If your drive just failed: stop using it immediately. Do not write anything new to it. Do not attempt a scan or repair. Power it down if you can. Writing new data to a drive after deletion or file-system damage can overwrite recoverable data, while reads from a physically failing drive can worsen damage; stop using the drive until the failure type is understood. The instinct to plug it in repeatedly and check if it has come back is understandable.
In short: Stop using the drive now. If it is clicking or grinding, power it off and do not turn it back on. If the files are irreplaceable and not backed up elsewhere, seek professional recovery before running any software on the drive. Additional writes can overwrite recoverable data, and additional reads or power cycles can worsen a physically damaged drive; stop using it until the failure type is understood.
This guide covers what to do right now, how to assess whether your data is recoverable, and. Once the immediate problem is dealt with. How to build a backup setup so this cannot happen again.
Immediate Steps. In Order
Work through these in sequence. Do not skip ahead.
Stop using the drive. Unplug it if it is external. If it is an internal drive, shut the machine down cleanly. Do not force-power-off unless the machine is completely unresponsive.
Check if it is the drive or the cable or enclosure. If an external drive is quiet and shows no physical-failure signs, try a known-good cable, port or computer. If it clicks or grinds, unplug it and do not retest it. Enclosure and cable faults cause identical symptoms to drive failure and are far cheaper to deal with. If the drive appears normally in a different setup, the drive itself is likely fine.
Check if your files are backed up somewhere. Before doing anything else: are the files on iCloud? Google Photos? A Time Machine backup? Another drive in a different room? The answer to "what is actually lost" is often "nothing". Because a backup exists somewhere that was not top of mind in the panic. Take three minutes to check before assuming the worst.
If files are irreplaceable and no backup exists: do not run DIY recovery software on a failing drive. Tools like Recuva or Disk Drill are appropriate for accidental deletion from a healthy drive. On a physically failing drive, running these tools can cause further damage. If the data is genuinely irreplaceable, the correct next step is professional recovery.
If files are recoverable from backup: download them, verify they are intact, then focus on building a proper backup system before it happens again.
Professional Data Recovery in Australia. What It Costs
Professional data recovery in Australia typically costs AU$300-$2,000+ depending on the failure type. Published Australian prices vary by provider, device and complexity. Logical recovery can exceed AU$600; obtain a written quote after assessment. Physical failures requiring clean-room work. Clicking heads, failed motor, damaged platters. Cost AU$800-$2,500 or more.
Get a quote from two providers before committing. Be cautious of providers who charge a flat fee regardless of whether recovery succeeds. Reputable services assess the drive first and provide an honest evaluation before you pay. There are established Australian providers including Ontrack and several regional specialists in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane.
Australian Consumer Law rights are not limited to the manufacturer's warranty period. Depending on whether a failure is major or minor, remedies may include repair, replacement or refund, and consumers can generally seek a remedy from the supplier. Australian Consumer Law does not guarantee recovery of the data itself, but depending on the circumstances a consumer may be entitled to compensation for reasonably foreseeable loss or damage. The only protection for data is backup, and that backup must exist before the failure, not after.
The Most Common Mistake: One Drive Is Not a Backup
This is better than nothing. But only marginally.
If your backup and your original are in the same location, a single event. Theft, fire, flood, a power surge. Takes both. Two independent copies in one room are backups, but they share location-level risks; keep at least one backup offsite. It is two points of equal exposure to the same risks.
The concept that fixes this is the 3-2-1 backup rule: three copies of your data, on two different types of media, with one copy stored off-site or in the cloud. It sounds like overkill until the day it is not. They just had one that did not survive the same event as the original.
Options to Make Sure This Never Happens Again
Cloud backup. Backblaze Personal Backup costs US$99 per computer per year for unlimited data; iCloud+ costs AU$4.49/month for 200GB or AU$14.99/month for 2TB, but iCloud Drive and iCloud Photos synchronise deletions across devices and should not be treated as independent backup copies. The limitation for Australian households is NBN upload speed: most NBN plans deliver 5-20 Mbps upload, which means uploading a large existing library. Photos, videos, documents. Can take days or weeks for the first sync. Cloud backup is excellent ongoing insurance once the initial sync completes, but it is not a fast safety net for large datasets on a typical NBN connection.
