Anyone know a consumer data recovery service please?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Maria Ripanykhazova
  • Start date Start date
M

Maria Ripanykhazova

I have had a hard drive crash and didnt realise that the reason the system
wouldnt (initially) do backups and then get into windows was that the HDD
was crashing (I thought it was something to do with having installed Easy CD
Creator onto a Windows 2000 machine) See postings elsewhere on
comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage)

I need to get some files off it. Does anyone know of a CONSUMER data
recovery service anywhere I can send the drive to which doesn't assume you
are a huge corporation with unlimited resources please?
 
Maria said:
I have had a hard drive crash and didnt realise that the reason the system
wouldnt (initially) do backups and then get into windows was that the HDD
was crashing (I thought it was something to do with having installed Easy CD
Creator onto a Windows 2000 machine) See postings elsewhere on
comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage)

I need to get some files off it. Does anyone know of a CONSUMER data
recovery service anywhere I can send the drive to which doesn't assume you
are a huge corporation with unlimited resources please?
Click to expand...

Give us a shout, Maria - we should be able to help.


Odie
 
How about the free software Filerecovery. If you have a second drive or if
you are able to boot from a second windows then everything is fine with this
software. It is free.
 
If your drive is still under warranty and you want to get it replaced under
warranty, the drive manufacturer may limit your choice of data recovery
services.

Also, remember that you get what you pay for and the commercial data
recovery services, such as www,ontrack.com may have tools and techniques not
available from less expensive services.

I would check with www.ontrack.com.
 
: If your drive is still under warranty and you want to get it replaced under
: warranty, the drive manufacturer may limit your choice of data recovery
: services.

For many, the data on the drive is worth more than the drive itself,
so the drive warranty is moot if that drive has the only copy of it.
For example, I bought a new Seagate desktop hard drive, 160GB, for $54
after rebate last week. You can buy a much smaller laptop hard drive
for only about $80. The data on my drive - if by chance I hadn't
backed it up - is worth much more than that.

: Also, remember that you get what you pay for and the commercial data
: recovery services, such as www,ontrack.com may have tools and techniques not
: available from less expensive services.

I think your options are limited if your hard drive crashes. In most
cases, the crashed drive is not accessible at all with any hardware
and your only choice is to send to an expensive recovery service.
Considering how often hard drives crash for no reason, it's incredibly
stupid not to backup your hard drive. I've had at least three hard
drives crash on me and have talked to numerous others who have
experienced such. The odds are against you.

If you have a backup of your drive, you can of course just send your
drive back if it's under warranty and get a replacement, as I did last
year with one of my crashed drives.

Andrew
--
----> Portland, Oregon, USA <----
*******************************************************************
----> http://www.bizave.com <---- Photo Albums and Portland Info
----> To Email me remove "MYSHOES" from email address
*******************************************************************
 
(e-mail address removed) (Andrew) wrote in
comp.sys.laptops:

Considering how often hard drives crash for no
reason, it's incredibly stupid not to backup your hard drive.
I've had at least three hard drives crash on me and have talked
to numerous others who have experienced such. The odds are
against you.
Click to expand...

To be honest, I doubt it. Hard drives are pretty reliable these
days, and certainly hundreds of procent more reliable than say ten
years ago. I find it amazing how few they crash theses days, but
it can be a matter of perspective.

But about backing up you're absolutely right, if it's only your
valuable data if you don't have space to make a ghost of your
complete hard drive.

One consolation, even in the 22dn century we have "non-
backupping" dumbos:

http://www.firsttvdrama.com/enterprise/e64.php3

:)




--
CeeBee


"I don't know half of you
half as well as I should like;
and I like less than half of you
half as well as you deserve."
 
CeeBee said:
(e-mail address removed) (Andrew) wrote: in
Click to expand...
To be honest, I doubt it. Hard drives are pretty reliable these
days, and certainly hundreds of procent more reliable than say ten
years ago.
Click to expand...

So they were hundreds of percent _less_ reliable a decade ago? 8*)

I don't have that many clients, but I probably see a dozen failed hard
drives in a year, with maybe 3-4 of them non-recoverable without
spending a fortune on data recovery. If you care about your data,
definitely back up! The latest data recovery quote for a
non-functional drive I sent in a week ago was $400 to $2500!

I'd love to know that it's do-able for less than that, but the nature
of the beast is that it's a very {labor,time,equipment,risk}-intensive
process, and isn't ever going to be cheap.
 
If your drive is still under warranty and you want to get it replaced under
warranty, the drive manufacturer may limit your choice of data recovery
services.

Also, remember that you get what you pay for and the commercial data
recovery services, such as www,ontrack.com may have tools and techniques not
available from less expensive services.

I would check with www.ontrack.com.
Click to expand...

Ditto for a recommendation for Ontrack.
 
: (e-mail address removed) (Andrew) wrote in
: comp.sys.laptops:


: > Considering how often hard drives crash for no
: > reason, it's incredibly stupid not to backup your hard drive.
: > I've had at least three hard drives crash on me and have talked
: > to numerous others who have experienced such. The odds are
: > against you.

