data recovery
- Thread starter jhale
- Start date
If the heads on the drive are truly broke the only thing you can do is send it out. I have used these guys at work and had some success http://www.ecodatarecovery.com/index.html?wcw=google&gclid=CMHHydXttpECFQFTHgodz2nqyQ. Its truly a crap shoot when it gets to that stage. Before I send it out I would get a adapter and see if you get lucky. It is rare that the actual heads break off. With this adapter it allows you to just plug the drive into a usb port and try to access it. http://www.cooldrives.com/seatatousb20.html . I would be happy to give you a hand if you need it.
- Location
- Chelsea, NYC
TekServe
bad coffee
Inept at life.
- Location
- Location: Location:
internal or external?
If it's external, put it in the freezer for half an hour. Then plug it in and try it.
Also, have you tried turning it upside down and trying to read it?
B
If it's external, put it in the freezer for half an hour. Then plug it in and try it.
Also, have you tried turning it upside down and trying to read it?
B
If you were told the mechanism that reads the drive is broken then that means the actuator arm is bad, if it is buzzing and clicking then that is the arm trying to reclibrate. Turning it upside down does help sometimes just connect it to an external sata to usb enclosure wich should cost under $30 make sure to specify 2.5 for laptop or 3.5 for desktop. You can also try giving it a very light tap like the motion of shaking salt not too hard and only once to see if the arm will realign with a little nudge if all this fails on first try then you should not continue to try because it may make data recovery harder for the guys who you send drives off to. What they do is go into something like a dust free special light room and remove the platters and place them on a comparable drive with a good arm and voila data recovered.
the drive is internal. the tech people at the SF apple store tried to read it while removed from the laptop, they could not get into it so I have to think it may have to go the route that david suggested.
the drive is a hitachi and less than a year old. is there anyway the recovery cost would be covered under a warranty?
the drive is a hitachi and less than a year old. is there anyway the recovery cost would be covered under a warranty?
- Location
- Philippines
- Location
- Upper East Side
Jon, you should contact Eric just to make sure. He recovers data for people all the time.
From what it sounds like the drive needs to be taken apart and the disk's inside need to be read in another setup. The problem being is they are very fragile and if the actuator arm or any of the other apparatus that reads the disk is messed up you are taking a chance every time you plug that drive in of damaging the info on those disks. My advice is not to plug it in again get a new drive and look in the yellow pages in SF (if the info is needed for your trip) or contact a data recovery company here and give them the drive.
- Location
- Philippines
:shhh: :bunnies:
you know the sad thing is the day before I left for my trip I was in best buy looking at external drives. I was going to get one to dump all the files from the laptop onto. I walked out without getting one because I knew online prices would be cheaper :arg:
bad coffee
Inept at life.
- Location
- Location: Location:
"digital data doesn't exist until it's in more than one place."
One of my favorite quotes about backing things up.
One of my favorite quotes about backing things up.
- Location
- Baiting Hollow Long Island NY
Wierd, my daughter called me last night with the same problem. Her laptop crashed and she needs to get the data out. Someone is lending me the adapter to see if I can retreve anything after I get the drive out.
Yes it is. I have a problem with my outdrive. The prop is stuck on it. I'm, working on it.
Paul
Yes it is. I have a problem with my outdrive. The prop is stuck on it. I'm, working on it.
Paul
- Location
- Philippines
fluidimagery
There's more to life...
- Location
- Riverhead, NY
It sounds like everyone is leading you in the right direction. I just wanted to add that I'm an OnTrack Data Recovery reseller and get a decent (I believe around 25%) discount on data recovery. OnTrack is arguably the best data recovery place out there and I've had great success when I've needed to use them for clients. Cost wise... it's been anywhere between $2000 - $3500. They'll charge $100 (non refundable) to look at the drive and give you an inventory on what is recoverable along with a price for the recovery and you pull the trigger.
I've also used Vatage Tech - http://www.vantagetech.com/ they're a little less expensive and are great. I've only used them once but were great. It all depends if it's worth to you getting the "Best" or taking a chance with someone else. No deposit for them to look at it (outside of shipping) and they'll give you the same sort of inventory sheet... cost was around $1500 for the head replacement (same issue as yours)
I'd also be glad to take a look at the drive, I do quite a bit of data recovery and have a few "Tricks" (freezing not one of them lol... urban legend) with decent success. But if it is a mechanical issue I'm not going to be able to do much for you myself.
Moving forward... please invest in one of the latest online backup methods. For a measily $55 a year you can back up an unlimited amount of data offsite and have some peace of mind for yourself. I prefer mozy.com
I've also used Vatage Tech - http://www.vantagetech.com/ they're a little less expensive and are great. I've only used them once but were great. It all depends if it's worth to you getting the "Best" or taking a chance with someone else. No deposit for them to look at it (outside of shipping) and they'll give you the same sort of inventory sheet... cost was around $1500 for the head replacement (same issue as yours)
I'd also be glad to take a look at the drive, I do quite a bit of data recovery and have a few "Tricks" (freezing not one of them lol... urban legend) with decent success. But if it is a mechanical issue I'm not going to be able to do much for you myself.
Moving forward... please invest in one of the latest online backup methods. For a measily $55 a year you can back up an unlimited amount of data offsite and have some peace of mind for yourself. I prefer mozy.com
- Location
- Throggs Neck, BX
John I just losted a Hitachi 120GB drive at work from an Apple laptop that was about 2 years old. Apparently many other people have this same problem with this drive. Anyway there is a problem I use called testdisk i believe its dos based and will see the drive even if you hook the drive to your sata pc and windows doesnt see it. I can email it to you if your interested. its small, not complicated but you will see the recovered files, if it can pull them, labeled in the sector it found them. basically really crude but effective. OnTrack is great but if cost is an issue this my help. Its freeware so no cost.
G
G
- Location
- Baiting Hollow Long Island NY
George can you mail it to me too?
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