Hard disk failure

[Jubber]

If it is ticking remove it and wallop it on the desk. I know this sounds harsh, but it does free them up. If it does free it up, copy all data from it immediately to another drive and then bin it. It will only start sticking again.

J

[mccannjg]

Three things and i guaruntee they do work:

1/ Hirens boot CD
2/ Freezer trick [yes i know it sounds crazy but iv'e used and so has others]
3/ wack on a hard surface - make sure that the flat edge hits the desk - also this method is a bit 50/50

[Badger]

My 80gb mobile HD has failed . I've tried everything on this post and more. Has anyone ever used a data recovery firm, and if so what was the cost/success rate.

This was my box of tricks whilst on site so I'd like to get as much back as possible.

[Clippy]

My 80gb mobile HD has failed . I've tried everything on this post and more. Has anyone ever used a data recovery firm, and if so what was the cost/success rate.

This was my box of tricks whilst on site so I'd like to get as much back as possible.

Yes - Disk Labs.

Cost was quite high as you can appreciate as they have you in a 'corner' so to speak.

Used them twice:

First time was a failed HDD where all data was retrieved.

Second time was to recover data from a drive which had been formatted as part of the XP install process. Unfortunately, they were un-able to retrieve any data.

Can't remember exact costs but the first instance was £200 - £400 and the second there was no cost as they were un-successful in retrieving any data. They only charged to ship the drive back to me.

On both occassions, the service was very good.

HTH.

[Badger]

Cheers Clippy. I'll check them out.

[BoredBloke]

Yes - Disk Labs.

Cost was quite high as you can appreciate as they have you in a 'corner' so to speak.

Used them twice:

First time was a failed HDD where all data was retrieved.

Second time was to recover data from a drive which had been formatted as part of the XP install process. Unfortunately, they were un-able to retrieve any data.

Can't remember exact costs but the first instance was £200 - £400 and the second there was no cost as they were un-successful in retrieving any data. They only charged to ship the drive back to me.

On both occassions, the service was very good.

HTH.

That sounds expensive if all they do is shove it in a freezer for a night or hit it on a desk - Plan B I think!!

[themistry]

That sounds expensive if all they do is shove it in a freezer for a night or hit it on a desk - Plan B I think!!

[Clippy]

That sounds expensive if all they do is shove it in a freezer for a night or hit it on a desk - Plan B I think!!

These guys were very professional - have proper facilities, similar environment to hard drive production sites but much smaller scale.

However, on the second occasion I used them, I rang around several 'firms' in London and I got the distinct impression some of the people I spoke to were one man bands who were plucking figures (£500/£600) out of the air and would probably just try and run some freeware s/w from CNet to try and recover the data.

[BoredBloke]

That is the point I was making - What steps do they go through to determine that they can't get the data back. So you HD fails and you send it to them. They know that you will have tried and failed to get the data back yourself. So they stick it in the freezer and try with no joy. They hit it hard and still nothing, so they call you and tell you that recovery was impossible and dispose of the drive for you at no charge. On the other hand, if one of the steps does work, they call you, charge you a couple of hundred quid for the drive to sleep next to their fish fingers for the night. It seems like something which could easily and profitably be abused

Plan B then! If you get 10 drives a year to work with the freezer trick at say 300 a drive, you have a nice £3000 profit. Not enough to live on, but eough for a few nice toys!