data recovery...?!?

Nearly~November

breathe breathe....stay calm...
Ok people - what do you know about data recovery from an external hd??
I had friends round the other night - and my external was moved "out of reach" of their baby; and set on top of the box bit of this ....now....I'm no expert or genius....but now that my laptop is no longer allowing me access to the hd...I'm guessing the magnets in the speaker thingy have frazzled it?? The hd turns on ok...and I can hear it working, my laptop plays the "I know somethings just been plugged in" sound, there is no "clicking" like it's not working to be heard - but it just doesnt seem to exist??
The hd is a few years old - and obviously has taken a tiny bit of a battering...
Does anyone know if data recovery is possible?? and am I right in thinking this sort of thing is fairly bloody dear???

There is over four years of irreplaceable work on the 260gb hd....and I'm so close to tears right now it's not even funny....

please...if anyone knows anything...can suggest anything...please help!!!!

Muchos Grasias

AlmightyCushion

I don't think the magnets of the speakers would be enough to damage the hard drive. Try a different power socket/usb connection/power cable and usb cable. These could be causing the issue. If the hard drive is fúcked the data could be recovered (maybe not all of it, depends on how bad the damage is) but it's expensive. I think it's in the region of €1000 or so.

Nearly~November

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!!!! a feckin' grand???!!!!
tried other ports....as the laptop is recognising that summink's been plugged in...I dont think its the cable....I'm taking it to a guy on tuesday and e'll try it on a different machine and see what can be done.....
oh sweetjesusholymaryofthedivinelordoursaviour......PLEASE let it be fixable!!

AlmightyCushion

Rip the external apart and put the hard drive into an enclosure or pc. It make just be a problem with the connections on the external.

Kevster

Hi,

I assume that you've tried to read it on other computers? What could have happened is that it received a knock and is physically damaged. This happened to my old external HD. The data is definately recoverable (I believe), but you may have to pay a bit for it. I don't think it comes to anywhere near 1,000 though.

Kevin

Land Of Idiots

Nearly~November wrote: »

The hd turns on ok...and I can hear it working, my laptop plays the "I know somethings just been plugged in" sound, there is no "clicking" like it's not working to be heard - but it just doesnt seem to exist?

You could try this : http://www.i365.com/data-recovery/software.html

You can download a demo first to see if the files are recoverable and if they are, you can buy the software to get them.

Just suggesting it as it seems the laptop is picking up the drive just not allowing you to access it. An external drive of mine was damaged a while back like that and I was able to recover the files.

the_syco

Have used GetDataBack from http://www.runtime.org a few times, for getting data off flashdrives, hard disks, and from a hard disk I accidently formatted & reinstalled Windows onto.

Nearly~November

ok you lovely people....
Massive thanks for all your suggestions, hints and tips...after a total of 11 hours spent trying - and the cleverest tech man I know having a go on other machines - adapters and connectors used...still no success.
Sadly it seems to be a hardware problem...
It seems I have two options -
1. Trying to find
a) someone who has the know-how and
b) an identical hdd and trying to swap the components over so as to try and read the data off non corrupt hardware... and
2. Sending it off to somewhere to see if they can attempt to recover any of the data.....
So.....I know that generally data recovery is in place for large companies and corporations who can claim back the cost and have hugely delicate data to try an recover etc etc...
But I am an Artist - and what I have lost is the last four years of work I've done - everything, literally everything since college...this is my whole body of work - so I simply MUST try.
Can anyone recommend a data recover co.? has anyone used or had any experience with any?
Financially this will almost cripple me...but I have no other option but to try.
Again...to everyone who tried to help me - I'm hugely grateful.

Quarrybaby

I feel your pain as I too have lost everything off my hard drive I see that you are in Donegal, however I am in Meath. I have left my hard drive into a place in Drogheda. Hopefully I will know tomorrow whether he has any luck with it..... I will let you know.

