Dog destroyed 3.5" floppy. Had entire doctoral dissertation. Anyway to retrieve Data?

[Vich]

My professor/co-workers dog literally ripped appart her 3.5 inch floppy which contained ALL of her doctoral dissertation work.

Are there people who can retrieve data from a 3.5 inch disk where the actual plastic memory peice has teeth marks in it? Is it even possible?


Thanks,
Rich

 

[jonesthewine]

all sympathy to your friend; but any one smart enough to be accepted into a doctoral program should know about Backing-Up their work. Looks like she learned an expensive lesson. Buy her a USB thumb drive for xmas and tell her how to save multiple copies of important work. Show her the My Documents folder in her computer.

try some of these links..cut and paste into your browser....

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=floppy+disk+recovery



good luck

 

[Vich]

Originally posted by: jonesthewine
all sympathy to your friend; but any one smart enough to be accepted into a doctoral program should know about Backing-Up their work. Looks like she learned an expensive lesson. Buy her a USB thumb drive for xmas and tell her how to save multiple copies of important work. Show her the My Documents folder in her computer.

try some of these links..cut and paste into your browser....

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=floppy+disk+recovery



good luck

She has been a Ph.D for a while, this work is many years old, and was originally copied from a 4inch thick notebook, filled with data. Its not critical to anything shes doing now, its more of a sentimental thing.

 

[gsellis]

Cherry Systems in Atlanta does damaged media recovery, but it is not cheap. I think you are elsewhere, but Cherry might be able to refer you - (770) 955-2395

I know you are dying over this, but think how funny it will be later when you tell everyone how the dog ate her homework.

 

[cirrhosis]

Wow, I'd kill myself if that happened to me.

edit: read thread. So not as bad as I thought.

 

[phaxmohdem]

Why anyone would trust ANY slightly important file to a 3.5" floppy in this day and age, is beyond my comprehension. Flash Drive/Burn on CD ummm... save the damn thing on a hard drive????

 

[Vich]

Originally posted by: gsellis
Cherry Systems in Atlanta does damaged media recovery, but it is not cheap. I think you are elsewhere, but Cherry might be able to refer you - (770) 955-2395

I know you are dying over this, but think how funny it will be later when you tell everyone how the dog ate her homework.

In MD, but ill take the number down.

Are there very well known data recovery specialists? Dont want her to get stiffed...

Money isnt an option at this point.

 

[emilyek]

The library where she graduated doesn't have a print copy?

 

[batmanuel]

Originally posted by: emilyek
The library where she graduated doesn't have a print copy?

Good point. Most universities have all this stuff archived. If so, tell her to sit tight and wait until Google has it achived online.

 

[corkyg]

Exactly! She can probably obtain a print copy from the university that has it - for a fee. Then scan the sucker if necessary. But - for senitmental reasons, the hard copy might be enough.

 

[Zepper]

I would say the outlook isn't too bright what with tooth marks in the actual media - yikes. But there are some things you could do right there.
. First carefully clean the saliva, etc. off the media with soft lens tissue (because it is lint-free) and dh2o (distilled water) - you may have to use a 50-50 solution of rubbing alcohol in dh2o if you have allowed the saliva to dry. Blot it dry with more lens tissue.
. After it is completely driy, dissassemble another floppy and mount the damaged media inside - being careful to have the sides the proper way up. Use some sturdy tape to hold the shell together at the top and sides - make sure the tape doesn't interfere with the metal shutter - actually you might be able to leave the shutter off for this experiment.
. Before re-shelling the media you will need to create a way to press the tooth marks back to flat as possible so your drive's head won't be damaged (unlike HDs, floppy heads actually contact the media - that is an advantage the pros have, they have a rig where the head doesn't have to contact the media to read it). Make sure there is NO dust on either the media or whatever you use for flattening as the dust can be pressed into the lubricant on the media. Another advantage of the pros - a white room...
. Know what format the data is in: raw ASCII text, a Word .doc file, etc. - if it is in a .zip file or otherwise encrypted format, you may be S.O.L - you'll have to pay a pro to try. If it is in a mainly human-readable form like .doc, .txt, etc. You can get a data recovery tool like R-Studio from r-tt.com or a similar free downloadable program. and run it against your floppy. It may be able to grab a lot of the text in pieces (due to fragmentation unless it was originally saved all in one piece on a fresh diskette) and you will have to reassemble the pieces like a jigsaw puzzle. This sounds like a nice project for a snow-bound week this winter...

However, if that sounded beyond your desire or ability then:

Ontrack Data Systems (http://www.ontrack.com - I think their home office is in the upper mid-West but they have labs aorund the country) are by far the most well known - and probably among the most expensive of the bunch. There are plenty of others (just google on: data recovery service) and it shouldn't be too difficult to check references.

OTOH, I just noticed that someone had posted the option of getting a hard copy and scanning it in with OCR. (heck they may already have it stored in a digitized format which could be even easier) By far the best solution if possible. But I'm guessing there was more than just the final draft on the diskette. If not, then you may be good to go while saving a wad of cash.

.bh.

