003 REV P1
HDD with Serial Number: WX31DC8FC80Y
Model: WD40NMZW-11GX6S1
Date: 23 JAN 2019
Product of: Malaysia
PCB Sticker: 800041-N03 AE
PCB Revision: 2060-800041-003 REV P1
HDD with Serial Number: WX41DC89DLL9
Model: WD40NMZW-11GX6S1
Date: 02 FEB 2019
Product of: Malaysia
PCB Sticker: 800041-N03 AE
PCB Revision: 2060-800041-003 REV P1
HDD with Serial Number: WX51DC79Y0XC
Model: WD40NMZW-11GX6S1
Date: 04 APR 2019
Product of: Malaysia
PCB Sticker: 800041-N03 AB
PCB Revision: 2060-800041-000 REV P1
Preamp vendor: 0x0001
Preamp revision: 0x0000
HDD with Serial Number: WX51DC86H740
Model: WD40NMZW-11GX6S1
Date: 18 JAN 2019
Product of: Malaysia
PCB Sticker: 800041-N03 AE
PCB Revision: 2060-800041-003 REV P1
Western Digital hard drive physical data recovery
When trying to locate an identical hard drive for a transplant, it is important to match as many of these references as possible on the donor drive. This will ensure the best conditions for a successful transplantation, increasing dramatically the chances of a successful data recovery.
Once the hard drive has been fixed, the scanning of the drive can take place and the data, once recovered, can be transferred onto an external hard drive or a NAS or posted on One Drive or Google Drive.