Sending in a storage device safely
A drive that survived the failure but not the journey is an avoidable loss. Packing is not a formality — one knock on the sorting belt can turn an electronics fault into a head crash.
The principle: box inside a box
- 01
Antistatic bag
First the drive goes into an antistatic bag. With SSDs, M.2 modules and bare circuit boards this is the single most important step — electrostatic discharge kills electronics silently.
- 02
Cushioning
Then several layers of bubble wrap, wrapped tightly. Never wrap film directly around a bare circuit board, always over the bag.
- 03
Inner box
The cushioned package goes into a small, sturdy box. It should no longer be able to move.
- 04
Outer box
The inner box is cushioned on all sides inside a larger box so that it floats within it. That is the layer which absorbs the impact.
The rule of thumb
What does not work
Padded envelopes and mailing bags
They protect against scratches, not against impacts. For a hard drive they are unsuitable.
Loose packing chips
They settle during transport and the contents migrate to the edge of the box — exactly where the impact arrives.
Newspaper
Too little rebound, and it produces dust.
Several bare drives side by side
Metal casings and circuit boards damage each other at the slightest knock.
Depending on the storage device
Mechanical hard drive
Cushion with particular care and fix the drive so that it cannot move a millimetre inside the box. A drive that is already clicking will not take another blow. Send only the bare drive, without cable and power supply.
SSD, M.2 and NVMe module
Impacts are secondary here, electrostatic discharge is not. An antistatic bag is mandatory, and do not touch bare contacts.
Memory card and USB stick
In a small, sturdy box rather than loose in an envelope — otherwise they get lost in the cushioning material or bent at the sorting centre.
External hard drive
Leave it in its enclosure and send it along. With external drives the electronics that may have caused the failure often sit in the enclosure rather than on the drive — and some models encrypt via exactly that board.
RAID array or NAS
Each drive individually in an antistatic bag, cushioned individually, and label the bay number beforehand. The order within the enclosure is part of the information from which the array can be reconstructed. The enclosure itself is usually not needed — ask if in doubt.
Notebook or smartphone
Switch off completely, do not just close the lid. In case of water damage do not charge, do not switch on and do not dry it — send it in as quickly as possible.
What belongs in the box
A note with your name and contact details
Order number, name, telephone, email and return address. Labels stuck on the outside do not always survive transport.
A short description
What happened, since when, which noises, what has already been tried. Two sentences are enough and save half a day of diagnosis.
Access credentials, if required
For encrypted drives the recovery key, for smartphones the lock code. Without this information the work ends at the encryption, no matter how well the hardware has been repaired.
What you keep
Power supplies, cables, cases, original boxes and mounts are not needed.
Shipping
Send insured and with tracking. All diagnosis tariffs include the outbound and return journey; from the Standard tariff upwards we collect the drive from you — the details are on the Shipping & payment page.
If you would rather hand it over in person: the lab is in Frankfurt-Sachsenhausen, and a visit is possible without an appointment.
Answered briefly.
Should I send the external enclosure as well, or take the drive out?
Send it along. With external drives the electronics in the enclosure are frequently the reason for the failure, and some models encrypt via exactly that board — without it the drive is unreadable even when it is mechanically perfect.
Do I have to send the entire NAS?
Usually not. What matters are the drives, packed individually and labelled with their bay number. Ask beforehand if in doubt — with some systems the enclosure helps with the reconstruction.
What if the storage device is damaged in transit?
That is why you should ship insured and pack properly. Transport damage turns a simple case into a demanding one — packing is the one part of a data recovery that is in your own hands.
Related reading.
We will take a look at your storage device.
The Economy diagnosis is free of charge. You find out what is possible before anything costs money — and what it would cost is put in writing beforehand.
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