Our team at Bracknell Data Recovery has over 25 years’ experience rescuing data from failed hard disks and SSDs. We handle all types of HDDs and SSDs, including desktops, laptops, servers and external drives. From everyday home PCs to enterprise storage, we restore data from any hard disk format. As a local Berkshire specialist, we combine deep technical expertise with a friendly, personal service. Your confidential data is treated securely in our in-house cleanroom lab, and we offer a free diagnostic to assess your drive’s condition. Whatever the failure – from simple file deletion to complex hardware faults – we make your data recovery our priority.

Overview

Bracknell Data Recovery is Berkshire’s leading hard disk data recovery company, trusted by home users and businesses alike. We recover data from all major drive types and models: desktop HDDs, laptop drives, NAS disks, enterprise servers, and all kinds of SSDs (2.5″ SATA, M.2, NVMe, PCIe and more). Our friendly engineers understand how critical your files are, so we work quickly yet carefully. Over 25 years we have built a track record of success: modern lab equipment, cleanroom facilities and continual training ensure we tackle even the toughest failures. If your hard disk or SSD won’t boot, beeps or clicks, or just won’t be recognised by your computer, Bracknell Data Recovery can help.

We recover data from all major hard drive brands and storage interfaces:

• Supported Brands: Toshiba, Hitachi (HGST), Intel, SanDisk, ADATA, Kingston, Fujitsu, TeamGroup, PNY, Sabrent, Corsair, Seagate, Crucial, Western Digital (WD) and Samsung, among others.
• Supported Interfaces: All common interfaces including SATA, IDE/PATA, NVMe, SCSI, SAS, PCIe, M.2, U.2, eSATA, etc. Any standard or legacy connection is covered.

Supported Brands & Interfaces

We routinely work with every well-known manufacturer of hard drives and SSDs. Whether you have a consumer-grade laptop drive or a high-end enterprise SSD, our engineers know the hardware inside-out. Our lab supports drives from all major brands in any form factor, including laptop 2.5″ drives, desktop 3.5″ disks, enterprise rack drives, mobile SSDs, mSATA/M.2 SSD modules, and even failed memory cards and USB drives. We use manufacturer-specific firmware tools and donor parts for each brand. Likewise, we handle every interface: SATA, legacy IDE/PATA, fast NVMe/PCIe, SCSI/SAS, M.2, U.2, external eSATA, etc. No matter how your drive connects, Bracknell Data Recovery has the expertise and equipment to interface with it and retrieve your data.

Common Faults and Recovery Methods (Top 30 Faults)

Hard disk and SSD failures can be mechanical, electronic or logical in nature. Bracknell Data Recovery’s experts have seen it all. Below we list 30 common faults that can occur in HDDs and SSDs, along with how a professional lab typically fixes them. Each fault is described technically, with a summary of the recovery method used by ourselves.

