IT Guys, hard drive crash??

Mike Smith

Mike Smith

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I know we have some IT guys here, not sure if any of you are hardware. Anyway, I have committed the cardinal sin, I let my hard drive crash and didn't have a back up. Can any of you recommend a good place to send it to see about recovering the data? I took it to the local shop and they couldn't help and suggested sending it in to a lab for recovery. Any advice would be appreciated.
 
mikeinbama said:
I know we have some IT guys here, not sure if any of you are hardware. Anyway, I have committed the cardinal sin, I let my hard drive crash and didn't have a back up. Can any of you recommend a good place to send it to see about recovering the data? I took it to the local shop and they couldn't help and suggested sending it in to a lab for recovery. Any advice would be appreciated.
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Depending on what's wrong, it's not going to be cheap:

http://www.recoveryforce.com/pricing/
 
bradg33 said:
Depending on what's wrong, it's not going to be cheap:

http://www.recoveryforce.com/pricing/
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I figured it would cost more, those prices seem reasonable, depending on how important your data is(was).
---
Level Drive Up to 2TB 2.5TB-4TB >4TB SSD
Minor $350 $450 $550 $350
Major $700 + Parts $900 + Parts $1100 + Parts $1400
Minor – deleted files, formatted drive, corrupt file system, bad sectors, damaged firmware, damage PCB, stuck heads
Major – damaged heads and/or seized motor
----
so for most folks, it would be $350 to $700 for a typical single drive.

I might have to turn my sister-in-law on to this link, she just suffered a hard drive droppage.
 
mikeinbama said:
Cheap is a relative term I suppose. It is mind boggling the variance in price that I am finding, from $150-$4000? Wow, I cant imagine what the huge difference is.
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well, if they have to dismantle the hard drive and recreate it, kinda like an aircraft engine overhaul, just to get it working to get your data off.
 
jimbilly said:
well, if they have to dismantle the hard drive and recreate it, kinda like an aircraft engine overhaul, just to get it working to get your data off.
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All of which has to, or should, be done in a clean room by skilled technicians.

I was surprised it wasn't more expensive myself, but it's still far from "cheap."
 
jimbilly said:
well, if they have to dismantle the hard drive and recreate it, kinda like an aircraft engine overhaul, just to get it working to get your data off.
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Oh, I am not complaining, I was just surprised at the huge difference that's all.
 
At least you guys have an option at whatever the price....

I had a crypto virus seize my HD and NO one anywhere can retrieve the data...:mad2::mad2::mad2::mad:
 
When you say it is crashed, do you mean it won't boot, or no computer will read it? I assume the local shop checked that and that you really have a dead drive. Does it make strange repetitive clicking noises? Was it the system drive?
 
Being a CYA type guy, I store no files on the same hard drive the operating system is on. Files are stored on a second drive in the computer and are backed up to a small raid (NAS) drive. Truly important ones are also saved to CD's

I figure the operating system can be reinstalled on a new hard drive with minimum hassle should this one go south.

Best of luck in your quest.
 
Norman said:
Being a CYA type guy, I store no files on the same hard drive the operating system is on. Files are stored on a second drive in the computer and are backed up to a small raid (NAS) drive. Truly important ones are also saved to CD's

I figure the operating system can be reinstalled on a new hard drive with minimum hassle should this one go south.

Best of luck in your quest.
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This is an expensive lesson that I wont soon forget.
 
Esquire99, have you used that company before? Or did you just google that?

Mike, If you use them let me know how they work out, I might refer someone to them.
 
jimbilly said:
Esquire99, have you used that company before? Or did you just google that?

Mike, If you use them let me know how they work out, I might refer someone to them.
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I have talked to a couple of the companies that do this, so far the leader to get my money is Data Recovery Services in Irvine Ca.
 
At least know you're not alone. My wife is the same way. Major catastrophe ten years ago. And to this day she still never backs anything up. Befuddles me.

Do us all a favor and post the results.
 
jimbilly said:
Esquire99, have you used that company before? Or did you just google that?

Mike, If you use them let me know how they work out, I might refer someone to them.
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No, that was just a top google result in a search for ballpark pricing.
 
jimbilly said:
Another big one is http://www.krollontrack.com/data-recovery/

There prices are a mystery, though if you call them they might have something concrete.
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Just for reference......

I filled out their online form just now.... Within 5 minutes Ashley from there called and said....

No One had busted the crypto code and she thanked me for contacting them..

