Data/Hard Disk Recovery

Phoenix32 · 11-13-2009, 12:47 PM

While not directly related to Snap Servers, this does seem like a good place to ask for some information/help with as many IT people here as there are.

I have a female aquaintance who kept ALL (and I mean years worth) of her pictures and videos of her kids since their birth on her notebook. In other words, this data is priceless to her.

She did keep backups on an external USB hard disk also (not a total air-head).

Enter the infamous "Ex" who goes on a destruction spree of her notebook with a hammer and then throws the external around awhile just for good measures (and other destrucion in his wake). Bye bye data.

The Notebook drive is a WD 250GB 2.5" SATA drive. It does not appear to have any external physical damage (direct blows from the hammer). When installed exlsewhere, you can hear the drive attempting to spin up and lots of head chatter, but the drive then spins down and is reported by BIOS as damaged, thus no access. I suspect head damage from G forces, but of course it could be something else.

The external drive was removed from the demolished case (by someone else) and is a Seagate 3.5" 160GB PATA drive. It does have some external physical dents etc. She took it to a local PC shop (big mistake in this case IMO) who of course tried to look at it for a few buck$ with no results. I hooked it up just to see and I get nothing, nada, zip, zilch from the drive. It is D-E-A-D. No spin up, no nothing. I also notice it appears the local PC shop may have removed the circuit board at one point because several of the screws are loose and/or missing now. I don't think they opened the drive to expose the platters (I sure hope not).

This data is very important to her and she wants to use a recovery service to get her precious data back. This is where you all come in. Can any of you recommend a good service you feel can/will do a good job and for a reasonable, competitive recovery service, price? Or who to stay away from, etc etc etc.

Any help here is appreciated. Thank you in advance.

audit · 12-30-2009, 12:43 PM

Ontrack is the best there is when it comes to data recovery. I also do data recovery but only if I can get the drive to spin up, then I've had a 98% success rate at doing so.

11-13-2009, 12:47 PM	#1
Phoenix32 Thermophile Join Date: May 2006 Location: Yakima, WA Posts: 1,282	Data/Hard Disk Recovery While not directly related to Snap Servers, this does seem like a good place to ask for some information/help with as many IT people here as there are. I have a female aquaintance who kept ALL (and I mean years worth) of her pictures and videos of her kids since their birth on her notebook. In other words, this data is priceless to her. She did keep backups on an external USB hard disk also (not a total air-head). Enter the infamous "Ex" who goes on a destruction spree of her notebook with a hammer and then throws the external around awhile just for good measures (and other destrucion in his wake). Bye bye data. The Notebook drive is a WD 250GB 2.5" SATA drive. It does not appear to have any external physical damage (direct blows from the hammer). When installed exlsewhere, you can hear the drive attempting to spin up and lots of head chatter, but the drive then spins down and is reported by BIOS as damaged, thus no access. I suspect head damage from G forces, but of course it could be something else. The external drive was removed from the demolished case (by someone else) and is a Seagate 3.5" 160GB PATA drive. It does have some external physical dents etc. She took it to a local PC shop (big mistake in this case IMO) who of course tried to look at it for a few buck$ with no results. I hooked it up just to see and I get nothing, nada, zip, zilch from the drive. It is D-E-A-D. No spin up, no nothing. I also notice it appears the local PC shop may have removed the circuit board at one point because several of the screws are loose and/or missing now. I don't think they opened the drive to expose the platters (I sure hope not). This data is very important to her and she wants to use a recovery service to get her precious data back. This is where you all come in. Can any of you recommend a good service you feel can/will do a good job and for a reasonable, competitive recovery service, price? Or who to stay away from, etc etc etc. Any help here is appreciated. Thank you in advance.

12-30-2009, 12:43 PM	#2
audit Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Michigan Posts: 11	Re: Data/Hard Disk Recovery Ontrack is the best there is when it comes to data recovery. I also do data recovery but only if I can get the drive to spin up, then I've had a 98% success rate at doing so.

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