The solution to a problem often rests at your fingertips. So can the cause of a problem. When you drop an external hard drive, you may regret your butterfingers. The drive doesn't have to fall far to suffer damage. Once it hits the ground, you may find that it no longer spins. If it can't turn, then you can't access your information. Don't panic, though, and don't make things worse with sloppy DIY hard disk surgery. Contact a computer repair shop to get the hard drive up and running again.

Don't Follow DIY Directions

A dropped hard drive can make a series of strange sounds. Various online resources try to explain the difference between the sounds. The explanations detail problems, along with solutions to follow. Some solutions involve doing little more than purchasing appropriate tools, taking the HDD drive apart, and mildly adjusting things back to normal. The process could work, but you might be taking several things for granted. Think about these questions:

• Do You Know The Sound? You are reading descriptions of "beeps" and "clicks." The assumption here is that the untrained ear knows the difference between these two sounds and something else. If there are different solutions for different problems associated with various sounds, you need to ID the right sound.
• How Steady Is Your Hand? Even if you have the right solution and well-written directions, are you capable of performing the job without causing damage? Taking apart a hard drive's casing and exposing the materials underneath is risky. The housing protects various parts. Once you remove that protective barrier and start touching the internal components, you may cause damage. Now, the simple fix isn't so simple anymore. And that assumes someone can fix it after the HDD suffered further.
• Why The Rush? Sometimes, the data on your disk is so important that you can't wait to get the drive working again. Take that as a reason to not touch it at all. If you compound the problem, the disk might require additional repairs. That could add more time to the fix. If you ruin the drive, the material could even end up lost. Why risk it? Be patient. Take the disk to a pro.

A computer repair professional has the skills to figure out what's wrong with a dropped external drive. He or she can likely figure out the right fix or explore data recovery options. Don't make the job more difficult for the professional by messing up a DIY repair.

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