Fried hardrive

I need a service to recover my data, data was not backed up...please help!

 

It will cost you thousands of dollars. Did you know that?

Cool, that's the right way to treat your critical data.


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Are sure it's fried? Try installing the hard drive in an external enclosure and attaching it to another computer.

 

Going to ignore that above statement, and I am sure because we put in a new hardrive amd it worked

 

It isn't too terribly wise to ignore the statements of people who are trying to tell you something useful, and post about such ignoring. That's almost insulting.

ramgen is right. If the drive is fried then you are looking at data recovery services that easily cost a few hundred or thousands. That's really your *only* option at this point.

 

That still doesn't mean the old drive is fried. Does the old drive still power on? Like I said, connect it externally to another computer and see if it works.

While I agree with you somewhat, ramgen's post was unnecessarily sarcastic and rude.

 

I have a strong allergy against people who ignores the back-up and then begs for help with their lost data. May be 'coz I am back-up-aholic...

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thank you for the help I will give that a try, my question is why would it work with a different harddrive?

 

There's always the "place the drive in the freezer and hope it works long enough to pull your data off" trick.

 

Windows could be corrupted. Installing it in an external enclosure will make it show up as a USB drive. From there, all your files should be accessible.

 

+1 on the external. I had a virus a long time ago cook the boot record on one of my IDE hard disks on a desktop. Left the partition on, but everytime I booted the desktop up it said "No Operating System." Threw in a Linux LiveCD and tossed the drive in an external bay, voila! All files. If an external doesnt work, prepare to decide if your data is worth at least a few hundred dollars. Otherwise, up to a thousand or so.

 

And if all else fails, and you dont want to spend too much money, maybe buy the same drive from ebay, rip open your old drive, take the platter and put it in the drive you got from ebay. That worked once for me, with a desktop HDD.

Not sure how much harder a notebook hdd would be to take apart.

 

Wow! Not to doubt your claims..

But did you do all that in your home? Or do you have access to some kind of clean-room/ dust limited space at work/ school?

 

It was done at home to a really old 1gb drive, was able to access the files back from 1995.

 

That is very unlikely to work with the current drives as they require much less space to keep the bits on. The (invisible) dust in the air will corrupt the data readability if you open up the hdd at home.


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if that "dust" would corrupt the data then most if not all HDDs would not have a hole for air to get inside, lol.

- I think it's possible to get the same drive and replace the platters. With some luck of course.

still I dont think the OP is up to that point yet, so why not try putting the HDD in external usb enclosure and see what happens, before going to rip-off data recovery company

 

There must be a reason. Not that I doubt you moral_hazard

 

Well, i can see how small particles might take some time before they do critical damage to the drive. It might just work if all you want is to recover the data, but it'll most likely kill the drive mid to long term.

 

this work?
http://www.amazon.com/External-Enclosure-Case-Blue-Laptop/dp/B000FNBYKW

 

So you think that it is a plain hole without any filters etc.
Have you ever opened up a HDD to see how that hole looks like?


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so....I did it and it wont spin when powered up, and it beeps....

 

Did what, i mean a few options were suggested. Swap the platters, get an enclosure, swap the drive in another computer??

 

A enclosure

 

no I haven't, and yes there's a filter in there. Now it all comes down to your definition of fine dust and how well do you think that filter works.

either way, I do believe with some skill one can replace HDD platters.

edit: here somebody did it

http://www.freewebs.com/bgotchall/index.htm

 

Are you certain the enclosure is receiving enough power? Are there two USB ports that you can plug in or only one?

 

I am not the one who did it I took it too a guy, so I can only presume that it was receiving enough power, I would note that it was beeping

 

There is a reason why HDDs are manufactured in ultra-clean rooms.

From your link: "There were in fact a few files that I could not recover (none I cared about, thank God)."

This is very much likely to be from the micro-dust. If it hit the clusters keeping the file allocation table your entire platter will be toast.


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Well, it was worth a try. I guess now all you can really do is access if the data on the drive is worth the hundreds of dollars to recovery it.

It's also a good reminder to always back up important files. I don't have to worry about backing up because all I have are Steam games on my laptop I've learned many lessons the hard way, including verifying the owner ship of an item before purchasing and never ship Internationally with Priority mail. These two mistakes alone may have cost me $1100, but I'll never forget them.

 

any recommended services?

 

DTI Data Recovery is one option. They have a "No fix no fee" option, as well. Free online quote! There are a few other firms, but this one came to mind first. No affiliation.

 

Thank you

 

Absolutely. Be prepared for a wallet-eating fee, though. Generally they'll take the platters out and throw them into another drive of the same make and model and see whats up. Hopefully, the electronics of the drive died instead of a read/write head crash. If that's the case, you'll get most if not all of your data back. If the heads crashed, who knows whats damaged and whats recoverable.

 

So I have decided I am going to try and freeze it

 

Use caution - that method will result in moisture buildup in the drive if not done correctly, and could make your issue worse.

 

Hmmm well it got worst...I can now hear pieces rattling within the drive.... if dust could break it then I am guess those are like a bomb

 

Did you stick it straight into the freezer, or did you put it in a Ziploc bag first?

Now you really have to decide how much that data's worth. You could try replace the the circuit board on the bottom of the hard drive. They cost around $25 on eBay.

 

I mean do you really think there is any more data? I think it would be all corupted now?

Considering that there are loose parts in there just moving around crashing into it

 

There most likely is at least SOME. If there are parts of the drive hitting the platters, then the cost of recovery goes up by several orders of magnitude. At this point, unless you ABSOLUTELY cannot live without the data, pitch the drive. It's no use.

 

Yep, at this point, the price tag for recovery will likely be over $1000.

 

Can I just keep the drive and get in fixed in like 5 years when I am more rich

 

LOL Thats always an option.

 

If you haven't needed what is on that drive for 5 years I doubt you will remember what is on the drive that you wanted I bet that in 5 years you won't even be able to find the drive, check back with us in 2017 and let us know how it goes

 

will do haha