Flood damage to hard drive. Recoverable?

[ghostman]

I know someone from NYC whose office was flooded by the hurricane. All computers were soaked by the salt water. Unfortunately, they do not have any undamaged back-ups. What's the likelihood that this data can be recovered? What precautions can be taken (ie. not turning on the computer, etc.)? Does anyone know of a reliable service that can handle water-damaged hard drives?

 

[Elixer]

Salt water is a killer, so they need to send it to a data recovery service ASAP.
It will not be cheap though.
Also, no, don't turn it on, if salt water got into it, that is just going to make things worse, because of the residue.
No idea if anything can be salvaged, but, most good recovery places will say if they can salvage the data or not, some will do that for free (minus cost of shipping)

 

[kleinkinstein]

They come a dime a dozen and just as quickly disappear IME. Hopefully someone here can recommend a reputable service.

 

[KingFatty]

Were the hard drives powered-off at the time, or were they turned on and running when submerged?

If nothing was turned on, maybe you have a good chance. Just make sure to pour out and wipe off all the obvious water, then put the drive in a drying "chamber" for a couple days.

You can make a drying chamber using a baggy and as many of the dessicant packets (those things that say "do not eat" that you find in beef jerky or other things) you can find. Some people also use rice, but I think the dessicant packets are more efficient than rice, and specifically designed to remove moisture.

I believe for hard drives, the very sensitive parts are sealed in an airtight chamber, so the only parts that were exposed to water were the external circuit boards that should be fine after drying them off, though may have some surface rust you can wipe off or maybe look for cleaning the electrical connections between the circuit board and the electrical contacts of the drive housing.

 

[blastingcap]

Are you sure they are airtight? I thought there needs to be pressure equilibration and the platters spin in air. That's why hard drives fail if you take them up to high enough altitudes.

http://www.storagesearch.com/disklabs-art3-floods.html

This article says DO NOT DRY YOUR HDD OUT.

 

[ghostman]

Anyone know of a reputable data-recovery place? The data may be vital for his business.

I've taken apart hard drives for fun before and I don't believe they are water/air tight. Isn't there usually a hole in the case covered by a filter? Nonetheless, perhaps water did not get in. Though I doubt it, considering it was under 6 feet of water.

I also found another article here that suggests de-ionized or distilled water or 99% isopropyl alcohol prior to letting it dry.
http://www.wikihow.com/Save-a-Laptop-from-Liquid-Damage

I see a bunch of data recover ads, but I don't know if any of these places are legit.

 

[Phynaz]

http://www.krollontrack.com

These guys can pretty much salvage anything. Be prepared to pay $$$.

 

[KingFatty]

I want to actually test this with an old 40 GB IDE hard drive. I want to immerse it in salt water, and see if I can recover it. How long would be a reasonable time to submerge the drive?

Also, I don't understand how the storagesearch article concludes that keeping a drive wet will stop the hard disk drive corroding? From what I understand they make money by charging you to fix your hard drive, so they have an interest in you sending your drive to them without you fixing it. However, I think the drives are not water proof, so I was probably wrong about that above my apologies.

 

[ghostman]

My guess is that hard drives that are dried will be more likely to have salts and other gunk stuck to important parts and are more vulnerable to oxidation. Though keeping them submerged in the gunk water certainly doesn't sound like a good idea either. Resoaking in de-ionized water sounds like the best idea, with distilled water possibly a close second. But I don't really know what I'm talking about...

As for submerge time, if you're looking to re-create flood scenarios, you probably need at least 12 hours and a good amount of dirt thrown in.

 

[imagoon]

Were the hard drives powered-off at the time, or were they turned on and running when submerged?

If nothing was turned on, maybe you have a good chance. Just make sure to pour out and wipe off all the obvious water, then put the drive in a drying "chamber" for a couple days.

You can make a drying chamber using a baggy and as many of the dessicant packets (those things that say "do not eat" that you find in beef jerky or other things) you can find. Some people also use rice, but I think the dessicant packets are more efficient than rice, and specifically designed to remove moisture.

I believe for hard drives, the very sensitive parts are sealed in an airtight chamber, so the only parts that were exposed to water were the external circuit boards that should be fine after drying them off, though may have some surface rust you can wipe off or maybe look for cleaning the electrical connections between the circuit board and the electrical contacts of the drive housing.

The HDA is not air tight. Most drives have a little hole that says "do not block" which has a small filter in it but otherwise is exposed to atmosphere. Salt also wrecks the PCB if it is left in it long enough. I would expect to at least rinse the drive in distilled water to remove the salts and junk.

http://tierradatarecovery.co.uk/whats-inside-a-hard-drive

See item #1 "Air filter"

 

[C1]

From the Horse's mouth:

Preserving Treasures After a Disaster
Computer Hard Drives

"Computer hard drives cannot be allowed to dry out and be expected to be able to power up again. Do not blow dry the hard drive. Remove from the computer, do not shake out the water, simply place in a plastic bag, seal and send to a computer recovery company."

