Donor drive match checker
A donor drive is a working hard drive of the same model as yours, bought only for its parts. When the heads, the circuit board (PCB) or the motor fail, we move good parts from the donor into your drive in the cleanroom, just long enough to copy your files off.
The parts have to match exactly. Heads, PCBs and firmware are tuned to each drive family and often to each factory batch, so a donor needs the same model number and, depending on the make, the same firmware, PCB number, site code or a close date of manufacture. A near miss usually means the drive still won’t read, or the new heads scratch the platters. Compare the labels below before you buy one.
Don’t try a transplant yourself. Opening a drive or swapping heads, a PCB or platters outside a cleanroom can destroy the data for good: dust lands on the platters, and a wrong part can scratch them. Ask an engineer before you buy a donor or open anything. The first consultation is free, and if a donor is needed we send you a link to buy it, or buy it for you at cost plus 30%.
Ready to get your files back?
Book online and you get a job number by email straight away. Bring the laptop or drive to our London SE1 lab, or call us to arrange a courier collection from anywhere in the UK.