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December 15, 2019 By Monique Stoppa

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

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

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

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.