Anyone know a consumer data recovery service please?

[Arno Wagner]

Always, always, ALWAYS run a VERIFY option on a backup wether its tape, HD,
DVD, whatever (time permitting of course, but I have never had a case where
we can't verify).

I second that. But make sure it is actually a _COMPARE_, not just a
data-integrity check on the backup medium. Some broken software does
that instead of a compare.

I found several defect memory modules and some other problems that
way. Needless to say, the backups would have been unusable.

Arno

 

[Ann Onimus]

I found several defect memory modules and some other problems that
way.

using what apps?

tnx

 

[Arno Wagner]

Arno Wagner <[email protected]> shared:

using what apps?

Just tar for file backups and dd_rescue + md5sum for images of
partitions.
I do all my backups with Linux. Far easier, better and
cheaper.

Arno

 

[Ann Onimus]

Just tar for file backups and dd_rescue + md5sum for images of
partitions.
I do all my backups with Linux. Far easier, better and
cheaper.

I see.
Tnx Arno.

 

[Faiz]

u can try ur self by using (easy data recovery) software
i had expanience of using easy data recovery and recover the data of a
formated hard

 

[Al Dykes]

u can try ur self by using (easy data recovery) software
i had expanience of using easy data recovery and recover the data of a
formated hard

I think Ontrack.com has DIY recovery software yoiur can d/l and run to
see it anything can be recovered and tell you what it will find. If
you decide to pay you get your data back.

Ontrack is one of the Big Dawgs in the data recovery business.

 

[news.rcn.com]

Hi Odie

Any chance of your being back in business again yet" I have been
recommending Retrodata on some journalism newsgroups where some members had
this sort of problem

MR

 

[Al Dykes]

Hi Odie

Any chance of your being back in business again yet" I have been
recommending Retrodata on some journalism newsgroups where some members had
this sort of problem

MR

ontrack.com

 

[Odie Ferrous]

Hi Odie

Any chance of your being back in business again yet" I have been
recommending Retrodata on some journalism newsgroups where some members had
this sort of problem

MR

I am back - just went offline for a couple of days during my recent
move.


Odie

 

[lcoughey]

Well, it may be too late, but I'll put a plug in for my company,
Recovery Force Inc. If you have been quoted more than you can afford,
give us a try. If you choose to go it on your own, please be careful
not to make things worse by following a few steps:

1) Don't boot up or install recovery programs on the defective drive.
2) Make an exact clone of the defective drive (must have an equal or
larger destination drive that has been forensically wiped and be sure
not to clone the wiped drive to the defective drive. The drive must
also be in physically working, as well.)
3) Boot of another working drive, with the clone and a 3rd hard drive
to recover your data to.
4) Use your recovery tools to recovery your files. (No one recovery
program does it all...you may need to try the recovery with 3 or 4
different programs before you are successful...which may cost more than
using a professional data recovery service.)

Note: If there are any physical problems with your drive, each time you
power it on, you decrease the chances of your data being recovered
professionally while potentially increasing the cost for the recovery.

Luke Coughey
Vice President
Recovery Force Inc.
866-750-3169
http://www.recoveryforce.com/

 

[Paul Rubin]

Note: If there are any physical problems with your drive, each time you
power it on, you decrease the chances of your data being recovered
professionally while potentially increasing the cost for the recovery.

What do you think of the trick of chilling the drive in a freezer for
a while and then trying to read it? There's recurring claims that
this has helped get past some physical problems, but it sounds nuts to
me. I have a IBM/Hitachi Travelstar which doesn't spin up properly.
Thanks.

 

[rollout]

This reminds me of a company I talked to who claimed to do data
recovery. After some inquiry, I was told that their best two tools
were a freezer and a small hammer. I think their logic is that if the
drive motor is overheating, cooling it down and tapping it with a
hammer will help things to move again. I suspect the tapping logic is
similar to those days when the starter on my car has frozen and how a
few heavy taps will help me get it started.

The key is, get a professional quote first...evaluations are usually
free. If the cost is too high, get the drive back and then experiment.
If you try the freezer first and it doesn't work, you migh have made
things worse.

