So my parents HDD died and there are a lot of files that they need off of it. They took it to Intrex in Greensboro and couldn't get anything off of it. They are now looking into sending it to a data recovery company. Intrex recommended this company: http://www.drivesavers.com/. In addition my dad found this company: http://www.gillware.com/

Right now my dad like the second company because they don't charge if they can't get anything off and its cheeper as long as the warranty stickers have not been broken. My mom likes the first company because it was recommended by Intrex. Anyone had any experience with either of these or have any other recommendations?

7/21/2006 6:03:04 PM

this place is fairly local

reWave Hard Drive Recovery, LLC
5180 Bigs Woods Road
Chapel Hill, NC 27527

866-REWAVE-5

7/21/2006 6:10:01 PM

http://www.ontrack.com/

7/21/2006 9:06:17 PM

thanks for the suggestions so far...are these places you've used before or just places you know about?

7/21/2006 9:54:57 PM

how did it "die" does it have a head crash or will it not spin up or what. Sometimes you can get a spare HDD board off of ebay for anywhere from $10-$30. Pretty sure when mine crashed a few months ago it was a head crash, but I got a board anyway.

Oh and it still did no good but I was only out like $20 after shipping...was worth the shot.

[Edited on July 21, 2006 at 11:13 PM. Reason : oh]

7/21/2006 11:12:27 PM

I've recommended many people through ontrack -- never had a complaint -- be prepared though, its pretty expensive -- fill out their online quote form and within a few business hours they will call you on the phone and give you an estimate/get more information. They offer to send data via cd/dvd/etc and also provide ftp access to download your data if you want.

7/21/2006 11:17:31 PM

The drive wasn't making any physical noise that would indicate that it was an issue with the heads, so I am guessing that it was more to do with the ability to spin up. Then again, I am not the most familiar with this sort of thing, my parents just assume that because I was a Comp Sci major that I am the one to ask. As far as trying to fix it with a new board, my dad was talking about doing that but has backed of since he found out that having the warranty seals broken can make a difference in the cost. Basically they are looking for a reliable company who won't charge them out the ass (i.e $1,500) to get pictures and a few word files off the drive. I have sent them links to the places suggested so far so they should be able to get an idea of how much it would cost, but any feedback from people who have used them before, like pimp's, would be appriciated. Thanks again for the suggestions.

7/22/2006 1:55:33 AM

If the software based recovery methods didn't work, you might as well try to find a new control board. Getting the data professionally removed off the drive platters by a data recovery company cost thousands of dollars. I'm willing to bet that your folks aren't willing to shell out that kind of green just to get some photos back.

7/22/2006 2:09:18 AM

the boards aren't covered by any seals, just a few screws and it pops out, at least on the ones I've seen. There is nothing to void any kind of warranty with the board. Is the drive even still covered by a warranty? Most are only a couple years. Seagate just started doing 5 years.

7/22/2006 8:40:36 AM

Its not just photos that they need. My mom is in the middle of getting her masters and at the end she has to compile everything she's done and do some kind of paper/presentation. All of her course work up to this point was on the drive, so its a pretty big deal to her.

As for the board and warranty stickers, yeah, you're probably right, and that is actually what my dad was going to do until he found the second company that didn't charge "thousands" to get the data off if the "stickers" aren't broken. I'd probably try doing it myself if they (my mom) wasn't so hard-headed about the whole thing.

7/22/2006 10:34:20 AM