Case Study
Two drives, one weekend, 6.5TB back before Monday.
Two media companies contacted the Belfast lab within hours of each other over a weekend, each with a failed drive holding project files against a broadcast deadline — a 2TB Western Digital My Passport and a 5TB LaCie external built on a Seagate mechanism. Both were recovered and returned by Monday lunchtime.
The case
Two failures, one weekend, no time to spare.
Two separate media companies contacted the lab within hours of each other over a weekend, each with the same problem: a project drive had failed, and video editing timelines, raw footage and production files needed for an upcoming broadcast deadline were on it.
One client's drive was a 2TB Western Digital My Passport. The other's was a 5TB LaCie external built around a Seagate mechanism. Neither client could afford to wait out a standard turnaround, so diagnostics began in the Belfast lab the same day both drives arrived.
The diagnosis
Two different faults, on two different drives.
WD My Passport, 2TB
Firmware instability combined with an intermittent USB controller fault, preventing the drive from staying connected to the host machine long enough to be read reliably.
LaCie, 5TB (Seagate mechanism)
Severe degradation across the drive's sectors and mechanical wear on the platters — bad enough that imaging had to be carried out at the head level to avoid further platter damage.
The recovery
Firmware rebuilt, platters imaged, both drives worked in parallel.
Using PC-3000 Express and Data Extractor tooling in-house, both drives were worked side by side over the weekend rather than queued one after the other.
- 01
Firmware stabilised
The My Passport's firmware modules were rebuilt to resolve the intermittent controller fault, stabilising the drive long enough to read its sectors reliably.
- 02
Head-level imaging
The LaCie's worn platters ruled out a standard clone. Imaging was carried out at the head level so no further damage was risked while pulling data off the degraded sectors.
- 03
Sector-by-sector cloning
Once stabilised, both drives were cloned sector by sector, capturing every accessible sector before any reconstruction work began.
- 04
Verification
Recovered files were checked as openable before being handed back — more than 6.5TB combined across the two drives.
The outcome
Both clients back in production by Monday.
Both drives were recovered and their data verified over the weekend. By Monday lunchtime, each client had their files back — more than 6.5TB combined of footage, edit timelines and production assets — in time to keep their post-production schedules on track.
The two faults were unrelated: one a firmware and USB controller problem, the other physical wear on the platters. Treating them as separate cases and working them in parallel, rather than one after the other, is what kept both recoveries inside the same weekend.
Power it down and stop using it. Tell us what happened and an engineer will give you an honest view of what's recoverable and a fixed quote before any work starts.