The Situation
A customer came to Greets Data Recovery, Hyderabad, with a 2TB Seagate internal hard drive that was no longer being detected by any computer. The drive contained vital business documents, financial records, project files, and personal photos.
Before reaching out to us, the client had already consulted a local technician. Unfortunately, the attempt to recover the data failed, and worse, the drive had been opened in a non-cleanroom environment, risking further damage.
Diagnosis at Our Lab
Our team received the drive and immediately began diagnostics in our certified ISO Class-100 cleanroom. The issues identified included:
- A head crash (damaged read/write heads)
- Corruption in the firmware
- Bad sectors in the early area of the platter
- Light platter contamination due to previous mishandling
Despite the complexity, our engineers were confident we could recover the data.
Our Recovery Approach
1. Replacing the Damaged Heads
We sourced a compatible Seagate donor drive and performed a head swap under cleanroom conditions to prevent any further contamination or scratches on the platters.
2. Repairing the Firmware
Using industry-grade tools such as PC-3000 Express, our specialists carefully repaired the firmware, allowing the drive to respond to imaging commands.
3. Cloning the Drive
We created a complete sector-by-sector clone of the drive using a hardware imager. This step involved skipping bad sectors initially and re-reading them later for maximum data capture.
4. Extracting Important Data
Priority folders—business files and personal photos—were recovered first, followed by the rest of the data on the drive.
5. Delivering the Data
After verifying the integrity of the recovered files, we transferred the data to a new external hard drive provided by the client.
Final Outcome
- Critical data recovery success: 100%
- Total data recovered: Approximately 98% of all files from the 2TB drive
- Turnaround time: 3 working days
- Client feedback: Extremely satisfied with the professionalism, communication, and quick resolution
At Greets Data Recovery, we’re proud to have helped another client successfully recover irreplaceable data—and earn their trust in the process.