Data recovery services...I need one

[Cooljt1]

MY Western Digital 1000BB is biting the dust. I bought a new 180GXP so i could back up the data but it ends up that that drive is not working correctly either and i'll have to return it. anyways, i was trying to transfer data and it keeps on giving me these writing delayed errors in windows and then it locks up. i reboot and the partition i was copying is gone. the 2 other partitions are still there and i can see the info but get errors trying to copy. I have about 50 gigs of info i need to get. the most important are my mp3's which is about 15 gigs and 2300 songs. How much do places charge to recover data and has anyone had it done?

 

[ynot167]

Very expensive, a couple hundred at least. I need one myself. My 40 gig WD HD went out on me last month. Still looking around for a cheap place.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

I hear it costs a lot because of low demand. Anyway, you'll probably need atleast $1,000, which is what I heard from others so it may not be the most accurate.

 

[ynot167]

Any Data Recovery places in the east coast...NY/NJ???

 

[John]

Put the HDD in the freezer for 30min, take it out and hook it up as a slave, then try to pull the data off.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Originally posted by: John
Put the HDD in the freezer for 30min, take it out and hook it up as a slave, then try to pull the data off.

Make sure to put it in a ziplock bag. make sure you side panel on the case is off so you don't waste time after taking it out.

 

[ynot167]

will this work even if drive not recognized by bios?

I guess its worth a shot.

Thanks

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

This is a drive that was recognized by the bios before the problem occured, right?

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Also remember, don't waste time trying to investigate it. Get all your important data off of there as quickly as you can.

 

[ynot167]

Its actually a slave drive which contained music, movies, personal files, etc.
Western Digital 40gig 7200 rpm

Suddenly, stopped working.

 

[Woody419]

Originally posted by: Cooljt1
... i can see the info but get errors trying to copy.

Try the Unstoppable Copier

"This program is great for recovering files from scratched CD's or defective floppy/hard disks. Normally when your computer is unable to copy a file from a damaged disk it will abort and delete the portition of the file it has copied. This program however will continue to copy the file right to the end. Any data that is not recoverable after many retries is replaced with blanks. This will allow you to truely recover every byte of information that is available for recovery. The program allows you to specify a single file, a group using wildcards (* and ?) or if you wish, select a starting folder and the program will copy all data from it and any sub folders it may contain. This program doesnt just need to be used for copying files form defective disks, it can be used to transfer any files! "

There are a lot of free file recovery apps, try Google.

GetDataBack
Drive Rescue
Savepart Savepart is a DOS program to save, restore and copy hard-drive partitions.
Restorer 2000

 

[Cooljt1]

thanks for all the suggestions guys. just took a quick look at getdataback and i am thinking that may work but dont really know. the partition that i really need which is 60 or so gigs doesnt show up in windows. just shows the drive letter with blanks for drive space and free space. i am guessing its still there but it just says cant be accessed since it is corrupted.

 

[ynot167]

The freezer thing DID NOT WORK:disgust:
I also tried banging, tapping, etc...

Motor still runs, but bios doesn't recognize it. And yes, jumpers were set accordingly.



What other suggestions do any of you have before I send it out for data recovery?

 

[0roo0roo]

freeze/drop trick are about as good as it gets.


u gonna go raid next time?

 

[ynot167]

I got a raid setup. the hd i need to recover was a slave full of pics, music, and other stuff.

 

[Viper96720]

Can you run checkdisk or scandisk on the the drive?

 

[ArmchairAthlete]

Tried putting it in an entirely different PC as a slave? Another computer might detect it properly... who knows.

 

[ynot167]

I tried pretty much everything.

Freezing it
Hitting it
Dropping it
Tried it on another PC
Tried it on different IDE



What else is there to do???

 

[ynot167]

Originally posted by: Viper96720
Can you run checkdisk or scandisk on the the drive?

Cannot run checkdisk or scandisk since it is not recognized by bios and windows:frown:

 

[jvang125]

Originally posted by: ynot167
I tried pretty much everything.

Freezing it
Hitting it
Dropping it
Tried it on another PC
Tried it on different IDE



What else is there to do???

Hitting and dropping it is doing more damage than good. this causes what is known as "head slapping" which is when the read and write heads make physical contact with the disk's surface due to the impact. this contact will cause permanent damage to the disk's surface making any data on that area impossible to recover. errr...so dropping and hitting the hd totally defeats the purpose of trying to recover the data.

instead try searching for trial versions of data recovery programs out there. some will recognize the drive and attempt to recover the data that has not been corrupted from physical damage. as for data recovery services, i dont know the prices they charge but they're mainly targetted towards businesses which will endure the cost so that the data vital to their business can be recovered. and they dont use cheap recovery programs either but use sophiscated software to extract the data in it's raw format. for these reasons, these services are NOT cheap. just to recover a bunch of mp3's, videos, or pics in my opinion is not worth the cost. just endure the lost and start downloading them again. this just teaches you one important thing...BACKUP YOUR FILES!

 

[ynot167]

THIS WAS MY BACKUP DRIVE

Thanks for the info though

 

[Woody419]

Originally posted by: ynot167
Cannot run checkdisk or scandisk since it is not recognized by bios and windows:frown:

If the drive is formatted in FAT32 then Lost & Found may work. This utility was sold by PowerQuest (the Drive Image people), and for a short time before it was discontinued it was a free download. You can still get the free download here.

The PowerQuest website still has the Lost & Found FAQ on their website, a couple of the FAQ are:

1. From what media can Lost & Found recover data?

Lost and Found recovers data from drives that have been formatted, lost partitions through accidental deletion, etc. This applies to FAT or FAT32 partitions only. If the disk is still capable of spinning, there is a chance of recovery.

4. My hard drive is no longer detected in the BIOS. Can the data still be recovered?

Lost and Found can generally detect the drives without the BIOS. If Lost and Found does not detect the hard disk, PowerQuest Technical Support may be able to help you.

There are more FAQ's on the website, also search their knowledge base for more technical answers.

 

[thorin]

Read this thread and this thread

And consult this document:

200 Ways to Revive a Hard Drive
If you don't have a Tech Republic account use:
UID: at2001@my.net
PASS: at2001

Thorin

 

[zephyrprime]

He already tried the freezer trick and it didn't work. The freezer trick is only for drives that won't spin up.

I think there's hope for your drive. You said "but bios doesn't recognize it" so it's probably not a physical drive problem. Since both of your drives died, it's very possible that it's your MB or cable not your HD! Try your drives on a different computer. Also, if that doesn't work, I think swapping the PCB on the drive with another from an identical drive may work.

 

[thorin]

The freezer trick is only for drives that won't spin up.

Where'd you hear that?

Thorin