Hard Drive Rescue Under $1000?

Y_K

Joined
May 29, 2009
Messages
2,826
Location
WA (USA)
Does it exist? Trying to help a buddy, the money is mine as he has none.
1 TB spinner with pictures from an old Dell XPS

TIA
 
Not one that I would trust sending my data too. I've had success using EaseUS to recover data from an old Seagate HDD for work once.
 
There is free or paid software that is likely to do as good a job as these services.

What happened to the disk ?
I guess, you never dealt with service area failures. Until then folks try free software, paid software, freezer hacks, etc.
Weightlessness anybody?
 
What about the drive’s mfgr?

I don't know of any drive manufacturers who provide any sort of help with recovery. What they do is sell drives for performing backups and possibly provide backup software. You know, an ounce of prevention.

Most of the companies doing drive recovery use trial and error to determine how to do it.
 
There is free or paid software that is likely to do as good a job as these services.

What happened to the disk ?

It depends on what happened to it. The biggest problem with DIY recovery software is that it's a horrible idea if there's something like a head crash or damaged bearing. I've heard of cases where the head literally fell off, and once the user kept trying to access it, it kept on damaging the platter. Or other conditions where the best course of action to recover the data is to just rebuild it.

There are cases where it might work if it's not a physical crash, but that's kind of rolling the dice that it's not.

But it's not as crazy as recovery of a wet portable device. The biggest cause of problems would be corrosion, and the best course of action is for a professional to open it up, disconnect the battery, and clean it before fixing any damage. And components can receive more damage if still powered on. But I've heard of way too many people hoping that it will just dry out on its own and recover by itself.
 
There is free or paid software that is likely to do as good a job as these services.

What happened to the disk ?

Sometimes maybe. If it is crucial to get the data from the disk I would not even try.
Data recovery centers transplants the internal platters/discs to a new drive. Need a clean-room to do that.
 
Sometimes maybe. If it is crucial to get the data from the disk I would not even try.
Data recovery centers transplants the internal platters/discs to a new drive. Need a clean-room to do that.

It generally makes more sense to rebuild the parts rather than transplant the platters. There are just so many little things that can't be replicated, especially the specific firmware.
 
Does it exist? Trying to help a buddy, the money is mine as he has none.
1 TB spinner with pictures from an old Dell XPS

TIA

Best Linux repair and rescue distros of 2023.​

I'd try rescatux. I used it to repair a corrupted computer years ago. Pm me if you want
 
  • Like
Reactions: Y_K

Best Linux repair and rescue distros of 2023.​

I'd try rescatux. I used it to repair a corrupted computer years ago. Pm me if you want
Thank you, but it is useless in this case. See above: Service Area Failure. If you don't know what service area of a spinner is you may want to research this. This case requires a surgical intrusion.

Thank you to all for the recommendation. Mailed it already.
 
Back
Top