Data Recovery

PixiePop

Can anyone recommend a company that can retrieve data from a damaged external hard drive? Want the best chance of recovery & not a cowboy so if anyone knows of a reputable company please let me know. I see some have a "no recovery, no fee" policy and others who claim they're not as thorough because of that. And all are best in the business so only one can be telling the truth!

me_irl

Does the drive read at all?

Can you see if Recuva will get anything back off it?

https://www.piriform.com/recuva

PixiePop

It's hanging and not responding so I don't know what the issue is. I'm terrible at IT so reluctant to try anything myself and would like to hand it to a professional for the greatest chance of recovery

ivegotafeeling

PixiePop wrote: »

Can anyone recommend a company that can retrieve data from a damaged external hard drive? Want the best chance of recovery & not a cowboy so if anyone knows of a reputable company please let me know. I see some have a "no recovery, no fee" policy and others who claim they're not as thorough because of that. And all are best in the business so only one can be telling the truth!

Computers Unlimited/Data Recovery Ireland on the Phibsboro Rd in Dublin did a job for me and were very fairly priced.

I work in It myself, if I couldn't recover a HD I would use the following guys http://www.computersunlimited.ie
Not cheap, though they have always come through..

PixiePop

Did they do a good job? Did they successfully recover your data? Think I'm looking at big bucks to retrieve it, if it's even possible

PixiePop

Did they do a good job? Did they successfully recover your data? Think I'm looking at big bucks to retrieve it, if it's even possible

PixiePop

NoDrama wrote: »

I work in It myself, if I couldn't recover a HD I would use the following guys http://www.computersunlimited.ie
Not cheap, though they have always come through..

Are any of them cheap? Or would it be a worry if they were quoting way less than everyone else? Am I right that it costs 600-1000?

ED E

http://www.datarecoverydublin.ie/gallery.php

Used them a few years ago, good service.

PixiePop

ivegotafeeling wrote: »

PixiePop wrote: »

Can anyone recommend a company that can retrieve data from a damaged external hard drive? Want the best chance of recovery & not a cowboy so if anyone knows of a reputable company please let me know. I see some have a "no recovery, no fee" policy and others who claim they're not as thorough because of that. And all are best in the business so only one can be telling the truth!

Computers Unlimited/Data Recovery Ireland on the Phibsboro Rd in Dublin did a job for me and were very fairly priced.

Are these two separate companies? Recommend one over the other?

PixiePop

In each case did everyone get their data back? Wondering how likely it is

ivegotafeeling

PixiePop wrote: »

Are these two separate companies? Recommend one over the other?

No they are the one company. Just trade under different names. They will charge you an investigation fee and then quote for the recovery if they can do one. Found them very helpful.

PapaQuebec

How did the drive become damaged, Was it dropped?

PixiePop

I didn't drop it but whether it took a little knock I couldn't swear on. Not enough to recall but perhaps they're v delicate? It went when trying to copy the files over to another drive

PixiePop

ED E wrote: »

http://www.datarecoverydublin.ie/gallery.php

Used them a few years ago, good service.

Did they recover your data? Their location suits me better than datarecovery.ie but not sure if I should let that sway me if the other crowd are better...want the best possible chance of recovery

ED E

PixiePop wrote: »

Did they recover your data? Their location suits me better than datarecovery.ie but not sure if I should let that sway me if the other crowd are better...want the best possible chance of recovery

They did.

degsie

OP imagine if you had just made a backup




Let this be a lesson to us all

riclad

THE Drive could be fine,
inside the drive case theres a Small pcb, which connects to the drive, the data or power sata cables could be loose or broken ,the small pcb board could be faulty.

http://www.gearhack.com/docs/Fantom%20Drives%20500%20GB%20Titanium%20II%20External%20USB%202.0%20Hard%20Disk%20Drive.html.files.hidden/Internal%20Hard%20Drive%20and%20SATA%20to%20USB%20Interface.jpg

post the drive model,
EG seagate rt700 .
if you open the case you can take out the drive and put it in a sata caddy.
Sata drive caddy is 20-30 euro.
http://www.pcworld.ie/category/enclosures/403.4.5

if drive is 3.5 inch you,ll need a external powered caddy,
cost 30-35euro.
2,.5inch sata drives should work in a usb powered caddy ,cost 15 euro.

you,ll need a small philips screwdriver to open the 4-6 screws that seal the drive enclosure .
plug in drive.
After pc is powered on.
place 3 fingers on top m of the case.
you might be able to feel the drive spin up ,
if the power cable is connected inside the enclosure

PixiePop

degsie wrote: »

OP imagine if you had just made a backup




Let this be a lesson to us all

I had backed up. The original drive & back up failed within weeks of each other. The back up actually failed as I was trying to create a second back up

degsie

PixiePop wrote: »

I had backed up. The original drive & back up failed within weeks of each other. The back up actually failed as I was trying to create a second back up

Ouch! That was just a bit of bad luck so

riclad

Its Easy to open the enclosure ,gently remove the drive,
put it into a caddy.
if the caddy is powered turn it on.
turn on pc,
plug into pc usb port, you may see dialog .driver is bneing installed.
wait 1-4 minutes, it,,ll say device now ready to use,
click on drive d,e,or f external drive 500gig etc ,see if you can browse the drive folders.
DO Not touch the drive underside,pcb circuit board.
MAYBE Put tape on it to prevent short circuits on a metal surface,
some caddys have a metal case ,most are plastic .
touch hand on water taps to get rid of static electricity before opening the enclosure.
The chances are 60 per cent the drive is ok,theres a fault with the enclosure.

pah

LOL