: To be honest, I doubt it. Hard drives are pretty reliable these
: days, and certainly hundreds of procent more reliable than say ten
: years ago. I find it amazing how few they crash theses days, but
: it can be a matter of perspective.

(shrug) I guess after seeing more than one dead hard drive in the
last two years where all data was lost I'll stick with my assumption
that hard drives can and do crash regularly, no matter how much more
reliable people say they are. :-)

Andrew
--
----> Portland, Oregon, USA <----
*******************************************************************
----> http://www.bizave.com <---- Photo Albums and Portland Info
----> To Email me remove "MYSHOES" from email address
*******************************************************************
 
CeeBee said:
(e-mail address removed) (Andrew) wrote in
comp.sys.laptops:


To be honest, I doubt it. Hard drives are pretty reliable these
days, and certainly hundreds of procent more reliable than say ten
years ago. I find it amazing how few they crash theses days, but
it can be a matter of perspective.

But about backing up you're absolutely right, if it's only your
valuable data if you don't have space to make a ghost of your
complete hard drive.
Click to expand...


A lot of you are harping on about people being stupid for not backing
up.

Sure, it's not the brightest thing to ignore, but bear in mind that a
little over 10 years ago, a new 40MB hard drive cost (in the UK, fitted)
over £400. A tape streamer to back that drive up cost only £80 - £100
or so.

Nowadays, a 200GB drive is well under £100, yet a tape backup solution
for that volume is at least ten times as much. (Please don't mention
backing up to another hard drive.)

Economics play a role as well.


Odie
 
Odie said:
A lot of you are harping on about people being stupid for not backing
up.

Sure, it's not the brightest thing to ignore, but bear in mind that a
little over 10 years ago, a new 40MB hard drive cost (in the UK, fitted)
over £400. A tape streamer to back that drive up cost only £80 - £100
or so.

Nowadays, a 200GB drive is well under £100, yet a tape backup solution
for that volume is at least ten times as much. (Please don't mention
backing up to another hard drive.)
Click to expand...

Why not mention it? It's cost-effective and works fine as long as you do it
right.
 
CeeBee said:
(e-mail address removed) (Andrew) wrote in
comp.sys.laptops:



To be honest, I doubt it. Hard drives are pretty reliable these
days, and certainly hundreds of procent more reliable than say ten
years ago. I find it amazing how few they crash theses days, but
it can be a matter of perspective.
Click to expand...

Actually, I think we've passed through a peak in reliability of hard drives.
Over the past few years, we've maintained the 3.5" physical form but
increased the capacity by perhaps an order and a half magnitude. I don't
think it's coincidence that the drive manufacturers no longer warrant their
drives for three years as was standard a few years ago. Maybe I'm nervous
because I just had a 160 GB drive replaced in under a year due to SMART
errors.
 
Odie Ferrous said:
A lot of you are harping on about people being stupid for not backing
up.

Sure, it's not the brightest thing to ignore, but bear in mind that a
little over 10 years ago, a new 40MB hard drive cost (in the UK, fitted)
over £400. A tape streamer to back that drive up cost only £80 - £100
or so.

Nowadays, a 200GB drive is well under £100, yet a tape backup solution
for that volume is at least ten times as much. (Please don't mention
backing up to another hard drive.)
Click to expand...

Why not? That can be convenient enough to encourage even the laziest to back
up their data. Of course, for the most important data, one needs also to
frequently back up to off-site storage. That can be accomplished for most
people fairly easily using inexpensive DVD's.
 
Actually, I think we've passed through a peak in reliability of hard drives.
Over the past few years, we've maintained the 3.5" physical form but
increased the capacity by perhaps an order and a half magnitude. I don't
think it's coincidence that the drive manufacturers no longer warrant their
drives for three years as was standard a few years ago.
Click to expand...

Plenty still do and Seagate is warranting some of theirs for 5 years now.
Maybe I'm nervous because I just had a 160 GB drive
replaced in under a year due to SMART errors.
Click to expand...

Yep, the technical term for that is 'pathetically inadequate sample'
 
: CeeBee wrote:
: A lot of you are harping on about people being stupid for not backing
: up.

: Sure, it's not the brightest thing to ignore, but bear in mind that a
: little over 10 years ago, a new 40MB hard drive cost (in the UK, fitted)
: over £400. A tape streamer to back that drive up cost only £80 - £100
: or so.

: Nowadays, a 200GB drive is well under £100, yet a tape backup solution
: for that volume is at least ten times as much. (Please don't mention
: backing up to another hard drive.)

Of course I will - that's the most cost-effective way to do it. As
said in another thread, I recently purchased a 160GB desktop hard
drive for $54 after rebate. Fry's has a 200GB on sale this weekend
for $75 after rebate. I can get a USB 2.0 hard drive enclosure for
$26. For $101, I get a nice backup system.

For redundancy, I'll want at least two copies of my data, because my
backup drives can fail too. So I'll get two of the above and
alternately back up to one drive or the other. The chances of both
drives failing at the same time is small.

