[TIP] Data recovery question

[Logan]

I couldn't tell if this went in "Hardware", but since this is somewhat IT related, i thought it'd go here? >.>

So i've heard that most Tech's and such shouldn't attempt to recover data and that most should be sent to a *professional*. (and attempting to recover the data, has somehow made the Situation Worse.

Is this true?
Are people just using cheap/bad methods of recovering the data?

(And do you all offer data recovery in your Tech shop/situation, and for how much $?)

 

[dgoglio]

Yes, if you are not a professional or don't know what you are doing you could make a recoverable job unrecoverable.

 

[GTP]

It depends on how important the data is.
Whether the client is prepared to pay the costs or not.
If it's just some happy snaps of their holiday to Bali then they may not be that important.
If the pics are of deceased parents, kids, relatives etc they may have enormous value placed on them.
12 months of financial records for a business, as an example, or similar would be sent immediately to the pro's.

Data recovery is not for the faint hearted (or the poor who can't pay their own legal costs if you attempt to recover it and screw it up!) and best left to the "Pro's."

I, like many on here have successfully recovered data on many occasions after consulting with the client, but you have to know your limitations and when to say "no way I'm touching that!" and seek professional assistance.

 

[Logan]

Yes, if you are not a professional or don't know what you are doing you could make a recoverable job unrecoverable.

It depends on how important the data is.
Whether the client is prepared to pay the costs or not.
If it's just some happy snaps of their holiday to Bali then they may not be that important.
If the pics are of deceased parents, kids, relatives etc they may have enormous value placed on them.
12 months of financial records for a business, as an example, or similar would be sent immediately to the pro's.

Data recovery is not for the faint hearted (or the poor who can't pay their own legal costs if you attempt to recover it and screw it up!) and best left to the "Pro's."

I, like many on here have successfully recovered data on many occasions after consulting with the client, but you have to know your limitations and when to say "no way I'm touching that!" and seek professional assistance.

So would it be better to:
A.) Not have an option for it at all
B.) Build up a decent amount of experience, Trial with Recovering Data first
C.) Offer it, but *ALWAYS* inform them that it's always better to go to the experts

 

[GTP]

You should try options B. and C.!
Work on a case by case basis - weighing up the options for the client, and explaining to them clearly and concisely what it means to "recover data" and the associated pitfalls, hazards, etc.

There are some data recovery experts on TN that will give you the benefit of their vast experience.
Don't be afraid to ask questions and if offered - heed their advice !

 

[Mainstay]

Do you really have the liability insurance to cover you if you attempt a recovery and fail catastrophically?

Do you really want to put your clients' data at risk?

Make a clone of the original drive (if it will clone), attempt your recovery methods using whatever methods you are comfortable performing, and know when to stop.

Partner with a reputable lab that specializes in this and get a referral fee / discount. You still come across as the hero, but you are acting as an agent on their behalf and not assuming the risk for you or your business.

 

[Logan]

Do you really have the liability insurance to cover you if you attempt a recovery and fail catastrophically?

Do you really want to put your clients' data at risk?

Make a clone of the original drive (if it will clone), attempt your recovery methods using whatever methods you are comfortable performing, and know when to stop.

Partner with a reputable lab that specializes in this and get a referral fee / discount. You still come across as the hero, but you are acting as an agent on their behalf and not assuming the risk for you or your business.

You should try options B. and C.!
Work on a case by case basis - weighing up the options for the client, and explaining to them clearly and concisely what it means to "recover data" and the associated pitfalls, hazards, etc.

There are some data recovery experts on TN that will give you the benefit of their vast experience.
Don't be afraid to ask questions and if offered - heed their advice !

I see, thank you both!~
It didn't occur to me to try to partner with them, But I guess that is an option, Sort of....
There is 1 who is 47 miles away and looks fairly professional.
Though i would most likely be an inconsequential business to them, who wouldn't give me the time of day.
(but of course i would try)

 

[GTP]

...and I would be fairly confident that courier services/shipping from/to <your town> Missouri would be available?

 

[Mainstay]

We ship across Canada to our professional data lab. It is $20 a direction and we add it to the clients bill as S&H. On something that could be a $1500 recovery, it is a small investment.

These labs typically have an immediate referral system already in place. They like working with techs better than the EU as we are constant source of income to them, we know how to ID a failed drive correctly and how to document what steps have been performed prior to shipping it to them, often with a destination drive already included, we ship with proper padding, and we are the ones doing the tough job of communicating the costs and their justifications to the EU. A pretty good deal for a 10% discount, I should say.

 

[Diggs]

It always starts with discussions with the customer and I encourage them to use professional data recovery and NOT me. I will point them to a service or facilitate the recovery with a partner. A rule of thumb I have is that if the drive will clone I'll work on recovery (usually ddrescue and Linux). If the drive won't clone, won't start up or isn't recognized by any system then it goes out for recovery or back to the customer in case they change their mind in a year or two about recovery. If you haven't worked with failing/failed disks before you should do so on a couple of your own first.

