Hard Drive Crash

[Leztek]

I know the answer to this... but I figured I'd ask.

I have a clients laptop hard drive that crashed. It is clicking away... I tried the freezer trick, which has worked for me in the past, but not this time.

I connected to my system via usb in hopes I could use norton ghost or getdata back, but the usb connection will not recogonize the drive..

Anyonw have any other ideas before I call the customer and give them the bad news...

Thanks

 

[Artimus]

Find a data recovery service and send it in. Obviously, find out the price first, then call your customer.

Let them decide if the data is important or not.

You really shouldn't have put the drive in the freezer. You've probably done more harm that way. The service can probably still get most of it back, but you've made their job harder and risked any data on the drive.

If you can't get the data off of it, you should send it to professionals.

 

[Simmy]

It's pretty much fubar'd by the sounds of it If the data is important, send the hard drive off to a data recovery specialist for them and charge them a bit extra for your services/time. May aswell try and make something from it

Some data recovery companies have a referal scheme, where they knock 10% off the cost if you agree to use them in the future. You can charge that 10% on and keep it.

 

[Leztek]

Artimus...

The freezer trick actually came for a data recovery specialist... you only leave it in for a few minutes... It actually has worked for me in the past...

I had a drive clicking... threw it in for a few minutes and I was able to ghost the whole drive...

Thanks

 

[gunslinger]

Find a data recovery service and send it in. Obviously, find out the price first, then call your customer.

Let them decide if the data is important or not.

You really shouldn't have put the drive in the freezer. You've probably done more harm that way. The service can probably still get most of it back, but you've made their job harder and risked any data on the drive.

If you can't get the data off of it, you should send it to professionals.

Agreed, and it wont be cheap. Unless the data is very, very valuable and irreplaceable, its almost not going to be worth it.

 

[Artimus]

This is more general advice to anyone reading, not necessarily directed at you.

When a harddrive is going bad, I ask the customer first.

"Is the data worth $X dollars to you to have it recovered by professional data recovery specialists?"

If YES, I don't touch it. I'll send it in, add on a bit for my time, etc. I'm not going to jeopardize the data with any tricks.

If NO (the data is not worth that much to the customer), the freezer is fair game.

 

[Leztek]

Point takes...

 

[Stu]

I get this from time-to-time, but I've never had a customer go ahead with specialist data recovery. They all seem to instinctively know it is a very expensive option. Consequently I've never had the experience of dealing with the specialists. What sort of fees do they charge and what are the turnaround times?

 

[gunslinger]

A fellow tech friend of mine has had the experience of dealing with data recovery specialist. As best I can remember the cost was something over $1,200 and I'm not sure about the turnaround times.

 

[Simmy]

I sent a hard drive to "Fields data recovery" based in the UK and was quoted the following;

Diagnostic results have shown that at least one of the disks read/write heads has failed. The disk has been opened and no visible damage can be seen on the platter surface as a result of this failure. The technician has advised the next stage of the recovery process is to replace the complete head disk assembly (HDA) unit, rebuild the HDD and then attempt to extract your data. This is a highly skilled process but unfortunately isn't infallible. The chance of a successful recovery once the process has been completed is approximately 30%
The costs to continue are as follows:
Parts/labour required to attempt HDA transplant - £220 + VAT.
If unsuccessful this initial payment is non-refundable. If successful the following cost to retrieve your data will be applicable:
Data Recovery - £195 + VAT.

 

[ComputerLife]

I've never NOT been able to recover data from a broken hard drive and I've done hundreds. I'm not saying the way I do it is perfect or I'm the best at it, I guess i've just been lucky.

#1 Use linux, do not plug a bad drive into a windows machine.
#2 Keep that baby cool/COLD


Its tough if shes clicking but not impossible unless the head has fell off.

I have custom setups for data recovery without taking the drive apart and do them all day long for $100. Sometimes a recovery might take a week or two.

 

[tartis]

$800 to $2000 depending on if they need a clean room for recovery. Prices may vary, but these are typicle.

 

[MHCG]

I just got an external hard drive in that was in a metal enclosure, it fell off of a coffee table onto a linoleum floor. There is no physical damage to the enclosure. It seems that the controller card went bad from that short drop. What a POS. I think I'll throw it into the freezer just for fun.

 

[ComputerLife]

Controller cards can be replaced.

 

[MHCG]

Controller cards can be replaced.

Yeah, I know. I advised the customer that I can either buy another identical hard drive to replace the controller card or send it to a data recovery service. I already scrounged around in my hard drives looking for another card that would work and had no luck. I'm waiting on her to talk to her husband.

 

[MHCG]

Well, I received her replacement drive. It's the exact same Make, Model and Revision, but it when I swapped the controller cards, neither hard drive works.