While I was googling I came accross a company called data recovery ireland, they are based in Phibsboro in Dublin, you just post it to them, and they claim to be the best there is at data recovery. They do charge 95 quid though just to look at the device and tell you if they can recover your data or not. nd will give you a quote then after that. Check out their website yourself datarecovery.ie

I also came accross criticaldata.ie who say they will not charge if they cant recover anything, so they might be worth a try too. They charge 299. They are going to be my last resorts, because I dont have that kind of money to spare right now, but then again of it's the only way to get the stuff back, i'll have to come up with it!!!!

MediaTank

I'm in a similar situation. Did anyone try any of the companies mentioned?

MT

Cabaal

I've lost over 400GB worth of data over the years due to drives dieing...namely IBM Deathstars which I no longer use for bloody good reason.

Last two problems I had could be sorted with a handy util I had, can't remember name of it off hand though

MediaTank

Mine's a 2TB NAS with RAID 5 and XFS. The data recovery companies are quoting €850-€2,299 to recover the data. Ouch!

Capt'n Midnight

MediaTank wrote: »

Mine's a 2TB NAS with RAID 5 and XFS. The data recovery companies are quoting €850-€2,299 to recover the data. Ouch!

http://www.easyrecovery.co.uk £249+vat

You want a company that has their own clean room, and isn't sending it on to a third party to do the real recovery. I think the Belfast crowd have their own clean room, not sure about the ones down here.

MediaTank

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

http://www.easyrecovery.co.uk £249+vat

You want a company that has their own clean room, and isn't sending it on to a third party to do the real recovery. I think the Belfast crowd have their own clean room, not sure about the ones down here.

They quoted me a minimum of £700 + VAT, and a likely price of £1,200 + VAT!

NullZer0

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

Rip the external apart and put the hard drive into an enclosure or pc. It make just be a problem with the connections on the external.

Yeah, try this

Capt'n Midnight

iRock wrote: »

Yeah, try this

+1

MediaTank - just saw the RAID 5 bit
that means they have to do data recovery on all of the drives

in theory if one drive failed in a RAID 5 array you should be able to recover data in the unit or by moving the drives to the same type of unit. One big problem with RAID 5 is that it you need the same controller set to the same block size.

are you sure you have two dead drives / have you a spare NAS of the same type you can try it in ?

gibo_ie

I used CDR www.cdr.ie a few times and they can even go to a wafer level and recover data for you. They will do a recovery before quoting you so you dont have to pay if it is too much for you.
I can recommend them (Ciaran is one of the guys there) as i have used them previously personally and for my company.
I believe they are even in a few posters for AIB as a business startup..
Anyway good luck getting data back. May i suggest some online storage like dropbox maybe?

MediaTank

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

+1

MediaTank - just saw the RAID 5 bit
that means they have to do data recovery on all of the drives

in theory if one drive failed in a RAID 5 array you should be able to recover data in the unit or by moving the drives to the same type of unit. One big problem with RAID 5 is that it you need the same controller set to the same block size.

are you sure you have two dead drives / have you a spare NAS of the same type you can try it in ?

Thanks for the advice. I don't have spare NAS. I've arranged to RMA the unit with Buffalo (I hope) and these guys www.apextechnology.co.uk can hopefully recover my data first.

I'm a techie, but don't have the time to try it myself.

MT

MediaTank

Good news Apex recovered the data, just need a replacement NAS now.

MT

Miccko

gibo_ie wrote: »

I used CDR www.cdr.ie a few times and they can even go to a wafer level and recover data for you. They will do a recovery before quoting you so you dont have to pay if it is too much for you.
I can recommend them (Ciaran is one of the guys there) as i have used them previously personally and for my company.
I believe they are even in a few posters for AIB as a business startup..
Anyway good luck getting data back. May i suggest some online storage like dropbox maybe?

What type of prices do they charge? I've taken my external drive apart and tried it in a pc, but still no joy, so it's definitely damage to the drive. Just a very annoying clicking sound when it's powered on.

tonyheaney

Nearly~November wrote: »

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!!!! a feckin' grand???!!!!
tried other ports....as the laptop is recognising that summink's been plugged in...I dont think its the cable....I'm taking it to a guy on tuesday and e'll try it on a different machine and see what can be done.....
oh sweetjesusholymaryofthedivinelordoursaviour......PLEASE let it be fixable!!

did you ever get it fixed??

yoyo

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