CJ Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 I have managed to damage an external hard drive that contains all my music, pics etc. I have taken it to two local small shops here on the island and they have tried to get the drive recognised by their PC's but have failed. I am quite happy to send this back to the UK for someone to attempt and was wondering if anyone on here works for a data recovery company or can recommend someone to me? If it makes any odds, it is a Buffalo 1TB external drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3LL Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 dont think you will get it back mate unless the drive is detectable in bios.. if it is you can possibly do a partial recovery from DOS. but if you cant see the drive at all then its gonna be a hard task. Had the same thing myself with a 500gb drive few months back. Contacted manufacturer and got no where, shop wouldnt take it back as i didnt have a receipt. threw it in the end! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted April 28, 2009 Author Share Posted April 28, 2009 Apparently, the shop here took the HD out of the casing and tried it in a PC environment but could not get anything. I tried to see it on my PC and it did for a while but then the whole thing freezes up when I try to look at the disk. So, you people think this is a lost cause? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caseys Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 It's not a lost cause currently. I'd try talking to the Vogons (Vogon Data Recovery) http://www.vogon-international.com/ I've seen a company recover data off a hard drive with a bullet hole in it. Trust me, if you're willing to pay they can recover data. How did you damage the drive? Or has it just stopped working? Did it sound like a mechanical failure? (if so that'll be pricey). It may just be that it's PCB or it's firmware is knackered... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrRalphMan Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Jeez, taking it to someone like that will be mega expensive. One trick I have heard tried successfully is to chill the HD overnight. This sometimes enables you to run the drive for a short period before it dies again, but not sure if this works for a dropped drive.. if this is what has happened. http://geeksaresexy.blogspot.com/2006/01/freeze-your-hard-drive-to-recover-data.html http://www.datarecoverypros.com/hard-drive-recovery-freeze.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamanC Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 pop it in the freezer for an hour (wrap it up first) then try it. Try replacing the PCB, if not then its off to vogon if you really want the data. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeordieSteve Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 http://www.stellarinfo.com/ is very good but go with the freezer job first Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrRalphMan Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 pop it in the freezer for an hour (wrap it up first) then try it. Try replacing the PCB, if not then its off to vogon if you really want the data. Copy cat.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamanC Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Copy cat.. Thinking about it, didn't I tell you to do it once upon a time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrRalphMan Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 It rings a bell, don't think I ever tried it in the end.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted April 28, 2009 Author Share Posted April 28, 2009 Much horse grassy ass fellas. I will give the freezer option a try and let you know how I get on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamanC Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Just don't do it for too long, the goal is just the make the drive bl00dy cold! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guigsy Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 Ive got a laptop drive that died yesterday night. Have it hooked up to my pc at the mo but its not recogniseable in the bios. Ive tried GetDataBack but it just errors when looking for the drives (finds my others though) I'll try the freezer thing. But any other sugestions? Realy want this to work cause i have all my holiday photos from the past year including my 3 month trip to florida and all the fiances phots of our trips arround england from the past 6 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamanC Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 You can replace the circuit board on them. Often when they are unrecognised in the bois its due to the board. That means buying an identical drive, butchering it and swapping everything over. Pritty Damn hard on a 2.5" drive. I have done it to a handful of dives, 2 have worked. Go for the freezer option first. If you are desperate, send it away with a few grand and the disks can be transplanted. All depends how much your data is worth? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abz Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 You can replace the circuit board on them. Often when they are unrecognised in the bois its due to the board. That means buying an identical drive, butchering it and swapping everything over. Pritty Damn hard on a 2.5" drive. I have done it to a handful of dives, 2 have worked. Go for the freezer option first. If you are desperate, send it away with a few grand and the disks can be transplanted. All depends how much your data is worth? Daman is 100% correct, when I was @ Deloitte's we use to have HP Laptops which HD's would fail... they had an external forensics company next door to ours and they would try to get the data back charging £2.5k a pop! We sent them a lot of drives and they had 70% success rate, does depend how much they are worth to you. Is the hard drive clunking? If you get some clunking then like Daman mentioned the freezer job will get you a small window time to get the data before the hard drive gets warm and unreadable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted July 16, 2009 Author Share Posted July 16, 2009 I am yet to try the freezer method yet but when I do (and assuming the external drive can be read) how long will I have to transfer files to another PC? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guigsy Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 about 20-30 mins apparently. When it was still in the laptop and i was running the scandisk it was clunking and going very slowly. now i have it outside and plugged into the pc it doesnt clunk. But it does get warm so seems like its spinning. I doubt i could find an identicle drive. It just says hitachi. Its just the one that came with my acer laptop. Unfortunately i dont have a few K to spend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adnanshah247 Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 yep, cooling/freezing the drive does work. tried this myself about a year ago and got 300gb worth of data out my nackered drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abz Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 about 20-30 mins apparently. When it was still in the laptop and i was running the scandisk it was clunking and going very slowly. now i have it outside and plugged into the pc it doesnt clunk. But it does get warm so seems like its spinning. I doubt i could find an identicle drive. It just says hitachi. Its just the one that came with my acer laptop. Unfortunately i dont have a few K to spend You should be able to contact Acer or shop you brought laptop from to find out what model hitachi hard drive you have. If so maybe, just maybe....Daman might like to work on a 2.5" hard drive circuit swap out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guigsy Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 im sure i can do the swap out myself Ive found an exact drive on ebay. but its 40 quid. and with my radiator blowing up the other day i dont have the money at the moment. Ive bid on one thats going for 10 quid tho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abz Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 im sure i can do the swap out myself Ive found an exact drive on ebay. but its 40 quid. and with my radiator blowing up the other day i dont have the money at the moment. Ive bid on one thats going for 10 quid tho Ahh get Daman to do it for free... he said something about he will do all work for free as long as you say the magic word (Supra) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guigsy Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 haha. im sure he wont buy a 40 quid hard drive for free just cause i have a supra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamanC Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 Ahh get Daman to do it for free... he said something about he will do all work for free as long as you say the magic word (Supra) Will he now? Guigsy - If you get stuck, send the two drives over. FOC as per my "sales manager" promise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted July 30, 2009 Author Share Posted July 30, 2009 Ah well, I tried the freezer method and no joy. I get clicking and whirring noises but the drive does not open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamanC Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 Bin or Expensive job my friend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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