Hard Disk Repair Or Data Recovery

[Valjean]

I have a Seagate hard drive that needs repair. For some reason plugging in the power supply fired a chip on the board. I had this happen once before (in the US) and someone at Seagate replaced the chip and it was fine. Seagate does not have data recovery or repair in Thailand. If I want them to deal with this I need to ship the drive to the US. I was wondering if there is a good data recovery or repair service in Thailand. The content on the disk is a nice to have – not critical to my life. That said I would like someone who knows what they are doing. It’s just an 80 GB drive so if the easiest thing was to get the data off to a new drive and toss the old one that’s OK.

Recommendations?

[fennielyn]

I have a Seagate hard drive that needs repair. For some reason plugging in the power supply fired a chip on the board. I had this happen once before (in the US) and someone at Seagate replaced the chip and it was fine. Seagate does not have data recovery or repair in Thailand. If I want them to deal with this I need to ship the drive to the US. I was wondering if there is a good data recovery or repair service in Thailand. The content on the disk is a nice to have – not critical to my life. That said I would like someone who knows what they are doing. It’s just an 80 GB drive so if the easiest thing was to get the data off to a new drive and toss the old one that’s OK.

Recommendations?

Sorry I don't have any good advice coz my seagate HD crashed with neither warning nor symptoms which make me all the more upset and pissed of. And the sad thing is only my data, pictures and MP3 that could be recovered...all the other important stuff were all fried. IT as a deep, sad and painful day for me. (As you can read it on my blog post, I went almost apeshite but fortunately had a strongstiff drink take off the madness somewhat. If you think it's worth recoving the data, then by all means find someone who is REAlly good. Someone who specialises in Forencic HD diciphering. WOuld love to hear if you managed to get back the data adn if so how much will it cost? Good lluck!

[elkangorito]

Is the HDD still under warranty? If so, the RSA should help you but as you say, you will need to ship it elsewhere. Check Seagate warranty on the web.

I've used Maxtor drives for years without a problem. Back in 2000, I started using Seagate drives because they were cheaper & had longer warranties. 3 drives failed in 3 years, in 3 different computers at 3 different locations in Sydney. I've since changed back to Maxtor but the bad news is that Seagate has just 'bought out' Maxtor

[Guest Reimar]

Not any service for Data recovery for Seagate HDD in BKK!

And by the way, Data recovery is a quite expensive job if it could be done! That works if you really need that data otherwise look for the garbage can!!

[Valjean]

Hi All - thanks for the info. My assumption is that the HD and data is really OK. That the only problem is the fried chip on the board. That replacing this chip or the board will make everything OK. Of course I don't know that 100% and only time will tell. The reason I say data recovery is that I don't know if there are ways to pull the data off the disk without repairing that chip. Unless someone posts something different it sounds like the best thing is to just send off to Seagate US who will do this.

by the way - on the subject of data backup and security. I've been running a beta of Windows Home Server the past few months and upgraded to the final version this past weekend. I think this starts shipping in the next few months. This is a fantastic product - it backs up all of my home PCs and my work laptop every night. And on the server all data is duplicated across two physical drives so if one crashes all data is safe

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/...er/default.mspx

Here's Paul Thurrott's review - or preview.

http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/whs_preview.asp

I know that when I first thought about this I thought that a home server would be a super geek product. This will go mainstream as more and more people have GB's of priceless digital memories and need easy ways to store, share and back them up.

[Valjean]

ohhhh woooo wait a moment...

I went to Seagates nice web site and filled in all the info for the free quotation to send my drive and get my data and it came back with a quote of 1800 euros. There is a no data, no pay policy but I don't think so....

So Plan B

I want to find a repair shop that might have the same model drives and just do a swap of the boards. I guess Pantip is the place to wander arround and look. Any other ideas where some shop might have some misc hard drives??? I bought this over 2 years ago so I'm sure it's not a current model.

Thanks

[CosmicSurfer]

I just had a Data recovery issue, with a Seagate external drive... Not sure what caused it.. a bad box coincidental with a power fauilure, and NO UPS.. something.. Anyway.. Got Blue-screened and then Windows started to wipe my data... I lost a lot.. including about 7,000 MP3, and my Resume. :D The failure didn't wipe the whole drive.. but still.. I have Data going back 20 years on this drive.

I found this shop on 4th Floor of Pantip that was able to recover about 71 % of my data, But not my resume.. Bummer ... I just picked it up today (Tuesday). I Brought it to them on Saturday.

The Shop name is P-Care Computer & Service... Pantip, 4th Floor on Right Side at end of Corridor... as you walk down it's dead in fromt of you.. Yellow sign. Can't miss it. Phone: 02-255-6773

They got a guy there.. name is BAS... speaks pretty good English... Tell him the Farang in the hat sent you... < The one with the beautiful Thai Wife :-) >

It was (is) a 250 GB drive.. cost 1,500 Bht to recover. Plus the cost of a New BIG UPS to prevent future accidents in my soon to be purchased Dream computer.

