Seized Motor & Stuck Heads Data Recovery
Hard drive buzzing but not spinning? We free stuck heads and transplant platters from seized motors in our clean room.
When a drive won't spin
If a hard drive buzzes, hums or beeps without spinning up, either the spindle motor has seized or the heads have become stuck to the platter surface (known as stiction). Both are common in drives that have been dropped, stored for a long time, or used in hot environments.
Repeatedly powering the drive can burn out the motor driver or tear the heads, so switch it off and get it diagnosed.
Stuck heads (stiction)
Most modern drives park their heads on a ramp at the edge of the platters when powered off. If power is lost suddenly or the drive is knocked, the heads can end up resting on the platter and stick to it. In our clean room we gently move the heads back onto the ramp, inspect them for damage and replace them if needed.
Highest success rates in hard drive data recovery
Seized spindle motors
When the motor’s bearing seizes, the platters can’t turn. The solution is to move the platters – keeping them perfectly aligned with each other – into a donor drive with a working motor, or to replace the motor assembly. This is precision work: on multi-platter drives, even a tiny misalignment makes the data unreadable.
How it works
- Free initial consultation – we confirm whether the fault is physical or logical.
- Clean room diagnostic (£79 + VAT) – the drive is opened in our ISO 5 clean room and the damaged parts identified, normally within about 24 hours.
- Donor parts – if parts are needed, we send you a link to buy a matching donor drive, or buy it for you.
- Repair and imaging – the drive is repaired just enough to be read, then cloned sector by sector with professional PC-3000 equipment.
- Recovery and return – we rebuild the file system, check your files and copy them to an external drive.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my drive beep?
A beeping laptop or portable drive usually means stuck heads or a seized motor – the motor is trying to start but can’t turn the platters.
Can platters really be moved to another drive?
Yes, in a clean room with specialist tools that keep the platters aligned. It’s one of the most delicate repairs we carry out.