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What Our Clients Say
Daniel Tran had a failed Western Digital WD20SDRW-11VUUS0 2TB USB external hard drive that was dropped while connected to a laptop, it was making a clicking sound. He wanted all his photos recovered.
Richard Lim had a failed Seagate ST2000LM007 2TB 2.5″ SATA hard drive that was making a clicking sound, it had failed heads and a firmware problem. He was looking to get his photos and videos recovered.
Christopher Weir had a damaged MACBOOK PRO (13-INCH, 2019 [A2159] ) with a dead logic board. It would not power up or charge, and could not be repaired. He came to us to get his desktop, documents and downloads folder recovered.
Phil Dobe had a damaged Western Digital WD7500KMVW-11ZSMS1 750GB USB 2.5″ hard drive, It was not powering up or spinning. He wanted all his work files and photos saved.
We are experts at Hard drive data recovery
Lost important files from a Seagate, WD, Toshiba or any other brand of hard disk drive?
You’re in the right place!
We specialise in professional HDD data recovery services to retrieve lost data from damaged or malfunctioning hard drives. Whether you require hard drive repair or data restoration from a failing disk, our data recovery engineers use professional tools to achieve the highest success rates. Our services cover all types of hard disk drives, including those needing hard disc repair due to physical damage, logical errors, or corruption. After a disk is repaired, it is not stable or reliable to use; for that reason, all data will be copied to a brand new disk to return the files to you.
Hard drive data recovery by brand
Choose your drive’s brand to read about the problems we see most often:
- Western Digital (WD) hard drive data recovery
- WD My Passport not detected
- WD My Book not detected
- Seagate hard drive data recovery
- Seagate Expansion USB drive not detected
- Toshiba hard drive not working
- LaCie hard drive data recovery
- External USB hard drive not detected
Watch this quick video explaining our simple process
External hard drive data recovery
We recover data from all external USB hard drives, including WD My Passport, WD My Book, Seagate Expansion, Toshiba and LaCie drives, whether it is a small portable drive or a desktop drive with its own power supply.
Sound familiar? The drive clicks or beeps, it was dropped or knocked over while it was plugged in, the computer no longer sees it, the USB port is broken, or the computer asks you to format it. An external drive is a normal hard drive inside a case with a small USB circuit board, so the cause can be the heads, the circuit board, the USB connection or the drive’s firmware. Some WD external drives also encrypt the data on their USB board, and the recovery has to take that into account.
If your external drive is clicking or was dropped, turn it off and leave it unplugged. Every time a damaged drive is powered on it can cause more damage. Send it to us for a free assessment, and you get a written quote before any work starts.
See how we did it: clicking WD My Book, 440GB of family photos, WD My Passport with stuck heads, clicking WD My Passport recovered in 1 day and dropped Seagate external drive.
Are you experiencing any of these hard disk drive problems? We can help you!
All brands and types of hard drives including USB, USB-C, SATA, IDE, SAS, SCSI & Firewire interface drives and
All Brands including: Seagate, Western Digital, WD, Toshiba, Maxtor, LaCie, HGST, Hitachi, Samsung, IBM + all others.
File Systems we specialise in
How much does HDD data recovery cost ?
Most hard drive recoveries cost from $375 to $1,750 on our Economy service. That covers file system problems, firmware faults, damaged circuit boards, bad sectors, deleted files, basic backups and head replacement on standard drives. For these jobs the price is the same whatever the size of the drive, so a 1TB drive and a 30TB drive cost the same. Priority and Emergency are faster and cost more.
Damaged heads on very large drives are the exception. The heads are replaced with parts from an identical donor drive, and donor drives for very large capacities are rare and much more costly. These jobs are quoted individually, at a higher price, after your free assessment.
A drive that has already been opened by someone else is also quoted at a higher price. The chance of success is lower and the risk to us is higher, because the main part of our fee is only payable once your data has been recovered.
You will always receive the exact price in writing before you approve anything. If an attempt fee applies to your job, your quote states it clearly.
The cost will depend on the type of problem your hard drive has, how quickly you need the data back.
