25 Years of Data Recovery Expertise | No Fix – No Fee
If your IBM Deskstar (Hitachi) IDE hard drive is making repetitive clicking sounds—commonly referred to as the “Click of Death”—this is a serious mechanical fault. At Coventry Data Recovery, we specialise in recovering data from Deskstar drives with internal head crashes and actuator malfunctions. We have a long history of dealing with Hitachi Deskstar failure patterns, including those known from the “Deathstar” series (e.g. Deskstar 75GXP, 60GXP, 120GXP).
🔍 Symptom: Click of Death – What Does It Mean?
The “click of death” is characterised by a repeated clicking or knocking noise as the drive powers up and attempts (unsuccessfully) to calibrate its read/write heads.
Causes:
- Seized or misaligned actuator arm
- Failed read/write heads
- Damaged servo or firmware corruption
- Platter surface damage due to head crash
- PCB or preamp failure triggering improper head positioning
When this happens, the drive cannot initialise properly, nor read system sectors required for file access. Any continued attempt to power the drive can worsen platter damage, making data recovery more difficult or impossible.
🛠️ Technical Recovery Process – Step-by-Step
1. Initial Non-Invasive Diagnostics
- We remove the drive from any power source and begin diagnostics in a controlled lab environment.
- Firmware logs and PCB condition are assessed to rule out electronic fault.
2. Cleanroom Evaluation (Class 100 Certified)
- The Deskstar drive is opened in a certified cleanroom to visually assess the mechanical integrity.
- Read/write head damage or platter scoring is confirmed at this stage.
- If head crash has occurred, a head swap procedure will be initiated using donor components.
3. Donor Drive Matching & Component Swap
- An identical donor Deskstar drive (model number, microcode, head map match) is selected.
- Damaged heads are replaced using anti-static tools and micro-positioning instruments under magnification.
- The actuator assembly is recalibrated for alignment.
4. Controlled Disk Imaging
- Using hardware imaging tools such as PC-3000 or DeepSpar Disk Imager, we image the drive sector by sector.
- Head map isolation allows selective head reading (e.g., imaging with 1 head disabled to protect platter integrity).
- Imaging retries, delays and power cycles are tuned to match the state of degradation.
5. Logical Data Extraction
- Once imaging is complete, we mount the cloned image to extract the file system (NTFS/FAT32) and directory structures.
- Damaged or fragmented files are recovered via metadata analysis or file carving techniques.
- File integrity verification is performed on critical data types (docs, photos, videos, etc.).
💼 Supported Systems & Interfaces
- Drive Type: Hitachi IBM Deskstar IDE (PATA) Series
- Typical Capacities: 15GB – 250GB
- File Systems: NTFS, FAT32, HFS+, EXT2/3
- Host Systems: Windows 98, XP, 2000, Linux, macOS (PowerPC G4 systems)
- Models: Deskstar 60GXP, 75GXP, 120GXP, 7K250, T7K500, and others
⚠️ Common IBM Deskstar Failures We Recover From
| Fault Type | Recovery Methodology |
|---|---|
| Click of Death / Repeated Clicking | Head replacement, low-level imaging |
| PCB/ROM Failure | PCB donor swap with ROM transfer |
| Head Stiction (Heads stuck on platter) | Controlled spin-up and head disengagement |
| Servo/Track Misalignment | Adaptive firmware tuning during imaging |
| Bad Sectors in System Area | Forced imaging with ECC remapping |
| Firmware Module Corruption | Firmware module rebuild via PC-3000 |
✅ Why Choose Coventry Data Recovery?
- Specialist knowledge of legacy IDE systems and Deskstar failure patterns
- Certified cleanroom for internal component work
- Full imaging and recovery capabilities for physically degraded drives
- Over 25 years’ experience in mechanical data recovery
- Transparent “No Fix – No Fee” policy
- Free diagnostics and engineering-level reports
📞 Start Your IBM Deskstar Recovery Today
If your Deskstar hard drive is clicking and no longer recognised, do not continue powering it on. This can result in irreversible platter damage. Contact our team of engineers today to arrange free diagnostics and professional recovery.
Coventry Data Recovery – The Trusted Name in IBM Deskstar Click of Death Recovery
Engineered to Recover When Others Fail