 

[ValuedCustomer]

Originally posted by: Vich
My professor/co-workers dog literally ripped appart her 3.5 inch floppy which contained ALL of her doctoral dissertation work.

Are there people who can retrieve data from a 3.5 inch disk where the actual plastic memory peice has teeth marks in it? Is it even possible?


Thanks,
Rich

She can fit "ALL of her doctoral dissertation work" on 1, 3.5 floppy?? unless her doctoral dissertation consisted of a 5-paragraph essay she's pullin' your chain..

 

[batmanuel]

Originally posted by: ValuedCustomer

Originally posted by: Vich
My professor/co-workers dog literally ripped appart her 3.5 inch floppy which contained ALL of her doctoral dissertation work.

Are there people who can retrieve data from a 3.5 inch disk where the actual plastic memory peice has teeth marks in it? Is it even possible?


Thanks,
Rich

She can fit "ALL of her doctoral dissertation work" on 1, 3.5 floppy?? unless her doctoral dissertation consisted of a 5-paragraph essay she's pullin' your chain..

Huh? You can usually fit hundreds of pages of text onto a floppy. Especially if this was done back in the day before Microsoft started making their .DOC files bloated. Back in Word Perfect 5.1 days, you could get a lot of stuff onto a floppy. Of course if her dissertation is THAT old, then the slow, inevitable decay of the magnetic patterns on the disk may have doomed her info way before the dog got to it. That's why I have a lot of my inportant info saved to these nice, archival-quality gold CDs that I bought back when Kodak was still making them. They have an extra protective layer on the top of the disk to keep the data from being destroyed by a scratch to the top.

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: ValuedCustomer

Originally posted by: Vich
My professor/co-workers dog literally ripped appart her 3.5 inch floppy which contained ALL of her doctoral dissertation work.

Are there people who can retrieve data from a 3.5 inch disk where the actual plastic memory peice has teeth marks in it? Is it even possible?


Thanks,
Rich

She can fit "ALL of her doctoral dissertation work" on 1, 3.5 floppy?? unless her doctoral dissertation consisted of a 5-paragraph essay she's pullin' your chain..

What the heck are you talking about? It's 1.44 megs. Even a word document would be several hundred pages before it broke the 1mb mark.

 

[gsellis]

Cherry is well-respected here in Atlanta. They have done clean room recoveries for us for HDD. But, that easily gets to 4 figures in a hurry.

 

[ValuedCustomer]

Originally posted by: Looney

Originally posted by: ValuedCustomer

Originally posted by: Vich
My professor/co-workers dog literally ripped appart her 3.5 inch floppy which contained ALL of her doctoral dissertation work.

Are there people who can retrieve data from a 3.5 inch disk where the actual plastic memory peice has teeth marks in it? Is it even possible?


Thanks,
Rich

She can fit "ALL of her doctoral dissertation work" on 1, 3.5 floppy?? unless her doctoral dissertation consisted of a 5-paragraph essay she's pullin' your chain..

What the heck are you talking about? It's 1.44 megs. Even a word document would be several hundred pages before it broke the 1mb mark.

I was being hyperbolic about the "5-paragraph essay", ladies.. thought that'd be obvious. :disgust:

ANYWAY, as someone who has lived w/ (is married to) a doctorate student I can tell ya right now, 1.44 mb of data, no matter if it's .txt or what is a teeny tiny drop in the huge bucket of the work/production that's expected of a student for a doctoral thesis. - if you're planning on going that route you need to be prepared to write at least a book's worth of text. And the research material used to write that book is at least another 2 or 3 books worth of work in and of itself.

 

[grant2]

I really like zepper's advice, that's what I would have suggested too.

I wonder how you can flatten the toothmarks though... maybe press the disc in between some heavy books for a week or 2?

Please let us know how her recovery efforts go.

 

[rstrohkirch]

Originally posted by: ValuedCustomer

Originally posted by: Looney

Originally posted by: ValuedCustomer

Originally posted by: Vich
My professor/co-workers dog literally ripped appart her 3.5 inch floppy which contained ALL of her doctoral dissertation work.

Are there people who can retrieve data from a 3.5 inch disk where the actual plastic memory peice has teeth marks in it? Is it even possible?


Thanks,
Rich

She can fit "ALL of her doctoral dissertation work" on 1, 3.5 floppy?? unless her doctoral dissertation consisted of a 5-paragraph essay she's pullin' your chain..

What the heck are you talking about? It's 1.44 megs. Even a word document would be several hundred pages before it broke the 1mb mark.

I was being hyperbolic about the "5-paragraph essay", ladies.. thought that'd be obvious. :disgust:

ANYWAY, as someone who has lived w/ (is married to) a doctorate student I can tell ya right now, 1.44 mb of data, no matter if it's .txt or what is a teeny tiny drop in the huge bucket of the work/production that's expected of a student for a doctoral thesis. - if you're planning on going that route you need to be prepared to write at least a book's worth of text. And the research material used to write that book is at least another 2 or 3 books worth of work in and of itself.

Assuming the time period that it was created in, over 700 hundred pages of single spaced full page text can fit on 1 floppy disk.