Ref:
http://www.loc.gov/preservation/family/ftpreserv.html

 

[ronbo613]

I've dunked a number of cameras in the salt water. Generally, they are toast, but since you have nothing to lose, you can rinse the device thoroughly in fresh water, distilled if you have it, then dry it with a hair dryer and plastic bag with a few holes punched in it on low heat.
The corrosion caused by the salt and minerals in the ocean water will do more damage than the water itself, especially to bare metal. The device is already wet, so a little more fresh water won't do any further damage.
This is strictly a "last resort" effort, the success rate is not that great. I would go with data recovery if you can afford it.
Think I'll check my off site backup...

 

[Vinwiesel]

None of the drives I've ever disassembled were sealed. They have at least one hole that is usually marked. Inside, there is typically a filter and maybe some carbon or desiccant which allows air pressure to equalize, but not allow dust to get inside. I don't know how well this would stop water though. If the hdd was warm, and then submerged in cold water I would expect the cooling effect alone to suck in some water.

 

[Compman55]

Flight data recorders and CVR's are always put into a fresh water container after being in salt water. So it does not dry and corrode. The electronics are already shot if they were powered on, so putting in fresh water will not cause further damage.

Are you certain the hard drives were under water? Or just parts of the tower.?

 

[COPOHawk]

http://www.krollontrack.com

These guys can pretty much salvage anything. Be prepared to pay $$$.

I agree with this...I know a few people who have worked there. They do forensic data recovery for legal matters...they have high end clean rooms. Stories of recovered data include: pulling a computer from a lake after 5 years, someone drilling a hole in a desktop hard drive (not enough holes or in the right places).

Cost starts at $1,500 and up...but for critical data...it will be worth it. The key is whether the data is actually critical. I have had customers tell me that their data can't be lost and money is no object...until they hear the price of recovery

To everyone weighing in...if the data is critical, stop pretending that drying it out and "giving it a try" is a good answer...it can cause irrepairable harm to the media.

 

[Compman55]

To everyone weighing in...if the data is critical, stop pretending that drying it out and "giving it a try" is a good answer...it can cause irrepairable harm to the media.

Yes, agreed. Do Not TRY!!!!! The platters will be damaged, and probably enough that it could not be recovered. If you want to try with a practice hard drive just for kicks, fine. But not for a test to see if the real ones will work. They will be damaged.

 

[TheDarkKnight]

I have just purchased my first SSD and am waiting for it to be shipped to me.

The details/specs on the drive say the MTBF is 1,500,000 hours.
I divided that by 24 to get 62,500 days. And then divided that number by 365 to get the MTBF in years, which came out to be ~171 years.

Now if this drive I purchased actually last ~171 years before it fails I'll kiss somebody's fat ***. Why are these people making such claims?

What's the average lifespan of a SSD in the "real" world?

** edit ** ooops, meant to post as a new message, not as a reply

 

[rsutoratosu]

I guess Ontrack change their name to Knoll ontrack.

If they can recover melted metal off the space shuttle accident, they can recover anything

http://www.ontrackdatarecovery.com/library/shuttle_ap_story.pdf

I agree with this...I know a few people who have worked there. They do forensic data recovery for legal matters...they have high end clean rooms. Stories of recovered data include: pulling a computer from a lake after 5 years, someone drilling a hole in a desktop hard drive (not enough holes or in the right places).

Cost starts at $1,500 and up...but for critical data...it will be worth it. The key is whether the data is actually critical. I have had customers tell me that their data can't be lost and money is no object...until they hear the price of recovery

To everyone weighing in...if the data is critical, stop pretending that drying it out and "giving it a try" is a good answer...it can cause irrepairable harm to the media.

 

[PBat51]

Micro Ccenter had this on their Facebook page:

As a service to hurricane Sandy survivors, Micro Center and Datatech Labs are offering data recovery services at below our costs. Please visit your local store to arrange for this (Westbury NY customers please call 888-288-DATA and explain you are a Micro Center customer with hurricane damage).

 

[tweakboy]

I used to do data recovery. www.harddrivedatasavers.com

Company I ran with my old man.

Its going to cost you thousands of dollars to recover the data. There are many companies that do physical recovery. avg is 1500 dollars. If you wanna send in all the drives from the office then its gonna cost a arm and a leg. lik 5k at least. gl

 

[bryanl]

I believe for hard drives, the very sensitive parts are sealed in an airtight chamber, so the only parts that were exposed to water were the external circuit boards that should be fine after drying them off,

Almost all hard drives have a vent hole to equalize the pressure, and some have a warning on their labels to not block that hole.

Inside is a filter for that hole (different HDD):

It's possible some Seagates don't have the filter since they use a very small vent groove instead.