On top of that, DVD is a good way to backup important files without
backing up all your software. I.e. if you have a bunch of digital
photos, dump them on to a few DVDs or CDs. Again, have at least two
copies - CDs and DVDs can and do fail also. I've had a couple of
burned CDs go bad on me.

Having invested in a hunk-of-junk tape backup system from HP years
ago, I will never use one again. The system I bought was slow and
unreliable, and the tapes were expensive. To get a professional
system that is more reliable wouldn't be worth the extra cost to me.

Andrew
--
----> Portland, Oregon, USA <----
*******************************************************************
----> http://www.bizave.com <---- Photo Albums and Portland Info
----> To Email me remove "MYSHOES" from email address
*******************************************************************
 
For redundancy, I'll want at least two copies of my data, because my
backup drives can fail too. So I'll get two of the above and
alternately back up to one drive or the other. The chances of both
drives failing at the same time is small.
Click to expand...


I can live with the idea of two backup drives. Somehow, using one
medium prone to failure to backup another medium as prone to failure
doesn't quite compute with me. Especially when using IBM/Hitachi drives
or external Maxtor devices. But two Seagates - great. Trouble is, many
people who use hard drives as their backup targets tend not to accept
that their backups are failsafe.

But don't worry about me - I actually have less than 1GB of data that it
would cause pain to lose - and this gets backed up to various media on a
regular basis. I am probably more paranoid than the lot of you put
together when it comes to losing data. Perhaps because I see so much of
it.
On top of that, DVD is a good way to backup important files without
backing up all your software. I.e. if you have a bunch of digital
photos, dump them on to a few DVDs or CDs. Again, have at least two
copies - CDs and DVDs can and do fail also. I've had a couple of
burned CDs go bad on me.

Having invested in a hunk-of-junk tape backup system from HP years
ago, I will never use one again. The system I bought was slow and
unreliable, and the tapes were expensive. To get a professional
system that is more reliable wouldn't be worth the extra cost to me.
Click to expand...


This does seem to be a major problem with plenty of modern streaming
media - the backup seems to go perfectly, then come to restore, the tape
can't be read for a number of reasons. As you say, you need to spend
plenty of sheckels on a decent system.


Odie
 
Ian said:
Actually, I think we've passed through a peak in reliability of hard
drives. Over the past few years, we've maintained the 3.5" physical form
but increased the capacity by perhaps an order and a half magnitude. I
don't think it's coincidence that the drive manufacturers no longer
warrant their drives for three years as was standard a few years ago.
Click to expand...

No, it's not. One reduced it to a year and cut prices to reflect the
reduced warranty. The others followed suit in an effort to keep their
prices competitive. Now Seagate's giving 5 years and several other vendors
are back to three.
Maybe I'm nervous because I just had a 160 GB drive replaced in under a
year due to SMART errors.
Click to expand...

I just lost a 160 too. But not the several other 160s of the same brand and
model that I installed at the same time in different machines.

Regardless, there is one thing one can be certain about with hard disks.
They _will_ fail. In an ideal world you'll have moved your data to newer,
faster, more reliable ones first.

I think that episode was the one where I finally lost interest.
 
: (e-mail address removed) (Andrew) wrote in
: comp.sys.laptops:


: > Considering how often hard drives crash for no
: > reason, it's incredibly stupid not to backup your hard drive.
: > I've had at least three hard drives crash on me and have talked
: > to numerous others who have experienced such. The odds are
: > against you.

: To be honest, I doubt it. Hard drives are pretty reliable these
: days, and certainly hundreds of procent more reliable than say ten
: years ago. I find it amazing how few they crash theses days, but
: it can be a matter of perspective.

(shrug) I guess after seeing more than one dead hard drive in the
last two years where all data was lost I'll stick with my assumption
that hard drives can and do crash regularly, no matter how much more
reliable people say they are. :-)

Andrew
Click to expand...

Modern hard drives are amazingly reliable but I imagine that my laptop
could be stolen any day, and my deskop system could suffer a hard disk
crash any night and backup my data accordingly.

Whenever someone asks me what the most reliable hard disk is I respond
"what difference does it make ? You still need to do esactly the same
backup proceedure."
 
: I can live with the idea of two backup drives. Somehow, using one
: medium prone to failure to backup another medium as prone to failure
: doesn't quite compute with me. Especially when using IBM/Hitachi drives
: or external Maxtor devices. But two Seagates - great.

Having seen two Seagates start to fail in the last few months alone, I
would not put any more faith in them than in any other manufacturer's
drives. To be fair, though, unlike the WD and IBM drives I've had
die, the Seagates (in friends' computers) were at least alive and I
could retrive data from them, even though they were failing
diagnostics and making the classic "dying drive" sounds...

: Trouble is, many
: people who use hard drives as their backup targets tend not to accept
: that their backups are failsafe.

Yeah, true enough.

Andrew
--
----> Portland, Oregon, USA <----
*******************************************************************
----> http://www.bizave.com <---- Photo Albums and Portland Info
----> To Email me remove "MYSHOES" from email address
*******************************************************************
 
That would depend on the drives you purchase. I just purchased a WD Raptor,
5 year warranty, and a Maxtor 300GB SATA drive, with a 3 year warranty.

Dan
 
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