klemgraphics
New Member
Anybody know a good source for hard drive recovery? I've already tried using an external dock and recovery software with no luck.
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Hard Drive Recovery
- Thread starter klemgraphics
- Start date
Jet Fast Printing
New Member
Whats wrong with the drive? I have had luck freezing the drive in the freezer for an hour or so, plug it in still cold and get whatever data you can.
HDD recovery ain't cheap. Good Luck.
HDD recovery ain't cheap. Good Luck.
Kottwitz-Graphics
New Member
I had my external HD crash a couple of years ago, and I called the geek squad 800 # and they told me that they could do it for something like $195. I then drove 45 min (each way) to the closest one, and they told me that they would have to send it off, and depending on the amount of data, it could run over $1500...
I called a customer that I had done work for when I worked at a different sign company, and I got the same story...$125 per hour, for however long it took.
My wife told me about the computer repairman where she worked, and he told me to bring it over so he could take a look...when I got there, he plugged it in, determined that he could get to the data, and shot me a price of $350...all he needed was another HD to put it on. He knocked it out in a couple of days, and total cost was right around $500...
First I'd check local computer repairmen, and if that doesn't pan out, I could get the # for my guy and you could send it to him.
I called a customer that I had done work for when I worked at a different sign company, and I got the same story...$125 per hour, for however long it took.
My wife told me about the computer repairman where she worked, and he told me to bring it over so he could take a look...when I got there, he plugged it in, determined that he could get to the data, and shot me a price of $350...all he needed was another HD to put it on. He knocked it out in a couple of days, and total cost was right around $500...
First I'd check local computer repairmen, and if that doesn't pan out, I could get the # for my guy and you could send it to him.
Border
New Member
Alot depends on what software you use to try the recovery... I went through several a few years back and had terrible luck until I bought a copy of Stellar Pheonix. That software recovered everything AND kept the original filing structure in tact so I did not have to sort through and reorganize after the recovery process. Have since used it on a few occasions on different people's drives and had great results every time! I've even used it on a couple of camera cards that went corrupt and recovered lots of photos.
I think it was about $90.00 for the software.
I think it was about $90.00 for the software.
jiarby
New Member
Here is how I handle a hard drive failure:
I set up my system to compartmentalize disasters... O/S is separate from user data (desktop, documents, email PST files, address book, etc...) Customer work files and Quickbooks is completely separate. An O/S drive failure does not cost me work files, email, or user profiles. Just restore the O/S drive image, reboot, run incremental backups and back in business within an hour.
Definitely the time to plan your disaster recovery process is BEFORE the disaster happens. You should not wait until you are on the side of the road with a tire blowout to discover that your spare is still flat from last time and your lug wrench is missing.
Even so... here you are.
Recovering a HDD depends on what is wrong with it. Software corruption? Mechanical failure? Electronic failure? Each type of failure has it's own recover process.
Software is easiest... slave to another system... browse disk.
Mechanical is difficult without correct environment (clean room, right tools). You can remove the platters from the bad disk and install them into a device that reads them... suck off the data and transfer to a replacement disk. The device that reads the platters is expensive and requires specialized software and knowledge of drives, partitioning, blocks, sectors, etc.. It is typically very expensive and slow.
Electronic failure. I have seen the circuit boards (controllers) swapped out on a HDD (with identical replacement parts) to recover a drive. Requires destroying a known good drive that is identical make/model/revision/firmware as bad drive. Most people do not have this capability. May require soldering. You may even be able to replace a broken component on the board (if you know what you are doing and have specialized tools to do board level repairs)
Is your drive spinning up at all? Trying to spin up? Clicking repetitively? Put it up to your ear and listen when you power it up.
lots of good info about drive recovery and pictures here: http://www.myharddrivedied.com/
I set up my system to compartmentalize disasters... O/S is separate from user data (desktop, documents, email PST files, address book, etc...) Customer work files and Quickbooks is completely separate. An O/S drive failure does not cost me work files, email, or user profiles. Just restore the O/S drive image, reboot, run incremental backups and back in business within an hour.
