What are the right steps to take

[HeatBit]

Let's say someone have some Bitcoin they stored in a hardware drive several years ago and after installing the HDD in a pC it is not working yet the inner disk is rolling, what do you think it's the best way to handle this?

Taking it down for a electronic store for fixing by an engineer is even not safe, because they can fix it and steal the Bitcoin and cover it up saying the HDD is damaged.

What is the right steps to take or what is the right thing to do?

[Cookdata]

Let's say someone have some Bitcoin they stored in a hardware drive several years ago and after installing the HDD in a pC it is not working yet the inner disk is rolling, what do you think it's the best way to handle this?

Hard disk drive has many components inside, the inner disk can be rolling like you said and the problem might not be the disk platter. You can't figure it out unless you take it to an engineer.

Taking it down for a electronic store for fixing by an engineer is even not safe, because they can fix it and steal the Bitcoin and cover it up saying the HDD is damaged.

Is the wallet not password encrypted? If there is password or passphrase on the wallet, even if the engineer is able to help you bring back the HDD to live, he will not be able to do anything with your wallet. But if there is no password or the password is saved somewhere on the HDD, it's risky to give it to an engineer but what other choice do you have.

Don't use HDD to keep your wallet for long term, some parts stop working after a long period of time.

What is the right steps to take or what is the right thing to do?

You can't bring back the HDD to live if you don't have the experience, engineer is the best for the job, it's risky but that's the only way.
If there is password, your wallet is safe and if there is not, you will have to watch him do it and don't tell him you have wallet and on the disk.

[promise444c5]

Have you try reading it externally? if you haven’t done that , get a Sata to USB adapter for reading, I’ve done that in the past and it worked, there are also some casing to get make your HDD drive into an external drive.. browse it you will find answer.

Test the entire port , if it still doesn’t work then you will likely need an expert help..

Google whatever steps you could carry out before fixing any hardware part.

Btw, you shouldn’t have just a single backup have multiple, having a non-digital is essential.. all you need is your seed .

[rat03gopoh]

The more failed repair attempts, the worse the damage. Users often underestimate HDD damage without first identifying it and repeatedly attempt to repair it themselves, even if it's the only remaining backup.

Questions that might be important for the next step:
Do you store your wallet address on the HDD so it can be monitored?
Is the key file encrypted?
Are you willing to pay more for a specialized HDD recovery technician?

[notocactus]

Let's say someone have some Bitcoin they stored in a hardware drive several years ago and after installing the HDD in a pC it is not working yet the inner disk is rolling, what do you think it's the best way to handle this?

Taking it down for a electronic store for fixing by an engineer is even not safe, because they can fix it and steal the Bitcoin and cover it up saying the HDD is damaged.

What is the right steps to take or what is the right thing to do?

The story shows a big mistake that person made: He made only one wallet backup or even did not have any wallet backup. The wallet file in the HDD can be his initial wallet, and the only one he had.

It always puts him under risk of losing the initial wallet when the device lost / stolen or broken physically. Without any backup to use for wallet recover, he must try to recover that device or that disk with surely not small risk of recovery failure.

Solution for this case?
If he can not get data in the disk, can not fix it by himself, the only way is going to a trusted computer repairing service, and use their service for the disk repair and data recovery.

[Z-tight]

What is the right steps to take or what is the right thing to do?

Isn't it obvious, troubleshoot. Check all the possible causes and try to run the solution and see if it works; you should be able to do most of it yourself without any help. If it fails to work, then you must understand that there is a high chance that the hdd is damaged; and if that's the only backup, the funds are lost. The services of a third party professional must be a last resort thing; what do you stand to lose then.

[YellowSwap]

I don't advice this but keeping recovery seed offline in a NVME device is still more secured than a HDD, those things are junks, they get spoilt easily, I have like five of them in my drawer right now, they never fall for once but they don't work anymore.

Keeping HDD for long time can be the end of their lives, unlike NVMe, I have one NVMe since 2019 and it still works today, because they don't have any disk in them doing the spinning work.

You need to trust someone, I am sorry there is nothing you can do right now that to trust a stranger who is an engineer because that's they only option you have left.

[knowngunman]

Let's say someone have some Bitcoin they stored in a hardware drive several years ago and after installing the HDD in a pC it is not working yet the inner disk is rolling, what do you think it's the best way to handle this?

Are you just assuming and imagining? Because that's how you obviously sound right now.

Taking it down for a electronic store for fixing by an engineer is even not safe, because they can fix it and steal the Bitcoin and cover it up saying the HDD is damaged.

It's not safe but that's the most likely option available now since you can't fix it yourself. Have you tried another PC?

You should look for reputable stores and not just random engineers. I believe they can not just access your wallet and wipe it immediately after recovery because the suspicion would be obvious so you have time to move your coin to another wallet immediately after recovery.

What is the right steps to take or what is the right thing to do?

This happened long time ago probably when people have no thought of securing their wallet with additional back up. Avoid storing your wallet details in digital devices next time.

[tabas]

Let's say someone have some Bitcoin they stored in a hardware drive several years ago and after installing the HDD in a pC it is not working yet the inner disk is rolling, what do you think it's the best way to handle this?