 

[ValuedCustomer]

Originally posted by: rstrohkirch

Originally posted by: ValuedCustomer

Originally posted by: Looney

Originally posted by: ValuedCustomer

Originally posted by: Vich
My professor/co-workers dog literally ripped appart her 3.5 inch floppy which contained ALL of her doctoral dissertation work.

Are there people who can retrieve data from a 3.5 inch disk where the actual plastic memory peice has teeth marks in it? Is it even possible?


Thanks,
Rich

She can fit "ALL of her doctoral dissertation work" on 1, 3.5 floppy?? unless her doctoral dissertation consisted of a 5-paragraph essay she's pullin' your chain..

What the heck are you talking about? It's 1.44 megs. Even a word document would be several hundred pages before it broke the 1mb mark.

I was being hyperbolic about the "5-paragraph essay", ladies.. thought that'd be obvious. :disgust:

ANYWAY, as someone who has lived w/ (is married to) a doctorate student I can tell ya right now, 1.44 mb of data, no matter if it's .txt or what is a teeny tiny drop in the huge bucket of the work/production that's expected of a student for a doctoral thesis. - if you're planning on going that route you need to be prepared to write at least a book's worth of text. And the research material used to write that book is at least another 2 or 3 books worth of work in and of itself.

Assuming the time period that it was created in, over 700 hundred pages of single spaced full page text can fit on 1 floppy disk.

Yes, assuming this person used no indents, no paragraphs, no images, no bold, no italics, no formatting whatsoever and all in .txt format, blah blah blah she might have been able to put 700 pages of text on a single floppy.. which would leave at least 3 or 4 other floppies of the same desrip to go before all would be lost.

you guys are big fans of the ridiculous/"it's technically possible dude!!" kinda thinking aren't ya?

 

[mechBgon]

Fire up that ancient NEC 386-powered 4-inch-thick lappie and get another copy.

 

[rstrohkirch]

Originally posted by: ValuedCustomer

Originally posted by: rstrohkirch

Originally posted by: ValuedCustomer

Originally posted by: Looney

Originally posted by: ValuedCustomer

Originally posted by: Vich
My professor/co-workers dog literally ripped appart her 3.5 inch floppy which contained ALL of her doctoral dissertation work.

Are there people who can retrieve data from a 3.5 inch disk where the actual plastic memory peice has teeth marks in it? Is it even possible?


Thanks,
Rich

She can fit "ALL of her doctoral dissertation work" on 1, 3.5 floppy?? unless her doctoral dissertation consisted of a 5-paragraph essay she's pullin' your chain..

What the heck are you talking about? It's 1.44 megs. Even a word document would be several hundred pages before it broke the 1mb mark.

I was being hyperbolic about the "5-paragraph essay", ladies.. thought that'd be obvious. :disgust:

ANYWAY, as someone who has lived w/ (is married to) a doctorate student I can tell ya right now, 1.44 mb of data, no matter if it's .txt or what is a teeny tiny drop in the huge bucket of the work/production that's expected of a student for a doctoral thesis. - if you're planning on going that route you need to be prepared to write at least a book's worth of text. And the research material used to write that book is at least another 2 or 3 books worth of work in and of itself.

Assuming the time period that it was created in, over 700 hundred pages of single spaced full page text can fit on 1 floppy disk.

Yes, assuming this person used no indents, no paragraphs, no images, no bold, no italics, no formatting whatsoever and all in .txt format, blah blah blah she might have been able to put 700 pages of text on a single floppy.. which would leave at least 3 or 4 other floppies of the same desrip to go before all would be lost.

you guys are big fans of the ridiculous/"it's technically possible dude!!" kinda thinking aren't ya?

I have no concern of whats on the disk or what you are trying to prove, I'm simplying stating the average capacity of fully formated pages of text a floppy could hold since you seem to be under the impression it's not nearly as much as it is.

 

[Vich]

Originally posted by: batmanuel

Originally posted by: ValuedCustomer

Originally posted by: Vich
My professor/co-workers dog literally ripped appart her 3.5 inch floppy which contained ALL of her doctoral dissertation work.

Are there people who can retrieve data from a 3.5 inch disk where the actual plastic memory peice has teeth marks in it? Is it even possible?


Thanks,
Rich

She can fit "ALL of her doctoral dissertation work" on 1, 3.5 floppy?? unless her doctoral dissertation consisted of a 5-paragraph essay she's pullin' your chain..

Huh? You can usually fit hundreds of pages of text onto a floppy. Especially if this was done back in the day before Microsoft started making their .DOC files bloated. Back in Word Perfect 5.1 days, you could get a lot of stuff onto a floppy. Of course if her dissertation is THAT old, then the slow, inevitable decay of the magnetic patterns on the disk may have doomed her info way before the dog got to it. That's why I have a lot of my inportant info saved to these nice, archival-quality gold CDs that I bought back when Kodak was still making them. They have an extra protective layer on the top of the disk to keep the data from being destroyed by a scratch to the top.

It wasnt just her dissertation it was that and all the data and analysis she used to write her dissertation. She had hundreds of pages saved on that disk.