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Best Drive Recovery Company?

d4mo

d4mo

Senior member
I have a broken drive that needs to be sent in and have the data recovered from it. What is the best place to send it in to?
 
I have only ever had experience with gillware. I'd like to say it went positively, but I had pretty much scrambled the data before sending it in, so it was a wasted effort (which I pretty much knew before I even sent it), but I figured it was worth a shot. It was a few years ago, but I was impressed with their customer service. They kept me in the loop the whole time and didn't try to sugarcoat anything. Ultimately, they only charged me a paltry fee and sent me what little they were able to recover. Regardless, I'd give them another shot...if it ever came to that, but it had better not. I'm hoping that I've learned my lesson. 😀
 
I would presume by best, he means who is most likely to be able to recover the data. It must be important to want to spend that kind of money on it. What the OP can do, if the drive just does not run, or if it runs and can't access the data (provided it not mechanically making crazy noises) is try to swap the circuit board with one from another drive. They must match exactly, as to part #, chip types and revision levels. You can sometimes find one on EBay .. it may work and save a lot of cash. Also try accessing the drive in another computer.
 
Agree with bruceb. Any drive recovery is expensive. Ergo, best should mean most competent and reliable. OP can also try the freezer trick.

As for commercial recovery service, one of the most reliable and reputable outfits is Ontrack. They've been doing this business for decades.

http://www.ontrackdatarecovery.com/hard-drive-recovery/
 
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If the data is really important then don't do anything with the drive involving freezers, board swaps or utility software. You will do more harm than good.

Board swaps will not work for new model drives because they store essential information on the platters that is unique to the board installed at the factory. You would have to swap boards and eeproms . Not something a novice should attempt.

Most commercial places are going to charge on average 500-$1k for a simple recovery and more if it becomes complex. I used to do it for friends and family but don't run a business for it. If you strike out elsewhere send me a PM.
 
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