External drive with offsite rotation. Keep one drive at home for fast local recovery and one at a different location. A workplace, a family member's house. Swap them monthly. This is low-tech, cheap, and highly effective if you actually do the swaps. A major practical risk is failing to maintain the rotation; verify backups and keep the offsite copy secure and disconnected when not in use. Set a calendar reminder.
A NAS with RAID. A NAS (Network Attached Storage) holds one or more drives on your home network; multi-bay models can support RAID. When configured with a fault-tolerant RAID level and operating within that level's failure tolerance, a drive can fail while data remains accessible. After a compatible replacement drive is installed, the RAID may rebuild automatically or may require the repair or rebuild to be initiated, depending on the NAS and configuration. RAID does not replace the need for an off-site or cloud copy (RAID is redundancy, not backup), Fault-tolerant RAID can reduce disruption from a drive failure within its tolerance, but it does not eliminate drive failures or the need for monitoring and backups.
For a full breakdown of the process of replacing external hard drives with a NAS in Australia, that guide covers costs, setup effort, and what kind of home user the upgrade is worth it for.
What to Do Next
If you want to understand the right backup strategy before buying anything: the 3-2-1 Backup Strategy guide explains the framework in plain English. What each approach protects against, and where each falls short.
If you are ready to look at NAS options available in Australia: Best NAS Australia covers current models with pricing from Australian retailers and a clear picture of what each tier is suited for.
Related reading: our NAS hard drive guide.
Use our free Drive Failure Risk Calculator to understand your real data loss risk.
Related reading: our Synology volume crashed recovery guide, our Unraid USB boot drive failure guide, and our NAS data recovery costs in Australia.
Can I recover files from a crashed hard drive myself?
It depends on the failure type. If the drive is still recognised by your computer but files are missing (accidental deletion, accidental format), recovery software like Recuva (Windows) or Disk Drill can often retrieve them. If the drive is making clicking or grinding noises, is not recognised at all, or shows physical failure symptoms, DIY tools can cause additional damage. In that case, seek professional recovery. Running software on a physically failing drive frequently makes things worse.
How much does data recovery cost in Australia?
Published Australian provider prices for logical recovery vary by device, complexity and urgency and can exceed AU$600; obtain written quotes after assessment. AU$800-$2,500+ for physical failures requiring clean-room work. Get quotes from at least two providers and choose one that assesses the drive first and only charges on successful recovery. Be cautious of very low flat-fee offers for physical recovery jobs.
Is RAID a backup?
No. RAID provides redundancy. With a fault-tolerant RAID level, data can remain accessible while failures stay within that RAID level's tolerance. RAID does not itself protect against deletion, ransomware, fire or theft, and it cannot protect against drive failures beyond its configured tolerance. It also does not keep previous file versions. A RAID setup paired with an off-site or cloud backup provides genuine protection. RAID alone does not.
What is the cheapest way to make sure this never happens again?
Two external drives plus an offsite rotation. Buy two identical drives and check current prices at Mwave, Scorptec, or Umart. Keep one at home backing up automatically. Keep the other at work or a family member's place. Swap them monthly. Total cost depends on current drive prices. This approach also depends on successful, verified backups, secure offsite storage, and consistent rotation. Set a calendar reminder and stick to it.
My drive is making a clicking noise. Is it recoverable?
Persistent hard clicking often indicates a mechanical fault, but clicking is not specific to read/write-head failure and can also be caused by power problems. Power the drive off immediately and do not turn it back on. Head failures may be professionally recoverable if platter damage is limited; costs vary by provider and can exceed AU$2,000. Running the drive further after clicking begins risks scratching the platters, which makes recovery impossible or far more expensive. Do not attempt DIY recovery with software. This is a job for a professional clean-room facility.
The right backup setup means a crashed drive never costs you your files again. See which NAS options suit your budget and home setup. With current pricing from Australian retailers.