I have a Seagate Barracuda 7200. 500GB. It came from my old gaming pc. I got an external case and was using it as sort of an oversized USB. It just had a bunch of my photos and D&D stuff on it.

Well, long story short… I had to move my desk into the kitchen. And my cat knocked down the case. Now it won’t work. And I’m scared it’s the hard drive.

When I hit the power button, it comes on. The lights work. But when I plug in the hard drive it starts up then stops. Starts up. Then stops. The computer recognizes the case, but the hard drive isn’t pulling up. I can feel the insides of the hard drive starting and stopping, too.

I bought another case but didn’t pay attention so it’s the wrong frickin size. I’m scared it’s the hard drive that broke. It’s a brick but… I don’t know.

This hard drive is really important to me. It has some photos on there that… I really need. There are pictures of my son, who has passed away. And photos of my partner (his father) during that time and after that are very meaningful.

Should I buy another case? I have tech savvy friends who can look at it. Should I take it to them? Can I salvage what’s left? Is it fixable?