Definitely the time to plan your disaster recovery process is BEFORE the disaster happens. You should not wait until you are on the side of the road with a tire blowout to discover that your spare is still flat from last time and your lug wrench is missing.
Even so... here you are.
Recovering a HDD depends on what is wrong with it. Software corruption? Mechanical failure? Electronic failure? Each type of failure has it's own recover process.
Software is easiest... slave to another system... browse disk.
Mechanical is difficult without correct environment (clean room, right tools). You can remove the platters from the bad disk and install them into a device that reads them... suck off the data and transfer to a replacement disk. The device that reads the platters is expensive and requires specialized software and knowledge of drives, partitioning, blocks, sectors, etc.. It is typically very expensive and slow.
Electronic failure. I have seen the circuit boards (controllers) swapped out on a HDD (with identical replacement parts) to recover a drive. Requires destroying a known good drive that is identical make/model/revision/firmware as bad drive. Most people do not have this capability. May require soldering. You may even be able to replace a broken component on the board (if you know what you are doing and have specialized tools to do board level repairs)
Is your drive spinning up at all? Trying to spin up? Clicking repetitively? Put it up to your ear and listen when you power it up.
lots of good info about drive recovery and pictures here: http://www.myharddrivedied.com/
Last edited:
klemgraphics
New Member
Yea I know I should have had everything backed up properly before and at this point it really sucks and not much I can do about it except for spend some good money to let a pro look at it. The drive does spin, and no clicking, but in the recovery software I downloaded(Recover My Files) it says that the drive is unreadable. Maybe I need to try a different software?
Really kicking myself right now for not setting up a proper backup.
The only thing on this hdd was Signlab and the customer files that went with it.
Really kicking myself right now for not setting up a proper backup.
The only thing on this hdd was Signlab and the customer files that went with it.
jiarby
New Member
you gotta determine what the failure is. Head assembly, circuit board?
look here for a replacement board:
http://www.onepcbsolution.com/
You tube has lots of videos about fixing bad HDDS
look here for a replacement board:
http://www.onepcbsolution.com/
You tube has lots of videos about fixing bad HDDS
Techman
New Member
If it will spin but cannot read.
Hook it up as a slave...
Use command line under windows...
then,,, for example start machien
then under dos command change to the slaved drive..
cd\ x(letter of drive slaved)
type,, dir
then hit enter
You can use DOS to get into it and look for the folders.
Copy foldername c:
enter
There is a chance you may at least get your art files.
Hook it up as a slave...
Use command line under windows...
then,,, for example start machien
then under dos command change to the slaved drive..
cd\ x(letter of drive slaved)
type,, dir
then hit enter
You can use DOS to get into it and look for the folders.
Copy foldername c:
enter
There is a chance you may at least get your art files.
jiarby
New Member
Does the BIOS see the drive when it is connected? If not then no software utility will be able to touch it.
If yes, then you have something to work with. Now it is just a matter of how many hours/dollars/calories you are willing to burn to get your data back.
Hard drives are cheap. A couple years worth of data is priceless. I hope everyone will go right now and make a good backup that you can use to recover.
And then TEST the process.
One Saturday morning just remove your good hard drive and say to yourself "kaboom! my hdd just failed! Oh Noes!"
Then whip out a spare replacement drive, do your restore and see where the "gotchya's" are that hold you up. Take notes and create a Disaster Recovery binder. See how long it takes you. Where can you make the process faster, easier, more foolproof, more automatic.
I promise you will rest easier knowing that you are ready to handle a HDD crash. Then do the same for your other business processes. What if you lose your RIP dongle? What if your printer blows up? What if your Ricoh GX7000 chokes on that cholesterol laden Sawgrass Ink and dies on Friday night while you are making plaques for the Saturday afternoon Sports Banquet?
Disasters come in many shapes and forms. How much they affect you and your business depends on your preparation.
If yes, then you have something to work with. Now it is just a matter of how many hours/dollars/calories you are willing to burn to get your data back.