Take note that when your hard drive is cold, condensation may build up
on it and could cause a sort on the PCB.

With respect to your travelstar, give me a call...I may be able to help
you out.

Luke Coughey
Vice President
Recovery Force Inc.
866-750-3169
http://www.recoveryforce.com/

 

[Al Dykes]

This reminds me of a company I talked to who claimed to do data
recovery. After some inquiry, I was told that their best two tools
were a freezer and a small hammer. I think their logic is that if the
drive motor is overheating, cooling it down and tapping it with a
hammer will help things to move again. I suspect the tapping logic is
similar to those days when the starter on my car has frozen and how a
few heavy taps will help me get it started.

The key is, get a professional quote first...evaluations are usually
free. If the cost is too high, get the drive back and then experiment.
If you try the freezer first and it doesn't work, you migh have made
things worse.

Take note that when your hard drive is cold, condensation may build up
on it and could cause a sort on the PCB.

With respect to your travelstar, give me a call...I may be able to help
you out.

Luke Coughey
Vice President
Recovery Force Inc.
866-750-3169
http://www.recoveryforce.com/

ISTR that ontrack.com has a tool you can d/l and run and it tells you
what data, if any, it will ercover. YOu pay a few bucks if you want
what it can find.

ontrack has been in the data recovery business for many years. I had
them recover data from a Novell server disk 10 years ago. It cost $4k
and it would have been much cheaper if my client has put tapes in the
tape drive I set up for him.

 

[Paul Rubin]

This reminds me of a company I talked to who claimed to do data
recovery. After some inquiry, I was told that their best two tools
were a freezer and a small hammer. I think their logic is that if the
drive motor is overheating, cooling it down and tapping it with a
hammer will help things to move again. I suspect the tapping logic is
similar to those days when the starter on my car has frozen and how a
few heavy taps will help me get it started.

Tapping (or even smacking the drive against a table) was a standard
cure for the famous Seagate stiction problems of the 80's. In my
Travelstar's case, the drive motor isn't overheating, but rather
something is wrong with the power-up sequence. I don't remember now
whether the platters spin normally, but what happens immediately on
powerup is "clack, clack, clack" about 2x a second as the positioner
keeps trying to move the heads somewhere and slams into the stops.

With respect to your travelstar, give me a call...I may be able to help
you out.

I wonder if you have any thoughts based on the above description.

 

[Paul Rubin]

ISTR that ontrack.com has a tool you can d/l and run and it tells you
what data, if any, it will ercover. YOu pay a few bucks if you want
what it can find.

That sounds like just a software program for reconstructing corrupted
file systems. There's plenty of free tools for that, so it's not what
I think of as data recovery. Data recovery means getting data off
drives after the hardware has failed.

 

[rollout]

but what happens immediately on powerup is "clack, clack, clack"

about 2x a second as the > positioner keeps trying to move the
heads somewhere and slams into the stops.

It is possible that the data may be still recoverable, without any
major physical repair. However, it is probable that the read/write
heads may need to be replaced. This is definitely not going to be
resolved by the freezer/hammer team.

Best of luck,

Luke Coughey
Vice President
Recovery Force Inc.
866-750-3169
http://www.recoveryforce.com

 

[Sleuth]

Now that you've whetted my appetite, can you tell us
what recovery programs do what well, what programs
do what badly, and what the most successful
combination is for most recovery jobs? Are the forensic
suites out there good for recovery jobs? Thanks.

 

[rollout]

I wish I could give a review of all the programs that we use. However,
I would be stepping accross the line of my company's confidentiality.
We have spent years researching and testing the recovery programs that
are out there...oddly enough, our favourite program is developed for
computer forensics.

Luke Coughey
Vice President
Recovery Force Inc.
866-750-3169
http://www.recoveryforce.com/

 

[Odie Ferrous]

Hi Odie

Any chance of your being back in business again yet" I have been
recommending Retrodata on some journalism newsgroups where some members had
this sort of problem

MR

MR - am trying to email you, without luck.

Can you send me an email on the address on my website please?

Thanks

Duncan