Hope this helps,

CS

Edited October 2, 2007 by CosmicSurfer

[Firefoxx]

If it's just a fried chip then you can probably find an identical drive, swap the circuit boards, and hope that it works (I've done it before). It usually works if it's only the board that's malfunctioning, but some drives use the EPROM on the board to map out drive-specific parameters.

[Khun Jack]

In my home country you have every weekend computer flee markets and computer dealers selling lots of defective hardware for almost nothing. plenty of choice of different types and brands hard disks.

Was yesterday in Pantip plaza but found some secondhand working (maybe) hard disks but it had not the PCB model that I need for repairing. Selling defective stuff is not the Thai way I guess.

[Firefoxx]

You probably just don't know where to look. Defective stuff is sold in flea markets all over Thailand... but Pantip isn't a flea market. You could also go to Chinatown. On Sunday evenings, they sell a lot of weird stuff in the flea markets.

[elkangorito]

Now that Seagate has "bought out" Maxtor, I think I'll change to Fujitsu. My first computer was a 286 20 mHz with a massive 40 megabyte HDD. It had a Fujitsu HDD in it. The old girl lasted me 4 years without a hickup. Also, a mate on my'n works in a place where Fujitsu hardware is used (Toyota). He's an IT guy with lots of common sense (rare in the IT world). He endorses the reliability of Fujitsu gear. Basically, anything electronic that is made in Japan is bloody good. I think I'll go back to Fujitsu HDD's if I can source them, providing they are made in Japan.

[Khun Jack]

You probably just don't know where to look. Defective stuff is sold in flea markets all over Thailand... but Pantip isn't a flea market. You could also go to Chinatown. On Sunday evenings, they sell a lot of weird stuff in the flea markets.

Have visited the Ban Moo Market in Chinatown only to buy new electronic parts, but OK thanks for the tip.

[think_too_mut]

If it's just a fried chip then you can probably find an identical drive, swap the circuit boards, and hope that it works (I've done it before). It usually works if it's only the board that's malfunctioning, but some drives use the EPROM on the board to map out drive-specific parameters.

"Some"?

Those that don't, where do they keep and how do they know bad sectors mapping?

[thecottonmill]

I totally wrecked my hard disk by dropping it back in january ...i then made the vital mistake of switching it on and off lots of times to try and get it working again...

before finding out that there's a very reasonably priced (compared to international prices) place near On Nut BTS - get off and go away from town...to the Saha Union building - there's a hard disk repair place there. good service. couldn't help me because i'd messed up but may be able to help you!

Fingers crossed

John

[Valjean]

I totally wrecked my hard disk by dropping it back in january ...i then made the vital mistake of switching it on and off lots of times to try and get it working again...

before finding out that there's a very reasonably priced (compared to international prices) place near On Nut BTS - get off and go away from town...to the Saha Union building - there's a hard disk repair place there. good service. couldn't help me because i'd messed up but may be able to help you!

Fingers crossed

John

thanks for the tip

[ozterix]

sure this is a bit late but someone might look for this in the future.

there is a security company in bangkok (safecoms) that has pretty good service and access to clean room to repair even damage heads

a 80GB laptop HD cost me 15Kbaht, recovered all my data

check them http://www.savemydrive.com

there are all farang so you can expect nearly decent English, their sales guy is french

oz

[JSixpack]

a 80GB laptop HD cost me 15Kbaht, recovered all my data

check them http://www.savemydrive.com

there are all farang so you can expect nearly decent English, their sales guy is french

oz

15k? Ouch! Hope that was really important data.

I had a Seagate die on me once and for B1,000 DCOM said they'd get the data off it and copy it to a new disk I supplied.

[webfact]

Not any service for Data recovery for Seagate HDD in BKK!

And by the way, Data recovery is a quite expensive job if it could be done! That works if you really need that data otherwise look for the garbage can!!

What about this one...?

quote >

TLC provides data recovery for windows, based machines. We work on Quantum, IBM, Maxtor, Seagate, Fujitsu, Western Digital and Hitachi drives. <end quote

http://www.tlctechnology.com/thailand/

[klikster]

I found this shop on 4th Floor of Pantip that was able to recover about 71 % of my data, But not my resume.. Bummer ... I just picked it up today (Tuesday). I Brought it to them on Saturday.

The Shop name is P-Care Computer & Service... Pantip, 4th Floor on Right Side at end of Corridor... as you walk down it's dead in fromt of you.. Yellow sign. Can't miss it. Phone: 02-255-6773

I used these guys once, did a pretty fair job on 2 drives.

[wpcoe]

Is recovering data from a Mac's hard drive the same as recovering from a Windows or Linux drive? What I mean is, do these recovery shops handle the various types of file systems? A friend had his old Apple computer's hard disk grind to a halt and was wondering where he should go for recovery.

[ozterix]

cost of HD recovery... and procedure

I think some of you do not realise that there is a difference between recovering data that is suddenly inaccessible (logical error in the data map on the drive) and a physical recovery of data after either the electronic failed (fried chip) or worse, mechanical damage to the structure that reads the data on the plates (heads landing on the plate).