1. HDD Head Crash: The read/write heads collide with the platter surface, scratching the magnetic layer. This often causes a loud “clicking” or grinding noise when powered on. Recovery involves opening the drive in a cleanroom and replacing the damaged head assembly with a donor unit. Using precision alignment, data is then imaged from the platter. (Ontrack notes that a head crash “damaged the magnetic surface of the disc”, requiring a head transplant in the lab.)
2. HDD Head Stiction: The heads become stuck to the platter, usually after long idle periods or minor impacts. The drive may not spin up at all. Specialists gently free the heads (often using low heat or airflow) or replace the head stack if needed. Once freed, the data is cloned.
3. Spindle Motor Failure: The platter motor fails to spin or spins irregularly, so the drive is silent or very noisy. This could be due to worn bearings or motor failure. We carefully replace the spindle motor (or entire platter assembly) from an identical donor drive in our lab. Once the platters rotate again, the data can be read out.
4. PCB / Controller Board Failure: A power surge or electrical fault can burn out the drive’s PCB or controller IC. Symptoms include no drive activity, no lights or a burning smell. Recovery involves either repairing the PCB circuits or swapping in a matching board from a donor drive. Crucially, we transfer any unique BIOS/firmware chips from the old board to the new one to ensure compatibility. This restores power and logic functions so that the drive can be cloned.
5. Firmware Corruption (HDD): The drive’s internal firmware (on an embedded chip) becomes corrupt, often after a failed update. The drive may power on but not spin up properly, or report errors. Specialists use proprietary hardware tools to repair or reflash the firmware, or even transplant firmware chips from a matching donor. Once the correct firmware is restored, the drive’s normal functions return and data can be accessed.
6. Platter Surface Damage: Physical scratches or deformation of the disk platters can occur from heavy impact or breakdown of lubricant. This causes unreadable areas and often a grinding noise. In a cleanroom, we may “surface-read” the platters by using extra-high-sensitivity heads from a matching drive. Data from the scratched regions can sometimes be recovered from faint magnetic traces. If severe, we still recover intact data from the undamaged portions.
7. Bearing / Actuator Arm Seizure: Worn bearings or a seized actuator arm (which positions the heads) can halt the drive. The drive may spin up very slowly or not at all. Technicians open the drive and lubricate or replace the bearings, or replace the entire actuator mechanism using parts from a donor. After repairing the mechanics, the drive can again spin correctly and data can be imaged.
8. Partition Table / MBR Corruption: The drive is mechanically fine, but the partition table or Master Boot Record is damaged (e.g. by bad writes or power loss). The disk may appear blank or “unallocated” to the OS. Recovery involves using specialized software to scan the raw sectors and reconstruct the partition table. In many cases the original partitions can be rebuilt, restoring directory structure. (According to Ontrack, faulty partition tables are a common logical failure, often recoverable by experts.)
9. File System Damage: The filesystem metadata (e.g. NTFS/EXT structures) is corrupted by software bugs, crashes or malware. The drive spins but files can’t be seen. Specialists run tools that repair file system structures or directly carve files by content. This logical recovery avoids writing to the damaged drive: we image it first, then repair the image or extract files from it. (Ontrack notes that logical failures like corrupted file systems are typically fixable without a cleanroom.)
10. Accidental Formatting or Deletion: A user has (re)formatted the drive or deleted files by mistake. No hardware fault exists. Recovery specialists immediately stop any writes and create a raw image. They then use forensic tools to rebuild the file allocation tables and recover the deleted data. Time is critical: as soon as format happens, the recovery team images the drive before new data overwrites the old.
11. Virus / Ransomware Encryption: Malware has encrypted or scrambled the files. The drive functions normally, but data is locked. Data recovery pros use decryption tools (if available) or restore files from snapshots. In some cases we can undo filesystem damage by rolling back changes in the disk image. Ontrack specifically lists virus or ransomware attack as a logical failure. We carefully extract any remaining readable data and may attempt decryption if a key is found.
12. Bad Sectors / Media Errors (HDD): Parts of the magnetic surface have gone bad, causing I/O timeouts or slow reads. The drive might continually try to re-read sectors. Recovery involves advanced imaging utilities that isolate bad sectors. These tools copy data around the unreadable areas and skip errors. The recovered portions of data are then stitched back together. This logical copy succeeds even if some sectors are unreadable, as the specialist can often retrieve 99% of the data by duplicating all good sectors first.
13. SSD Controller Failure: The controller chip on an SSD can fail (e.g. due to a short). The SSD will not enumerate in the OS. Recovery requires de-soldering the controller chip and either repairing it or moving the flash modules to a working controller of the same model. Data recovery labs also sometimes use direct microcontroller-level tools to interface with the memory chips if the controller is dead.
14. SSD NAND Flash Failure: One or more flash memory chips in an SSD can fail (due to wear or chip defect), making part of the data inaccessible. Recovery involves a chip-off process: the failed chips are removed and read with a direct reader, or replaced with known-good modules of the same type. We then reconstruct the full data set by combining good and recovered chips. In some cases, specialist firmware repair is needed to remap data.
15. SSD Read-Only (Wear-Out) Mode: When SSDs reach end-of-life or detect internal issues, many will switch to a read-only mode to protect existing data. The drive still shows up on a computer but refuses new writes. This is a clear sign of imminent failure. Recovery action is to immediately image the SSD in this read-only state – copying all data to another device. As the SSD can’t be written to, our experts connect it via a suitable interface (often using a static card reader) and make a full copy. Ontrack-like guidance suggests once an SSD is read-only, “you can still recover your data by copying it to another drive”. We then repair or convert that image so you can access the files.
16. SSD Firmware or Encryption Lock: Some SSDs have firmware bugs or built-in encryption. If the drive’s firmware locks (for example, hardware encryption without the key), the SSD becomes unreadable even though the electronics look fine. Unfortunately, if a hardware encryption key is lost, recovery may not be possible. In our lab we attempt to fix any firmware glitch using manufacturer tools or by re-flashing the controller. If the drive is password-protected or Opal-locked, we advise users that recovery requires the original password/key. Without it, even pros cannot unlock the data.