Hard drives are cheap. A couple years worth of data is priceless. I hope everyone will go right now and make a good backup that you can use to recover.
And then TEST the process.
One Saturday morning just remove your good hard drive and say to yourself "kaboom! my hdd just failed! Oh Noes!"
Then whip out a spare replacement drive, do your restore and see where the "gotchya's" are that hold you up. Take notes and create a Disaster Recovery binder. See how long it takes you. Where can you make the process faster, easier, more foolproof, more automatic.
I promise you will rest easier knowing that you are ready to handle a HDD crash. Then do the same for your other business processes. What if you lose your RIP dongle? What if your printer blows up? What if your Ricoh GX7000 chokes on that cholesterol laden Sawgrass Ink and dies on Friday night while you are making plaques for the Saturday afternoon Sports Banquet?
Disasters come in many shapes and forms. How much they affect you and your business depends on your preparation.
James Burke
Being a grandpa is more fun than working
+1
I have three backups in a lock box. Just a few bucks and a few exta minutes every day can make a world of difference.
I've had my fair share of server crashes and hard drive failures over the years (mainly from using cheap equipment) until i bought a NAS (network attached storage) a couple of years ago, there's plenty of brands out there but i bought this one http://www.qnap.com/pro_detail_feature.asp?p_id=135 after extensive research. It has a pair of 1 terabyte drives that are mirrored, meaning whatever data goes on one is immediately put onto the other so you have real time backup. It also has an external drive permanently attached to it for extra backup. Plus i (should) periodically backup to another external that gets stored offsite, just plug it into the front and press the button on the qnap and it automatically copies a backup over to the external.
Other features are web interface, super fast gigabit network connection, ip camera monitoring, multimedia station, ftp server, print server, web server etc. And it's totally plug and play
It was by far one of the best purchases i have ever made regarding my business, i can sleep at night now. In the 2 years i have had it i have had to restart it once and that was because of a brownout. All up including hard drives and externals it cost about $750 AUD that was before the USD was low and i was paying 2008/2009 prices for 1 terabyte drives (you can go up to two 2 terabyte drives).
I nearly killed my entire business when i almost lost 5 years of data (60% of our work is stuff we have done previously) with my old XP server that i used to have to restart at the very least once a month.
NAS is not just a backup it is an entire server solution, a good investment.
I hope this info helps someone
Other features are web interface, super fast gigabit network connection, ip camera monitoring, multimedia station, ftp server, print server, web server etc. And it's totally plug and play
It was by far one of the best purchases i have ever made regarding my business, i can sleep at night now. In the 2 years i have had it i have had to restart it once and that was because of a brownout. All up including hard drives and externals it cost about $750 AUD that was before the USD was low and i was paying 2008/2009 prices for 1 terabyte drives (you can go up to two 2 terabyte drives).
I nearly killed my entire business when i almost lost 5 years of data (60% of our work is stuff we have done previously) with my old XP server that i used to have to restart at the very least once a month.
NAS is not just a backup it is an entire server solution, a good investment.
I hope this info helps someone
FrankenSigns.biz
New Member
I recently had to pay an internet recovery company $700 to recover 900 megs from a hard drive that fell off my desk. One of those life lessons I guess; back up your feakin' data. If you have not done it lately, Do it now. NOW!
James Burke
Being a grandpa is more fun than working
Owieeeeeee!
klemgraphics
New Member
Having an expert take a look tomorrow. I would gladly pay a grand to get it recovered. Backup everything!!! I know I learned my lesson!!!
Who did your recovery FrankenSigns? Just in case my guy falls through.
Who did your recovery FrankenSigns? Just in case my guy falls through.
FrankenSigns.biz
New Member
Gosh, Klem, I don't remember, but even if I could I can't really recommend them because I feel ripped-off. I know it didn't hardly cost them a dime to recover that data, but they knew I desperately needed it. It was not business related, it was photos of my children and family, whom I hold very dear.
choucove
New Member
I know first hand that hard drive failure can come in many forms and can be very difficult (and expensive) to handle.