Only after we test it in our lab can we determine what the problem is for certain. Once we know, we will give you a written quote before we start work. We will offer you the cheapest solution to help get all of your files back in a safe, professional way with a good result.
Click on Start your data recovery today! Complete the form then deliver your hard drive to us, we’ll test it and give you the lowest price we can that will allow us to get your data back in the safest way possible, with the highest chance of success. If your device is still under warranty, please get written approval from the manufacturer or retailer before you send it to us, because we may need to open the device or remove a chip as part of the recovery.
- Basic backup service
- File system corruption
- Corrupted partition
- Deleted or re-formatted files
Note: Deleted or reformatted data recovery on SSDs is a specialist procedure priced separately. See our SSD data recovery page for details.
- Lost WD My Book bridge board
- Corrupt BitLocker partition
- ATA security locked drive
- Damaged printed circuit board (PCB)
- Firmware corruption
- System area damage
- Bad sectors/read errors
- Broken USB port/SATA port
- Liquid & fire damaged PCB
- Damaged heads (clicking/ticking)
- Damaged motor (buzzing)
- Stiction (heads stuck on platters with some damage to platters)
- Fire & liquid damage
- Special case lab for research projects of any kind.
Important note: very large hard drives (over 6TB)
If your hard drive is larger than 6TB and has damaged heads, the repair needs parts from an identical donor drive. Donor drives for very large capacities are rare and much more costly, and the cost depends on the model. Drives of 8TB and above often use sealed helium technology and shingled (SMR) recording, with more platters and heads, which makes them more complex to work on.
As a result, the standard pricing above does not apply to head replacement on these drives. These jobs are quoted individually after your free assessment, and an attempt fee may apply to cover the donor parts. The amount depends on your drive and the donor drives it needs, and your quote states it clearly. The attempt fee is part of the total price, not an extra charge. The larger and less common the drive, the higher the donor part cost is likely to be. Other problems on a large drive, such as file system corruption, firmware faults, damaged circuit boards, bad sectors or deleted files, are priced the same as on any other drive.
Every high-capacity drive is assessed individually. The assessment is completely free and we will provide a full written quote before any work begins. You are not committed until you approve the quote.
We will test it for free, tell you what the problem is and the exact price to seek your approval before we start.
Australia’s most trusted
Hard drive data recovery specialists
We will try harder than anybody else to get your data back!
Specialising recovering data from all brands and types of hard drives including Seagate, Western Digital and Toshiba.
All hard drive work is done in our own labs, including head replacements in a laminar flow cabinet.
We use technology and equipment that your local computer repair shop or IT technician won’t have.
Established in 1998, we are Australia’s most experienced and highly skilled data recovery company. Hand over your hard drive to us, we know what to do and how to do it, to get your files back fast.
Retiring old hard drives instead? Drop them at our Rhodes lab for free hard drive and SSD recycling with secure data destruction, or use our $5 degaussing service for hard drives and backup tapes.
You’re in safe hands
Over 300,000 devices recovered
Case Studies: See how we do it!
Hard Drive Data Recovery Success: WD Drive Head Crash, Saving David's Marriage & 600,000+ Files
Watch how Payam Data Recovery’s data recovery engineers deliver professional hard drive data recovery results across Australia. This case study demonstrates our proven approach to recovering valuable data from a completely failed WD hard drive with destroyed heads, sent from Perth to our Sydney lab, showcasing the advanced techniques that saved David’s marriage and irreplaceable family memories.
Seagate 2.5" HDD with a damaged PCB: See how we recover the data
Watch our data recovery engineer perform what seems like magic, bringing a completely silent, “dead” Seagate 2.5″ SATA hard drive back to life through expert PCB repair and chip transplantation. This isn’t your typical data recovery case!
Watch us recover data from a dead Seagate 3.5" HDD with a damaged PCB
In this fascinating case study, watch as Payam Data Recovery’s data recovery engineer brings a completely lifeless Seagate 3.5″ SATA drive back from the dead. When the drive wouldn’t even spin up, the diagnosis was clear: circuit board failure. But the solution? A precision chip swap that saved years of precious photos and videos.