17. SSD TRIM Erase: SSDs use the TRIM command to erase unused data blocks automatically. If files were deleted and the SSD was TRIM-enabled, the deleted data is permanently gone. In practice, once TRIM has run on a sector, standard recovery cannot retrieve it. This is a “fault” of modern SSD design – once TRIM clears a block, the data cannot be recovered. In such cases, Bracknell Data Recovery can still image any remaining valid data or attempt recovery of unaffected files, but overwritten or TRIMmed files are generally unrecoverable.
18. Power Surge / Electrical Damage: A spike on the power supply can fry components of a hard drive. Symptoms include a dead drive, no spin or an odour of burning. In recovery we replace burned components on the PCB or swap the entire board (transferring the unique BIOS chip). We also check for damage to the head/actuator assembly if the surge caused a head slam. Electrical faults require board-level skill: our team carefully diagnoses which chip failed and replaces it. After repair, the drive is reconnected and the data imaged. Ontrack emphasizes that “electrical shock is typically the main cause of electronic failure” and that recovery requires board replacement or repair.
19. Water / Liquid Damage: If a drive has been flooded or exposed to humidity, the PCB and internals can corrode. The drive may not power on, or could short-circuit. Recovery starts by rinsing the PCB in high-purity isopropyl alcohol to remove residue, drying it, and then repairing burnt traces or components. In severe cases we replace the entire PCB (with BIOS transfer) and test the platters in a cleanroom. Often the platters themselves survive water if cleaned properly, allowing full data recovery after electronics are fixed.
20. Fire / Smoke Damage: A drive damaged by fire or smoke can have melted plastics or soot on the internals. First, we remove soot and residue from the PCB and platters. Burnt PCB components are replaced with new ones. If the drive chassis is warped, we transplant the internals into a matching donor shell. After deep cleaning, we power up the drive cautiously. Often the magnetic data survives even if the casing was charred. With board repairs and cleanroom handling, we then image the drive.
21. Physical Shock / Impact: Dropping a drive can cause mechanical damage (e.g. head crash or platter misalignment). The symptoms mimic head crash or motor issues. We treat shock damage by carefully opening the drive in a clean environment, inspecting for scratched platters or bent parts, and replacing damaged components. For HDDs this usually means swapping in a new head arm; for SSDs it might mean replacing a cracked NAND chip. Once the internals are restored, we recover the data.
22. Overheating: Excess heat can deform platters or overheat the controller. A drive may work intermittently or shut down unexpectedly. Technicians cool the drive and test it in a controlled environment. If the platters warped, data is extracted by imaging at a very slow speed. For SSDs, overheating often indicates internal chip damage; in such cases we proceed with chip-level recovery. Prevention is key, but if overheating has happened, we focus on stabilizing the device enough to read its contents in the lab.
23. Repeated Vibration: Constant vibration or minor repeated shocks (e.g. from a failing motor) can slowly knock the heads out of alignment. The drive might still spin but read/write errors occur randomly. Recovery involves realigning the heads in the lab or replacing the head stack. Once alignment is restored, the drive behaves normally and data is copied.
24. Connector / Interface Fault: Sometimes the issue is not the disk media at all but the connector. A broken SATA/IDE/USB connector (or flex cable on laptop drives) means the drive won’t be recognised. Recovery is simple in our lab: we repair or re-solder the connector, or bypass it with an alternate interface (for example, using a direct SATA pin-hack or a USB dock). Once the connection is restored, the drive mounts and data access is regained.
25. External Enclosure / Bridge Chip Failure: External drives use a bridge chip (USB-to-SATA interface) which can fail. The drive inside might be healthy but won’t show up because the enclosure electronics is dead. We strip the drive from its enclosure and plug it directly into our SATA or USB interface. In most cases this instantly recovers access. If the bridge was causing issues (e.g. false write commands), retrieving the drive first removes that obstacle.
26. SSD Wear-Leveling Exhaustion: After extensive use, an SSD may wear out its flash blocks even if it doesn’t enter read-only mode. The SSD’s internal controller may flag all blocks as bad. In these severe cases, recovery labs attempt a chip-off: the flash chips are removed and read with specialized tools. By reading the raw data from each chip and reassembling it according to the SSD’s wear-level mapping, we often recover the bulk of the data. It’s a complex, time-consuming process, but sometimes the last resort.
27. SSD Bad Block Overgrowth: Related to #26, this is when the number of bad flash blocks exceeds what the drive can handle. Performance drops to zero. We tackle it like other NAND failures: image any remaining good blocks first, then work on bad blocks via chip-off methods or by putting the SSD in a mode where it only reads. Data is pieced together from the salvageable sections.
28. Partition Loss / Deletion: An entire partition has vanished (for example, after repartitioning). The drive looks empty. Professional recovery software scans the drive’s index structures to find lost partitions. Often the old partition table can be rebuilt because traces of folder and file entries remain. If the partition’s original start sector is found, we restore it and recover the files as normal.
29. MBR or Boot Sector Corruption: The disk has valid partitions but the Master Boot Record or boot sector is damaged, so the OS won’t boot. Recovery involves rebuilding the MBR/boot sector from the image we create. Since the actual files and partition data are intact, experts rewrite a correct boot record or use a recovery environment to load the filesystem. The user’s files remain untouched. (As Ontrack notes, issues like formatting or MBR corruption are recoverable by specialists.)
30. Interface Communication / CRC Errors: If a drive repeatedly shows I/O errors or CRC errors during transfer, it could be a failing cable, port or drive electronics. We try alternate cables/ports first. If the drive still fails, we use hardware duplicators that can handle intermittent errors. These machines read sectors with multiple retries and often succeed where normal cloning fails. By capturing the data in this low-level way, we circumvent the communication errors and recover your files.

