WTB: Data Recovery Service

[cy]

I just fried my Harddrive by statics. :( If anyone knows how to recover/extract data from it, let me know. I am willing to pay.

Thanks in advance

[eden_orient]

well, what model and how much welling to pay .......LOL...
u sure it's not a media problem ??

[blackhawk]

depending on how important the data is, you should probably take it into a shop

you need to figure out if you can run the drive, does it spin up etc and then that decides the next step

there are a lot of software recovery programs out there but if you have static damaged hd components and require hardware(ie. disassembling) recovery it gets very expensive

[Dungeon]

If you fried just the electronics then its fairly simple to fix yourself. Just buy an identical drive. Then take the hardrive apart (its simpler than you think just remember they hide screws under like paper so they know if you opened it). Then its easy to remove the electronics and swap them from drive to drive. Remove the screws and 1 ribbon cable. Electronics are the easiest to swap. If you damaged the platters or anything else then it gets trickier and no you don't need a white room as long as your careful.

[cy]

Thanks for the suggestions.

THe HD does not spin, most likely it's being caused by static.

I have tried the freezer trick, does not work.

What is the successful rate of doing a direct swap? It's a WD 40GB 2MB Cache 7.2k drive, which is $80 @ <a href=../autolink/redirectpage.php?linkid=150 target=_blank>tigerdirect</a>. I can go pick one up tmr but want to knwo the success rate before i waste $80 on a drive.

Anywhere affordable that i can take to do the recovery if i am not able to fix it myself?

[Nabors]

if you fried the electronics, then it's not hard to swap out the board with an identical drive. If it's the motor, then it can be tricky. If the data is really worth alot to you, get an identical drive and try swapping the board and see if it spins up. static wouldn't have damaged the internals, so more that likely it's just a damaged controller on the HDD. That will only cost you the new drive and some time. If you sent that drive into a data recovery center, you would be paying hundreds if not thousands of dollars for recovery. last time i sent a clients laptop hard drive in for a recovery, the quote was over $4000. Suddenly his data wasn't so "important" heh. :cheesygri

[MTL]

If you're a student, you can get a discount rate at some recovery places. You can tell them to recover only certain folders, which will be much cheaper than recovering the entire drive. $200-$400.

[cy]

I am gonna go buy a identical drive tomorrow, pray that it'll work!

$80 :cry:

[Nabors]

well if it does, put the fried electronics on the new drive and take it back defective heheh. even if they don't return it, they should still give you a replacement.

either way $80 is a small price to pay if you recover your data.

[cy]

tried :(

The new curcuit board on the new drive is differ from my old one :(

It powers up, spins but shows error! :(

[MTL]

$80 down the drain. Try a data recovery company if your data was important.

[cy]

$80 down the drain. Try a data recovery company if your data was important.


$80 goes back to <a href=../autolink/redirectpage.php?linkid=147 target=_blank>tiger direct</a> :D

well $80 - 15% open box, still worth the try ;)

Now the drive is spinning with the new curcuit board, i am wondering whether i can use software to recover it :)

[MTL]

$80 goes back to <a href=../autolink/redirectpage.php?linkid=147 target=_blank>tiger direct</a> :D

well $80 - 15% open box, still worth the try ;)

Now the drive is spinning with the new curcuit board, i am wondering whether i can use software to recover it :)

Didn't you have to break through the sticker or some security seal to open the drive? There's no way they are taking that back.

[Canadianpsycho]

well if it does, put the fried electronics on the new drive and take it back defective heheh. even if they don't return it, they should still give you a replacement.

You sir, are an ass.

If you buy something and intentionally take it apart, voiding the warranty, you do NOT return it as defective.

Can you say "fraud"? Wouldn't you love to be the next guy that gets screwed over by buying that HDD and it screws up on you?

Everyone moans about the cost of things, but they continue to pull ******** crap like this which only in the end results in the costs going up.

[CHIA]

Data recovery can be very expensive, and is not really well suited for most home users. I just had a laptop HD recovered.....took several trips back & forth, cost me $900, and still did not get *all* that was lost.

The place I used was: http://www.datarecoverybc.com/

Data recovery is not for the weak at heart...or pocketbook! I think these guys are one of the few who actually have certified "clean rooms", and have a very good reputation. My only complaint...very very poor english skills, which makes a technical issue like this more difficult to communicate.

[JT94]

Sorry to hear about the drive cy. Fortunately, the freezer trick had worked for me on one occasion.

Briefly, what exactly goes on during these data recovery processes?

[CHIA]

Sorry to hear about the drive cy. Fortunately, the freezer trick had worked for me on one occasion.

Briefly, what exactly goes on during these data recovery processes?

Unfortunately, my issue was very strange...had a 20gb laptop drive that patitioned into two 8.54GB sections...C & D. I was transferring some files from one partition to the other, and all of a sudden my entire D partition was EMPTY!

The drive was fully functional, but all my data was gonzo!

Recovery processes vary depending on the problems...some times they can recover with software, sometimes they have to literally take the platters aprt physically. The rates are flat charges depending on how fast you want it back...mine was a rush.....super rush was half again more. Regular service was between 4 days to several weeks.....needed the info for business, so had no choice but to pay large.

[cy]

I didn't break through the seal, it's only the external board.

I think i am gonna give up the drive, or get it RMA'd..at least get something out of it :(

[cy]

1 last bump before RMA'ing it.