Physical failure
A physical failure is damage to the storage hardware itself, such as the heads, the motor, the circuit board, or the platters.
The device cannot reliably read its own sectors. The file system on those sectors may be intact and still be out of reach, because the drive cannot return the bytes.
How does a physical failure show up?
The drive may click, beep, fail to spin, show a burnt component on the board, or disappear from the computer. A drop, a power surge, heat, or ordinary wear can sit behind it.
Why is a physical failure different from a logical one?
Software that scans a volume expects the hardware to hand sectors back when asked. On a physically failed drive those reads can hang, or they can damage the heads further. Copying files after a logical failure is a different job from dealing with hardware that cannot read.
What should you do if the drive will not spin, or smells burnt?
Power it off and leave it off if it is clicking, not spinning, or smells of burnt electronics. Do not keep trying it in the computer, in a docking caddy, or under a recovery program. Further attempts to power it on are what turn a smaller hardware fault into a larger one.
What might you notice?
- Clicking, beeping, or no spin-up
- The computer does not detect the drive
- A burnt smell, or visible damage on the circuit board
- The drive was dropped, or it got wet