hard drive repair

I have a failed hard drive with lots of data files I need to recover and/or
have access to.

I've been told that there the data recovery businesses out there first
fix/repair the hard drive, then they can copy off the data files.

If this is the case, can I just send the bad hard drive to one of these
businesses to be repaired? If they can repair it, it seems that I could
then reinstall it and keep going. Is this the case?

Or, will they still need to fix it and then copy off the files I want?

RB put me in my place by writing

I have a failed hard drive with lots of data files I need to recover
and/or have access to.

I've been told that there the data recovery businesses out there first
fix/repair the hard drive, then they can copy off the data files.

If this is the case, can I just send the bad hard drive to one of
these businesses to be repaired? If they can repair it, it seems that
I could then reinstall it and keep going. Is this the case?

Or, will they still need to fix it and then copy off the files I want?




In all likely hood, they will retrieve whatever data they can reassemble
off of the damaged drive, and put it onto a removable media or a secure FTP
site for you to retrieve. The Recovery Techs won't (that I am aware of)
physically repair the drive to be reused. If it is a matter of a
malfunctioning r/w head, or control board, chances are good that they can
recover 99.9% of it, if not all. If it is physically damaged, they may not
be able to recover everything. If you are opting for this, you had best
break out your extra fat wallet, because it is going to be pricey.

--
Wheaty...


Just one moment please...the mother ship is calling me on my microwave.

RB put me in my place by writing

I have a failed hard drive with lots of data files I need to recover
and/or have access to.

I've been told that there the data recovery businesses out there first
fix/repair the hard drive, then they can copy off the data files.

If this is the case, can I just send the bad hard drive to one of
these businesses to be repaired? If they can repair it, it seems that
I could then reinstall it and keep going. Is this the case?

Or, will they still need to fix it and then copy off the files I want?




Forgot to add that Yes, you would just courier the drive to the company. It
won't be usable once they are done, but for the cost of a drive, I would
just replace it with a new one and get the warranty.

--
Wheaty...


Just one moment please...the mother ship is calling me on my microwave.

Data Recovery services are way too expensive for the average home user to
consider. They cater primarily to big business that has high dollar data
that absolutely must be recovered at any cost. They don't repair drives in
most cases. They actually destroy many of them in the data recovery
process.

Just how did your drive go about failing? Does it still power up and sound
normal, or is it grinding oddly, clicking, and/or not showing up in the
BIOS? It could be as simple as a software problem and not an actual drive
failure. But drives do physically fail, so I'm not ruling that out.

You may wish to drop the drive off with a friend is who more tech-savvy so
he can check out simple things first... Things such as a bad FAT, or bad
sectors making the drive seem unresponsive and dead. Putting it in simple
terms, one little "file" can be corrupt and make it look like all of your
data is no longer there, when in reality it is all still intact and Windows
just doesn't know "where" on the drive it is. That is something you can
recover from quite easily with the proper software and some skills and
patience!

-Steve

"RB" wrote in message ...
I have a failed hard drive with lots of data files I need to recover
and/or
have access to.

I've been told that there the data recovery businesses out there first
fix/repair the hard drive, then they can copy off the data files.

If this is the case, can I just send the bad hard drive to one of these
businesses to be repaired? If they can repair it, it seems that I could
then reinstall it and keep going. Is this the case?

Or, will they still need to fix it and then copy off the files I want?




---
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Thanks for the responses. The data is important, not the hard drive.

Don't believe it is a software problem. Power line surge from nearby
lightning strike is the likely culprit. Two different and very good
computer techs have diagnosed the situation and both agree my hard drive is
bad. They both had special software for recovering hard drives, but none of
that worked.

Now, having said that, they also agree it might just be a bad component on
the controller card on the back of the hard drive, and not the actual disk
part of the unit. The data files are likely still intact.

Well, looks like my only out is to send it off for data retrieval.

If you can find an identical drive, it would definately be cheaper to buy
that drive and swap logic boards.

....of course, that's only if the board is bad.

"RB" wrote in message ...
Thanks for the responses. The data is important, not the hard drive.

Don't believe it is a software problem. Power line surge from nearby
lightning strike is the likely culprit. Two different and very good
computer techs have diagnosed the situation and both agree my hard drive
is
bad. They both had special software for recovering hard drives, but none
of
that worked.

Now, having said that, they also agree it might just be a bad component on
the controller card on the back of the hard drive, and not the actual disk
part of the unit. The data files are likely still intact.

Well, looks like my only out is to send it off for data retrieval.

A couple of years ago I was quoted $1500 for an 8.4gb hard drive. So get
out that credit card, take a seat and consider whether your data is worth
that much. For $1500 you can get a whole new PC. The larger the drive, the
higher the price is going to be, whether or not it is 25% full of data on it
or 90%.

Cari
www.coribright.com

"RB" wrote in message ...
Thanks for the responses. The data is important, not the hard drive.

Don't believe it is a software problem. Power line surge from nearby
lightning strike is the likely culprit. Two different and very good
computer techs have diagnosed the situation and both agree my hard drive
is
bad. They both had special software for recovering hard drives, but none
of
that worked.

Now, having said that, they also agree it might just be a bad component on
the controller card on the back of the hard drive, and not the actual disk
part of the unit. The data files are likely still intact.

Well, looks like my only out is to send it off for data retrieval.