Why Choose Bracknell Data Recovery

• Over 25 Years’ Experience: Our founder started recovering disks in the 1990s. Over the decades we’ve seen every kind of hard drive failure. This deep experience means we know the tricks to fix even the rarest faults.
• Proprietary Cleanroom Lab: We perform all physical repairs (head swaps, board replacements, platter work) in ISO-classified cleanrooms. This controlled environment prevents dust contamination and maximises recovery success.
• All Drive Types Covered: From legacy IDE HDDs to the latest NVMe SSDs, our technical team has the skill set and tools for every interface and technology. If it stores data electronically, we know how to retrieve it.
• State-of-the-Art Tools: We use professional data recovery hardware (ZAR, PC-3000, Atola, etc.) and custom firmware workstations. This lets us repair firmware, clone failing drives, and read raw flash chips. Our investment in lab equipment ensures a fast, safe recovery.
• Free, No-Obligation Evaluation: Send us your drive and we’ll diagnose the problem at no charge. You’ll get a full report of the fault and a fixed quote for recovery. There’s no catch: if we can’t recover your data, we charge nothing for our assessment (and we return your drive).
• Local & Trustworthy: As a Bracknell-based company, we serve Berkshire and the South East. You can meet our team face-to-face or trust in our local reputation. We operate to strict confidentiality and GDPR standards, so your data privacy is guaranteed.
• High Success Rate & Speed: Thanks to our expertise and equipment, we typically recover data in 24–48 hours (for common faults). Even complex cases come back much quicker than sending drives overseas. Our pricing is competitive, and most importantly we have a no-data, no-fee policy – you only pay when your data is successfully returned.

Call to Action

Don’t leave your precious files to chance. If your hard disk or SSD has failed, contact Bracknell Data Recovery today for a free diagnostic and friendly advice. Our specialists are ready 24/7 to help you recover your data – whether it’s personal photos or critical business documents. We’ll guide you through the process, arrange secure device collection, and work quickly to restore your files. Act now to take advantage of our no-obligation evaluation: call or email Bracknell Data Recovery and get your drive in the hands of expert technicians. Let us turn your data loss into success – free quote and consultation are just a phone call away!