 

[nlinecomputers]

So would it be better to:
A.) Not have an option for it at all
B.) Build up a decent amount of experience, Trial with Recovering Data first
C.) Offer it, but *ALWAYS* inform them that it's always better to go to the experts

Option D. Partner with a Data Recovery lab you trust so that you get a cut on referrals.

If the Data appears to be a software issue then I will attempt recovery myself. With the first step trying to do a full RAW backup of the drive. I then perform my recovery on the backup and not the original hard drive. If the drive is making ANY noise then I will not do an attempt. Drive clicking, spin up or spin down issues are not something you can fix without special hardware. Trying WILL make it worse.

If the drive is making weird noises then it is doing damage that can't be recovered.

If you are going to do ANY kind of Data Recovery READ THIS FIRST: https://www.technibble.com/forums/resources/how-to-triage-a-hard-drive.17/

 

[lcoughey]

There have been a lot of great responses here already and I'll try to be brief in my response. Seeing that I wrote most of the data recovery related resources, you can refer to them to get my advice on how to handle cases.

A) It seems to me that by offering data recovery, you may get new clients through the door who need your other services, such as replacement drives, backups and regular maintenance. They should be an easier sell, as they already know how bad a hard drive failure can be.
B) Start by outsourcing to a trusted partner lab who will work with you. As you gain knowledge and skills with certain data recovery tasks, you can consider investing in the necessary hardware and software and slowly take on more in-house.
C) Depending on who you partner with, their pricing will have a huge impact on how your client decides whether or not they want you to try vs sending it out right away.

Examples, based on base rates of a typical hard drive (retail prices...discounts/commissions may apply)

Data-Medics - $275 USD
Recovery Force - $400 CAD (~ $300 USD)
300DDR - $300 USD
Seagate - $699 USD
DriveSavers - $700 USD

Take note, anything you can do yourself should likely be done at the lab partner's minimum rate...though some labs rarely charge their minimum with a sales team trained to charge as much as they can.

Another thing to note. I have received a lot of crashed hard drives that I have to call unrecoverable after the technician tried all he could think of first. The technician tells their client that data recovery costs thousands by professional labs and then tells the client that they really have nothing to lose to try it first for much less...and then say, if we can't get it, we can still send it off to a lab for a quote.

Don't be the tech who takes a recoverable drive and turn it into this:

 

[labtech]

B.) Build up a decent amount of experience, Trial with Recovering Data first

- If you choose to do this, highly recommend doing this on practice failed drives (not the customer's).
Rule of thumb is: if that was your device, with precious data on it, would you want someone lacking the proper experience work on it?
- Can also get some training (we offer a variety of training options [some free in the form of a diagnosis], even remotely, and on a per-case basis - reach out via private message)

Data recovery in principle is about recovering data while minimizing mistakes.
Any mistake can be costly and could make the files unrecoverable. Don't want that to come across as fearful, as this is not the intention.
The recovery process entails a variety of details about when and how to test properly, what procedure is appropriate for the particular type of type of media (HDD, SSD, USB flash drives, CF, SD & MicroSD Cards, external drives of any kind, NASs, RAIDs, etc) with a particular failure (electronics, bad sectors, firmware, mechanical and any combinations of those).

 

[nerd2u]

Do you have any local labs that you could partner with?

This is how I do it I handle the initial contact and collection of the drive then I drop it to the specialist and pick up when done.

Customers don't care because they don't have to deal with it.

Sent from my SM-G870W using Tapatalk

 

[lcoughey]

Hi there, When I need an urgent data recovery I use this tool - DiskInternals Uneraser https://www.diskinternals.com/uneraser/ recovering deleted files. It helps me to get back all the necessary files without any fuss Hope it will be useful for you!

If you have an urgent data recovery, you should never, ever start by running recovery software. The first step, should always be to get a full sector-by-sector clone of the patient and only run recovery software against the clone. This is assuming that the drive is in good enough working condition for this process to done. To run recovery software against the patient drive directly is reckless and only done by those who don't know any better.

 

[nlinecomputers]

To run recovery software against the patient drive directly is reckless and only done by those who don't know any better.

Which sadly is 90% of the techs out there....

 

[lcoughey]

Which sadly is 90% of the techs out there....

Well, for those who read my notes, they are now without excuse.

 

[lcoughey]

Now that I look at FrankyD's post history, I'm beginning to think he might just be a spammer.

Is he is in the United States or the UK? My guess is India.

 

[hjelpio]

His profile says designer. But also that he is starting a business.

His website seems to be:
http://camwhitelawmedia.blogspot.com/2015/03/evaluation-question-4-final-task_24.html

His profile picture "matches":
https://www.deviantart.com/vanessaaosorio/art/Man-Bartlett-368269318
"charcoal drawing of Brooklyn artist, Man Bartlett."

 

[lcoughey]

Still seems suspicious to me.