Watch us recover data from a failed Seagate 3.5" hard drive with damaged heads + firmware problem
SEAGATE BARRACUDA DRIVE FAILED? Multiple problems, one solution. In this complex case study, we show you exactly how Payam Data Recovery successfully recovered 100% of data from a failed Seagate Barracuda 3.5″ drive suffering from BOTH firmware corruption AND damaged read/write heads.
Seagate Drive Spinning But Not Detected? Here's How We Fixed It!
In this case study, we show you exactly how Payam Data Recovery successfully recovered 100% of data from a failed Seagate drive suffering from firmware corruption. The drive was spinning normally but completely invisible to the computer, a classic Seagate BSY error.
Recovering files from a reformatted WD SMR hard drive
Have you accidentally reformatted your Western Digital hard drive? Don’t panic! Watch how our expert data recovery specialists recover files from a reformatted WD SMR (Shingled Magnetic Recording) hard drive.
Frequently asked questions
The most important thing to do is to power off the hard drive, stop using it and do not let anybody tamper with it, or to try and use any software that will scan or modify the disk. This will greatly improve the chances of your data being recovered successfully.
Yes, in most cases we can.
Your best chance of getting your important files back is with Payam Data Recovery. We know what to do, how to do to it and will always do it using the latest technology in a safe and professional way. We will try much harder, spend more time and put in more effort than anybody else to ensure the best possible result.
The most common problems that we see are hard drives with bad sectors/read errors, a damaged PCB, file system/partition corruption and firmware problems. In most of these cases, we can recover all the data in good condition.
If your hard drive is making a clicking/ticking/beeping sound, it’s very likely that your hard drive has internal damage to the heads or motor. This is a very common problem, and one in which we specialise.
Our chance of success is lower if the heads are damaged inside the disk (this is usually caused by shock to the hard drive) and there is any damage to the platter. As long as the platter is in good condition, we can usually recover your data even when the heads are damaged or there is a problem with the motor. We can even recover data if there is what we call level 1 or level 2 damage on the disk platter/s. If there is severe damage to the platters (we call this level 3), then the chances of success are very low, but we will try everything possible to at least recover your most important files.
In most cases of hard drives that do not have damage to the platters or have been erased and overwritten, the data can usually be recovered!
Data that is generally not recoverable from hard drives is usually due to a badly damaged platter or overwritten data (after it has been deleted or the device reformatted).
Once we start work on your disk we will keep you updated on what we are doing and what we find. We don’t want to get your hopes up, so if for any reason your data cannot be recovered, we will let you know the reason and provide you with as much information as we can.
Don’t risk giving your hard drive with important files to an inexperienced or unprofessional person who may destroy any chance of ever getting your data back. We have the best technology, training, and expertise in the world, with a proven track record of successfully retrieving data from all types of hard drive problems no matter how small or big.
We offer a free assessment and quote within 1-2 business days to inform you of the problem, cost and time required to recover your data. Our goal is to help you by offering you the cheapest and fastest method to get your important files back. We always do this in an honest, clear way that makes it easy for you to make an informed decision. We would love to get all of your photos, documents, and other files back for you today.
The time needed to recover your data will depend on what the problem is and how the device responds to any temporary repairs (e.g head replacement, firmware modifications or PCB repairs).
If your hard drive does not need a head replacement or other high risk work, the average time is 5-10 days or less for our Economy service (non-urgent cases). But if the heads are damaged, there is any damage on the disk platter/s, or after the drive is repaired it is working very slowly (during the disk imaging stage), it will take a lot more time. If you have a deadline you are working with, or need your data back by a set date, we recommend selecting the Priority or Emergency Service instead.
We will keep you informed of the time required and remaining. You can always upgrade from Economy to Priority or Emergency as needed. It is important to know that some data recovery jobs we work on can be done very quickly, while others can sometimes take weeks or months due to severe damage or rare spare parts needing to be ordered in.
How fast is the Priority and Emergency Service?
