data retrieval

  • Thread starter Thread starter Walter Goldschmidt
  • Start date Start date
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Walter Goldschmidt

I fried my external hard drive by accidentally unplugging it from it's port.
Searching on the internet they want $400-$800 to recover the data. Is there
any other way to recover it or maybe a cheaper way?
 
What's the data worth to you? You can try to recover it yourself but
frankly the chances of making it permanently inaccessible are pretty high if
you screw it up.
 
Walter said:
I fried my external hard drive by accidentally unplugging it from it's
port. Searching on the internet they want $400-$800 to recover the data.
Is there any other way to recover it or maybe a cheaper way?
Click to expand...

No. And the price range you've posted is suspiciously low. Check with Drive
Savers (www.drivesavers.com). No, I don't work for them but I think they
are the best. If you can't afford it - and check with your insurance agent
because some homeowners' policies cover data recovery - then put the money
to an external hard drive and a backup program. I like Second Copy
(www.centered.com) for straight backup and Acronis True Image
(www.acronis.com) for imaging/incremental backups.

Malke
 
Thank you Malke I called them and they wanted $500-$2400. Richard, how would
I go about trying to recover the data myself. It's lost to me anyway and I'm
not paying $500 to recover it so I might as well try myself.
 
Walter said:
Thank you Malke I called them and they wanted $500-$2400. Richard, how
would I go about trying to recover the data myself. It's lost to me anyway
and I'm not paying $500 to recover it so I might as well try myself.
Click to expand...

If the hard drive is physically sound, you can try a data recovery program.
First test the drive with a diagnostic utility downloaded from the hard
drive mftr.'s website (or use Seagate's SeaTools For DOS).

You will create a bootable CD with the file you download. You will need
third-party burning software to do this such as Roxio, Nero, or the free
CDBurnerXP Pro. Burn as an image, not as data.

http://www.cdburnerxp.se/

Boot with the CD you made and do a thorough test of the drive. If it fails
any physical tests, you won't be able to retrieve data except by sending it
to a professional data recovery company like Drive Savers.

If the drive is physically OK:

If you use data recovery software, install it on another machine and either
use it from that operating system or create a bootable cd/floppy and work
with that. IIRC, EasyRecovery doesn't work with Vista but I've had good
results with R-Studio.

http://www3.telus.net/mikebike/RESTORATION.html
PCInspector File Recovery -
http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/welcome.htm
Executive Software ?Undelete? -
http://www.undelete.com/undelete/undelete.asp
R-Studio - http://www.r-tt.com/
File Scavenger - http://www.quetek.com/prod02.htm
Ontrack's EasyRecovery - http://www.ontrack.com/software/

Malke
 
I fried my external hard drive by accidentally unplugging it from it's port.
Searching on the internet they want $400-$800 to recover the data. Is there
any other way to recover it or maybe a cheaper way?
Click to expand...

The best solution is File Restore Professional. This is available for
approx $100. You can even preview your lost data before you make your
purchase. It can be downloaded here: www.pcrecovery.com
 
The only problem is the external hard drive is not being detected by either
the computer or the File Restore Professional software so I can't scan that
drive. I think it's a lost cause and it sure isn't worth $500 to get the
information back. It will be missed but over time a lot of it can be
replaced.
 
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