Taking it down for a electronic store for fixing by an engineer is even not safe, because they can fix it and steal the Bitcoin and cover it up saying the HDD is damaged.

What is the right steps to take or what is the right thing to do?

That's actually what I'll suggest, to have it looked by someone who's got an expertise into hard disk and the components of it. If you are unsure of them and you don't trust them, it's very easy. Stay on their side while they're fixing it. Just say a reason that they'll not decline you to abide by them while they fix it. Otherwise, you'll have to go through with the troubleshooting of it on your own and learn it step by step but for how long?

[casey15]

If the drive is still spinning then there's still some hope. The most important thing is not panick and then  sending the drive to random repair shops at once. What you should do is to Turn it off.....repeated powering on  may cause additional damage. Use write blocker and make bit-by-bit clone of the drive, then recover data. Main thing is to recover wallet file/seed, not to fix the entire HDD.

[SilverCryptoBullet]

If the drive is still spinning then there's still some hope. The most important thing is not panick and then  sending the drive to random repair shops at once. What you should do is to Turn it off.....repeated powering on  may cause additional damage. Use write blocker and make bit-by-bit clone of the drive, then recover data. Main thing is to recover wallet file/seed, not to fix the entire HDD.

If you are not technical to do this, you must use a service but let's choose a trusted service only. If you try it by yourself at home, while you don't know how to do it rightly, you might cause more damages on the disk and make it worse, that is not your intention but if you're not careful, you will have to deal with it.

If I was the OP, I would not inform the repair/ disk recovery service that I have a wallet file in the disk. Let they do their work and give me the result later, if they recover data in the disk, I will take it, go home and discover whether I actually have a wallet in it.

Informing them initially can put more risk, as even they're a trusted service, I would not completely trust them.

[Tungbulu]

In such a situation there are a few steps you can can. First of all, the safest thing to try to do at this point would be not to keep powering it off and back on as this could permanently damage the drive, or to casually just hand it over random repair person. What I’ll advise is to consult a trusted professional data recovery service. Plus you’ll be on the safest side if the wallet is encrypted or if the seed is stored somewhere else.

[Razmirraz]

Have you try reading it externally? if you haven’t done that , get a Sata to USB adapter for reading, I’ve done that in the past and it worked, there are also some casing to get make your HDD drive into an external drive.. browse it you will find answer.

Test the entire port , if it still doesn’t work then you will likely need an expert help..

I also experienced the same thing, the action I took at that time was to remove the HDD then market it to a SATA to USB adapter cable (External HDD), after connecting via USB, it turned out that this method worked because the PC read it as an external drive.

Seeking expert assistance requires maintaining privacy security, it is best, before handing over the HDD to another party, to make a written agreement regarding data confidentiality. If necessary, ask to supervise the process or make sure they restore the data to a new hard drive that we bring ourselves, so they don't have a copy of the data.
Usually, when I have a problem with something valuable like this, I always take it to a licensed technician to prevent unwanted things from happening. This higher level of caution is intended to prevent the 12/24 seed phrase from being leaked to other parties or to prevent other parties from having full control over my assets.

[PrivacyG]

If the HDD makes unusual sounds then it is most likely physically damaged.  A 'not working' HDD can be the symptom of many issues.  Is it not working as in you know it is damaged or is it not working as in the computer does not recognize it?  You can try to see if a HDD enclosure will detect the drive on another computer.  Or you can try a simple USB adapter.  It could also be corrupted if it sat unused for a very long time.

I do not really understand your story.  If the drive spins and there is no physical damage then there is still some hope.  I would not trust going to a person and handing them my Bitcoin HDD.  I would rather purchase drives that did not work until I was able to find a way to repair or recover them and then with enough experience risk my own.

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Seeking expert assistance requires maintaining privacy security, it is best, before handing over the HDD to another party, to make a written agreement regarding data confidentiality. If necessary, ask to supervise the process or make sure they restore the data to a new hard drive that we bring ourselves, so they don't have a copy of the data.

I would not be too sure you can legally prove that your Bitcoin was stolen even with this confidentiality agreement.  How do you prove it was them and not you moving your Bitcoin from home while your HDD had the same wallet sitting on their repair desk?

[promise444c5]

Usually, when I have a problem with something valuable like this, I always take it to a licensed technician to prevent unwanted things from happening. This higher level of caution is intended to prevent the 12/24 seed phrase from being leaked to other parties or to prevent other parties from having full control over my assets.

Well.. I’m not sure of what to type regarding this but a simple encryption[not a weak password ] could have prevented such.. So far OP hasn’t made any comment, unless he’s not the “someone “ but from his post, I could tell he has no encryption on it if he’s the “someone”.

A licensed expert isn’t  bad , the problem is just about who you can trust.. If you trust them, then fine !
There’s little to no option anyway, it’s either you trust someone to help or let the drive be forever, with your coin left untouched  

[Stalker22]

That is why you shouldnt put your only backup on an electronic device; those things can just stop working without warning.  It also shows why it is a smart move to always encrypt any important data you store on your drives.

If you had taken those steps, you wouldnt be having this problem now.  But as things stand, all you can do is put your trust in the service engineer.  Make sure you go to a professional service that deals with these kinds of issues, not just some local repair shop.