Dead Hard Disk

[Jeb]

Hi folks,

I have a dead hard disk in my laptop (100 Gb), do any of you have any experience / contacts with data recovery specialists? do they generally put the data onto a new drive/ repair the old one/ burn to DVD's or what? any idea of costs ?

The laptop is still under warranty, but that will not recover the data.

any info gratefully appreciated.

Cheers
Jeb.

[girlyglide]

Originally Posted by Jeb

Hi folks,

I have a dead hard disk in my laptop (100 Gb), do any of you have any experience / contacts with data recovery specialists? do they generally put the data onto a new drive/ repair the old one/ burn to DVD's or what? any idea of costs ?

The laptop is still under warranty, but that will not recover the data.

any info gratefully appreciated.

Cheers
Jeb.

Hi Jeb

Recovering hard drives is an expensive hobby if you send it to a company like Ontrack. They charge £100-£200 to assess the drive. Last time we used them it was £1300 to recover the drive. They will recover the data onto any media you specify.

You could try Easy Recovery Pro disk recovery software. I'm not sure what it costs but it will be cheaper than using a professional service.

It depends on how valuable your data is which way to try if either.

Yes, if easy recovery won't work *******(pick your own expletive) expensive is the answer.

Mind you, this is one of the few areas where (unlike spares for some motorcycles) I can see the reason for the cost. The places they do this work are cleaner than your average NHS operating room! The disk is completely dismantled, the platters with data on removed, another (working) disk exactly the same is dismantled and then rebuilt with your platters and then the data is removed. If it's an uncommon disk they can spend a day or more just phoning round to find another, and then have to pay a premium to get hold of it.

[SalTheWop]

PM sent , Jeb

[robbiemac]

Shot in the dark this one, but, if you are sure that it's the electronics and not the platter/heads that are knackered. get an identical drive and swap over the circuit board from one to the other. This works only if its the drive electronics board that has gone. This i do know works

best of luck. as the folks said before, data recovery is expensiv£.

[Monkeybrain]

The controller board swap is a 50/50, it also needs to be from the same batch to stand the greatest chance of compatibilty, just using the same brand and model is not guaranteed. We've tried this on about 5 drives, it worked twice.

If the disc still spins but you can't access the data get yourself to Maplins and buy a lapton to IDE adapter (£5), then plug in into the m/board as a secondary IDE.
Boot your computer and see if you can access it from you existing OS on the examination machine. If you can, copy the folders out and at least you've saved your data.

If the disc does not spin when powered up the drive mechanics or controller are shot. There is a company in Tamworth called Disklabs. They charge around £350 + vat and expenses (drives etc) to recover a straightforward dead hard drive. It costs more if you've flushed it down the bog.

This advice is not home electronics, I am considered an Expert by Judge and Jury.

[Jeb]

Thanks folks, much appreciated.

It looks like there's a huge difference in price between different recovery companies, £350 - £1,300 . I suppose it's like any other "commodity" it pays to shop around. At least Tamworth is local, I will look them up when I get home.

I will see if either the software or controller card swap works first before spending that amount.

The moral of the story is of course "MAKE A F**KIN BACKUP before it's too late!"