In some straightforward cases, it may mean you get your data back in 1-2 days. In other cases, it may mean you get your data back in 1 week instead of much longer. If you pay for the Priority or Emergency service, your data recovery request will be given #1 Priority in our lab,and our best data-recovery engineers will work 24-hours a day, 7-days a week to get your data back to you as fast as possible.
Most hard drive recoveries cost from $375 to $1,750 on our Economy service (non-urgent service), whatever the size of the drive. Priority and Emergency are faster and cost more. Damaged heads on very large drives are the exception: donor drives for very large capacities are rare and much more costly, so these jobs are quoted individually, at a higher price, after your free assessment. A drive that has already been opened by someone else is also quoted at a higher price, because the chance of success is lower and the risk to us is higher. The cost will depend on the type of problem your hard drive has, how quickly you need the data back. We always offer a free assessment and quote.
Only after we test it can we determine what the problem is for certain. Once we know, we will give you a written quote before we start work. We will try to offer you the cheapest solution to help get all of your files back in a safe, professional way with a good result. About 90% of our jobs are no fix, no fee. The hardest 10% carry an attempt fee. On hard drives, that applies to two categories of work: complex hardware issues such as a head replacement, and the recovery of files from a reformatted, re-imaged or factory reset hard drive, or deleted files. The attempt fee is part of the total price, not an extra: it is payable upfront, the rest is due only on successful recovery, and it is stated clearly in your written quote before you approve anything.
We will be honest, helpful and answer any questions you may have. We do the simple things well too, call us and we’ll speak with you. We believe in good old fashioned customer service, the Australian way.
We are your best chance of getting your data back successfully in good condition. We know what to do, how to do it and will always do it in a safe and professional way.
We are also the lab other businesses send their difficult jobs to. More than 2,000 computer shops and 500 mobile phone repair businesses across Australia send us work they cannot do themselves, around 5,000 jobs a year between them.
Data recovery labs overseas use us too. International customers are always welcome. In the past twelve months we have taken work from labs in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Nigeria, Indonesia, Malaysia, Dubai, China and Japan, and over the past ten years jobs have reached us from more than 50 countries.
We also hold our own spare parts inventory in our labs: over 30,000 donor parts, including around 20,000 donor hard drives, as at September 2026. When your drive needs a matching donor for a head replacement or a circuit board swap, the part usually comes off our own shelves the same day rather than being ordered in from overseas. That is often the difference between a job taking hours and a job taking weeks.
Established in 1998, as Australia’s longest established data recovery business, we have more experience and expertise in this field than anybody else in Australia.
We are much more likely to recover your data successfully than anybody else. We know exactly what to do,and how to do it in the most professional way with the world’s latest technology and tools.
We have specialised hardware to help recover data from drives that standard tools cannot read. Many of our customers are other data recovery companies and IT service companies..
We can supply you with an external hard drive or SSD, or you can provide your own to us.
Phone 1300 444 800, Email help@payam.com.au or click on Contact us to complete a form, we’ll call you back.
A clicking drive that was dropped usually has damaged read heads. Damaged heads are one of the faults we work on every day: we replace them with heads from an identical donor drive in our ISO 5 laminar flow cabinet, then copy your data. Turn the drive off and keep it unplugged until it reaches us.
For most jobs, no. File system problems, firmware faults, damaged circuit boards, bad sectors and head replacement on standard drives cost the same whatever the size. Damaged heads on drives larger than 6TB are the exception, because donor drives for very large capacities are rare and cost more, so those jobs are quoted individually after your free assessment.
Yes. Pack it in a cardboard box with plenty of bubble wrap on all sides and send it with tracking, signature on delivery and insurance. You can also drop it at one of our labs in Sydney CBD, Rhodes NSW, Melbourne or Brisbane, or at our secure drop-off offices in Perth and Adelaide. International customers are always welcome. If we recover your data and you pay, return delivery is free.
Get a Free Quote
Complete this form for information about the cost and next steps
After you complete this form, we will email you information about the price, what to expect, and the next steps to get started.
Phone: 1300 444 800 (within Australia)
International: +61 2 80766079
Email: help@payam.com.au
