data retrieval

[Walter Goldschmidt]

I fried my external hard drive by accidentally unplugging it from it's port.
Searching on the internet they want $400-$800 to recover the data. Is there
any other way to recover it or maybe a cheaper way?

 

[Richard G. Harper]

What's the data worth to you? You can try to recover it yourself but
frankly the chances of making it permanently inaccessible are pretty high if
you screw it up.

 

[Malke]

I fried my external hard drive by accidentally unplugging it from it's
port. Searching on the internet they want $400-$800 to recover the data.
Is there any other way to recover it or maybe a cheaper way?

No. And the price range you've posted is suspiciously low. Check with Drive
Savers (www.drivesavers.com). No, I don't work for them but I think they
are the best. If you can't afford it - and check with your insurance agent
because some homeowners' policies cover data recovery - then put the money
to an external hard drive and a backup program. I like Second Copy
(www.centered.com) for straight backup and Acronis True Image
(www.acronis.com) for imaging/incremental backups.

Malke

 

[Walter Goldschmidt]

Thank you Malke I called them and they wanted $500-$2400. Richard, how would
I go about trying to recover the data myself. It's lost to me anyway and I'm
not paying $500 to recover it so I might as well try myself.

 

[Malke]

Thank you Malke I called them and they wanted $500-$2400. Richard, how
would I go about trying to recover the data myself. It's lost to me anyway
and I'm not paying $500 to recover it so I might as well try myself.

If the hard drive is physically sound, you can try a data recovery program.
First test the drive with a diagnostic utility downloaded from the hard
drive mftr.'s website (or use Seagate's SeaTools For DOS).

You will create a bootable CD with the file you download. You will need
third-party burning software to do this such as Roxio, Nero, or the free
CDBurnerXP Pro. Burn as an image, not as data.

http://www.cdburnerxp.se/

Boot with the CD you made and do a thorough test of the drive. If it fails
any physical tests, you won't be able to retrieve data except by sending it
to a professional data recovery company like Drive Savers.

If the drive is physically OK:

If you use data recovery software, install it on another machine and either
use it from that operating system or create a bootable cd/floppy and work
with that. IIRC, EasyRecovery doesn't work with Vista but I've had good
results with R-Studio.

http://www3.telus.net/mikebike/RESTORATION.html
PCInspector File Recovery -
http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/welcome.htm
Executive Software ?Undelete? -
http://www.undelete.com/undelete/undelete.asp
R-Studio - http://www.r-tt.com/
File Scavenger - http://www.quetek.com/prod02.htm
Ontrack's EasyRecovery - http://www.ontrack.com/software/

Malke

 

[Rockingham500]

I fried my external hard drive by accidentally unplugging it from it's port.
Searching on the internet they want $400-$800 to recover the data. Is there
any other way to recover it or maybe a cheaper way?

The best solution is File Restore Professional. This is available for
approx $100. You can even preview your lost data before you make your
purchase. It can be downloaded here: www.pcrecovery.com

 

[Walter Goldschmidt]

The only problem is the external hard drive is not being detected by either
the computer or the File Restore Professional software so I can't scan that
drive. I think it's a lost cause and it sure isn't worth $500 to get the
information back. It will be missed but over time a lot of it can be
replaced.