If anyone out there has an issue with Data Recovery, or Computer Forensics, please let me know, and I will do as much as I can to resolve the issue. If not, I will certainly point you in the right direction.

First main rule of data recovery - don’t attempt it yourself unless you have a forensically sound image of the original. Once you have overwritten data, it is predominantly gone forever, (certain parts can still be retrieved that may have use in the cases of criminal computer forensics in areas called Buffer Slack, and RAM Slack - I will explain about these at another time). If you overwrite the data, you have lost it. Even experts, (like us at Disklabs), will not be able to recover that/those files. There may of course be copies of the files elsewhere that can be recoverable, which is probably the only get out clause to user may have.

Data Recovery is not simply changing over the boards on hard disk drives, there are lots of other procedures, such as head stack changes, (swapping the heads and arms inside of the hard disk drive), and there are also firmware fixing procedures. Firmware is particularly difficult because the equipment to read the firmware on a drive that isn’t working is incredibly expensive, and rather difficult to work. There are also other systems of recovery, which are software based. Hundreds of companies sell software that will 'guaranty' to recover the data. None of these commercially available, non-specialist data recovery utilities take into consideration the issue of imaging the data onto a separate drive, therefore could well be making a difficult job impossible by writing over the data in the first place, thus making it un-recoverable.

There are thousands of connotations of things that can, and do, go wrong. My suggestion would be to ask a few questions first, then to contact someone like Disklabs. Mention PCReview, and I am sure that there will be a bit of a discount there for you!

Happy computing,

Simon
http://www.disklabs.com