About a year ago our office server had a hard drive fail while we were in the process of installing updates. At the time, it was running Fedora linux, so we were afraid it was just a software corruption. However, after investigating into BIOS I realized that the drive would not show up no matter which port it was connected to.
Unfortunately, our system was also set up in a software RAID 10 setup which didn't work properly as it should have and did not allow the system to recover at all. Our only option was to send all 6 of the 500 GB hard drives off to be examined and determine if they could have data copied off. Again, I had checked each of the drives individually and was able to see areas of data used on all the drives except the physically fried hard drive. However, the data was not "in tact" because of the RAID and the missing hard drive that had failed.
So we contacted Data Recovery Services online. They are one of the foremost data specialists in the U.S. and my uncle, who has done similar work for NASA, Boeing, and the US Treasury Department, recommended their service for this.
We filled out the information and shipped the drives in next-day express mail. The following day their tech called and said they would be able to recover all files and would even be able to put the data onto a new drive for us. They sent us a quote, which was over $1,500.00 because of being so many hard drives in a complex Linux RAID, but in the end since all we needed was about a DVD worth of files backed up, they dropped the price to less than $1,000.00. Not only that but to make the whole situation better they went ahead and backed up and sent back all the data from the drives, not just the small list of folders that we needed.
I would highly recommend them again if, unfortunately, similar situations occur for others I know. They are very easy to contact and very quick, though you have to understand their services aren't cheap. Still, for a single hard drive (depending upon the actual amount of data) I imagine it would be between $500 and $800.
About a year ago our office server had a hard drive fail while we were in the process of installing updates. At the time, it was running Fedora linux, so we were afraid it was just a software corruption. However, after investigating into BIOS I realized that the drive would not show up no matter which port it was connected to.
Unfortunately, our system was also set up in a software RAID 10 setup which didn't work properly as it should have and did not allow the system to recover at all. Our only option was to send all 6 of the 500 GB hard drives off to be examined and determine if they could have data copied off. Again, I had checked each of the drives individually and was able to see areas of data used on all the drives except the physically fried hard drive. However, the data was not "in tact" because of the RAID and the missing hard drive that had failed.
So we contacted Data Recovery Services online. They are one of the foremost data specialists in the U.S. and my uncle, who has done similar work for NASA, Boeing, and the US Treasury Department, recommended their service for this.
We filled out the information and shipped the drives in next-day express mail. The following day their tech called and said they would be able to recover all files and would even be able to put the data onto a new drive for us. They sent us a quote, which was over $1,500.00 because of being so many hard drives in a complex Linux RAID, but in the end since all we needed was about a DVD worth of files backed up, they dropped the price to less than $1,000.00. Not only that but to make the whole situation better they went ahead and backed up and sent back all the data from the drives, not just the small list of folders that we needed.
I would highly recommend them again if, unfortunately, similar situations occur for others I know. They are very easy to contact and very quick, though you have to understand their services aren't cheap. Still, for a single hard drive (depending upon the actual amount of data) I imagine it would be between $500 and $800.
jiarby
New Member
RAIDs can be good to have, but they are NOT a backup solution. They are for redundancy so that your server stays up & running in the event of a drive failure.
So many people have drives in a RAID and never think about it again They mistakenly think their data is safe. It isn't... as choucove says.
The guy in the link I posted in thread#6 costs $800/drive.
So many people have drives in a RAID and never think about it again They mistakenly think their data is safe. It isn't... as choucove says.
The guy in the link I posted in thread#6 costs $800/drive.
tintguy31794
New Member
All of this is scaring me. My hard drive crashed yesterday and its at our computer guys place now being cloned. I told the owner we needed to back up all of our data on to another drive about a year ago and several times since.... he was too cheap to buy another harddrive and I guess I was to lazy to put it on disk (talk about boring) I guess now he will really be paying for that mistake. All of the data for the last 8 years was on the drive and not a single backup