They get a atta boy award in service...:thumbsup:
 
At any price, don't get your hopes up. We've gone through this with numerous clients and in most cases the recovery, if at all, was disappointing. Don't forget, just a few bytes missing from a database file can render that file useless. In some cases, the files are recovered, but have no names or extensions. The folder structure may be gone. And you pay regardless. In fact, because of the high rate of disgruntled customers, they usually make you pay before handing you your stuff.
As I write this I'm recovering Quickbooks files off a hard drive that isn't even recognized as being connected. No backups. But it looks like the whole folder will be recovered after several hours of churning.
 
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Gerhardt said:
At least know you're not alone. My wife is the same way. Major catastrophe ten years ago. And to this day she still never backs anything up. Befuddles me.

Do us all a favor and post the results.
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I will do that. The really sad part, and I am a bit embarrassed to say, is the computer has been giving hints of trouble for a few weeks and I knew I needed to back it up and I procrastinated. Looks like that will cost me a couple AMU.
 
Any time the computer starts to act strange, especially periods of slowness where the hard drive light seems to flicker a whole bunch.... Check the event viewer (windows system log). If the hard drive is going South, there will usually be a bunch of disk errors logged there. I'm not sure why most systems don't alert users to these events these days, in the past you'd get notified immediately. If there is a "smart" disk system option, it might help to enable that feature. It will alert you to impending hard drive failure.
 
I wrote software for the backup world way back and when and have heard this and many other stories too many times.

I still think the worst one are the folks who back up and never test the restore. :nono:

We had several instances of blank tapes sent to us, that we had to send back to the customer telling them there was no data to recover. It ended a few businesses. :dunno:

I'm a big fan of the cloud based solutions available. No fuss, no muss. Automated restore testing. Super easy, and a good hedge against the crypto...

I've heard of the Irvine folks, they would be OK. Several companies in the Bay Area that are good.

Where you send it would be a factor of what you mean by crash. Noises means a possible disk scratch, you'll need a clean room full rebuild. Just stopped working, probably the electronics and most shops will be able to pull that off.
 
The high price variability has to do with the multiple ways a HDD can fail. Also, how badly the disk directory(MBR), or volume table of contents(VTOC - IBM) is messed up. If you have had the worst happen, you've had HDI, or head to disk interference. In this case, you will be lucky to get 5-15% of the data back, mainly because the detritus of the head and armature have scatter across the platters abusing all the tracks along the way.

If the arm is stuck to the landing zone rest(this is a common failure on drives from a certain vendor), you have a very good chance of full recovery. Of course, if it's a problem with the drive motor, or the armature coil, that's not a bad fix either, and should get plenty of data back.

If you've heard any kind of clicking or ticking in the past, it's pretty sure a head to disk interference(head crash) and recovery unless you are on a forensic mission usually isn't worth it. No matter who you choose to do the work, have them check for head crash first, and if it's positive for that, ask a lot of questions about cost, and probability of recovery before turning them loose on a wild goose chase.
 
When it first happened, I tried the google remedies, reseating the cables, etc. The only noises I heard were the typical noises you hear a hard drive making. That "clicking" sound they all make. It would do this for a short time then just stop and go quiet. I am embarrassed I let it happen, I really like to think I am smarter than that. I just have to pay the stupid tax. I do have some things in Dropbox, not much but some and I have some financial data backed up. Thanks for all the advice, I really appreciate it. I will update this as I go.
 
I have an old computer in the closet, HD crashed. On it are photos from a shoot of my ex girlfriend in college when she wanted to submit pics to college playboy edition.

Any nerds want to take a crack at that for free? :rofl:
 
dell30rb said:
I have an old computer in the closet, HD crashed. On it are photos from a shoot of my ex girlfriend in college when she wanted to submit pics to college playboy edition.

Any nerds want to take a crack at that for free? :rofl:
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:rofl:

Anyone outside of a closed network is six clicks away from hard core porn. I don't see much chance unless the GF is included with the HD.
 
dell30rb said:
I have an old computer in the closet, HD crashed. On it are photos from a shoot of my ex girlfriend in college when she wanted to submit pics to college playboy edition.

Any nerds want to take a crack at that for free? :rofl:
Click to expand...
It's no wonder many men like younger women, they're much more. . .fun! :D
 
General consensus is if it's not responding, leave it powered down or risk doing further serious damage. But - one man's opinion(backed up with a lot of history).
 
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