Seagate Barracuda 2.5-inch ST2000LM015 data recovery
Getting the files back from a Seagate Barracuda 2.5-inch ST2000LM015, a 2 TB 2.5-inch laptop hard drive sold 2016–2026. Laptops, including most Acer Aspire, Extensa and TravelMate models, games consoles and portable USB drives.
About this drive
- Make
- Seagate
- Model
- ST2000LM015
- Capacity
- 2 TB
- Type
- 2.5-inch laptop hard drive
- Interface
- SATA
- Years
- 2016–2026
Uses shingled (SMR) recording. Rebuilding a RAID or NAS with these drives can take days and fail part-way, which is often when we see them.
How we recover it
We stabilise the drive first. Electronic and firmware faults are fixed on the bench; failed heads and motors are replaced in the cleanroom with matched donor parts. Then the drive is copied sector by sector, healthy areas first, and your files are recovered from the copy.
2.5-inch drives like this were fitted to many Acer Aspire, Extensa and TravelMate laptops. See Acer laptop data recovery.
What’s it doing?
| Symptom | What it usually means |
|---|---|
| Clicking after a drop | Head damage from the knock. Don’t keep trying it. |
| Beeping or buzzing | Usually heads stuck on the platter. A cleanroom job. |
| Not detected | Board, firmware or the laptop’s own connector. |
| Very slow or freezing | Weak heads or bad sectors. Copy it now. |
| Deleted, formatted or reinstalled | Logical recovery if the drive is healthy. |
| Service | Price + VAT |
|---|---|
| Initial consultationWe find out whether the fault is physical or logical, and the best way to recover it. | Free |
| Deleted files on a standard hard driveUp to two hours of work. | £99 |
| Cleanroom diagnosticFor clicking, buzzing or silent hard drives. | £79 |
| Physical recovery on a single driveLabour, plus a donor drive if one is needed. | £450 |
| SSD firmware or electronic board repairDepends on how complex the recovery is. | £450 to £650 |
| External drive for your recovered filesPrice follows the market at the time. | £150 (1 TB) to £250 (4 TB) |
No data, no recovery fee. If we can’t recover the files you need, you don’t pay for the recovery, only the cleanroom diagnostic where one was carried out. A donor drive, if one is needed, is bought at cost plus 30%.
Questions
Can a failed Seagate Barracuda 2.5-inch ST2000LM015 be recovered?
In most cases, yes. Most hard drive failures are electronic, firmware or head faults, and the data stays on the platters.
What should I do now?
Stop using it. Don’t keep powering it on, don’t open it, and don’t run CHKDSK or recovery software.
Related drives
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.