Logical recovery for mac or PC can be done at Pantip, I suggest Adtech (the owner Taksin speaks perfect English) and they are also great to sell parts at good price and have really good after sales service. They are opposite DATA IT (yello shop) on the first floor, next to the bookstore in the hall towards the carpark.

physical data recovery requires opening your hard drive in a clean room and moving the plates to another shell with compatible electronics and readjusting the heads to read the data. Then recreate the logical map if unavailable and transfer the recovered data to another medium. The best recovery company is www.drivesaver.com in the USA, and I suggest you see their museum of photos with what they recovered. However their lowest charge for an 89GB drive is 2000 US if all goes well... so when i said www.safecoms.com did it for 15K it was very reasonable.

For those who believe they can get a good job for 1000 baht at DCOM, simply consider that you will have a tech that assemble PC play around with your drive using cracked software he got from his mate next door selling pirated CDs and he will grind you drive to death. If there is no mechanical failure, he will give you a list of thousands of files, some readable and some not and you have to search through. If there is mechanical failure, all his attempts will only result in damaging the drive further by running the heads on the plate and as a result, your data will be lost forever.

Proper data recovery consist of analysing the drive WITHOUT spinning it, by means of using a computer that can operate the disk controller without spinning the drive and seeing that the movement of the head is not impaired, and then decide if spinning it is an option. In case of doubt, they will open it and perform the previously described operation.

Opening a drive requires having a clean room with serious filtration and qualified personal. Please be also aware that these people are authorised by the manufacturer to open the drive and after they recovered your data, you can send your disk to be replaced to the manufacturer.

If you send your drive to the manufacturer for a warranty replacement, you will NEVER get your data as your drive will be scrapped and you will have a beautiful new drive and no data. So if your data is important, recover properly before warranty exchange. If you don't care, then you can try DCOM at 1000 Baht or send for warranty replacement.

oz.

[bubba]

I just had a Data recovery issue, with a Seagate external drive... Not sure what caused it.. a bad box coincidental with a power fauilure, and NO UPS.. something.. Anyway.. Got Blue-screened and then Windows started to wipe my data... I lost a lot.. including about 7,000 MP3, and my Resume. :D The failure didn't wipe the whole drive.. but still.. I have Data going back 20 years on this drive.

I found this shop on 4th Floor of Pantip that was able to recover about 71 % of my data, But not my resume.. Bummer ... I just picked it up today (Tuesday). I Brought it to them on Saturday.

The Shop name is P-Care Computer & Service... Pantip, 4th Floor on Right Side at end of Corridor... as you walk down it's dead in fromt of you.. Yellow sign. Can't miss it. Phone: 02-255-6773

They got a guy there.. name is BAS... speaks pretty good English... Tell him the Farang in the hat sent you... < The one with the beautiful Thai Wife :-) >

It was (is) a 250 GB drive.. cost 1,500 Bht to recover. Plus the cost of a New BIG UPS to prevent future accidents in my soon to be purchased Dream computer.

Hope this helps,

CS

I know this is an old thread, but if you did a search and wound up here like I did, here is my experience with P-Care.

Dead laptop drive due to a corrupted directory, and not repairable with any software tools that I had. I spoke with someone there and told them about the problem and they told me "mai mi panha" (no problem), which is sort of what I expected to hear. They went on to explain that they could always get files off of hard disks with corrupted directories. I told then it was from a Mac Powerbook. Would that be a problem? "Mai mi panha". Well, ok I guess. Cost was 1500 baht (same as above) if and only if they could recover all my files. I was told it would be ready in 24 hours, on Sunday.

My assistant called in on Monday and they said it wasn't ready yet..."give us another day". So, called back on Wednesday...still not ready. They said it was "taking a lot of time" to get the files, and "don't call us, we'll call you". No calls up until today, ten days later, so phoned them again. The answer: sorry, we cannot recover any files.

So they couldn't get a single file off of my drive, never called me back, and it took me ten days to find out. Guess I'll be starting all over, perhaps with Ad-Tech as recommended here.

[klikster]

The Shop name is P-Care Computer & Service... Pantip, 4th Floor on Right Side at end of Corridor... as you walk down it's dead in fromt of you.. Yellow sign. Can't miss it. Phone: 02-255-6773

I second these guys. Good service and good prices. Recovered 1 3.5 and 1 laptop drive.

Edited October 1, 2008 by klikster

[bubba]

The Shop name is P-Care Computer & Service... Pantip, 4th Floor on Right Side at end of Corridor... as you walk down it's dead in fromt of you.. Yellow sign. Can't miss it. Phone: 02-255-6773

I second these guys. God service and good prices. Recovered 1 3.5 and 1 laptop drive.

OK, guess I caught them on a bad day. Or week. They took ten days to fail to recover anything from a disk that had a corrupted S-Tree, they never returned a call, and I had to call them to find out!

Hardly "God Service".

Not recommended.

[MKAsok]

I've had 2 Seagate 120GB external drives fail on me. The first (bought in the US) failed a week after I bought it, the second (warranty replacement) after another few months by which time I was living back in London and couldn't be bothered to go through all the hassle of sending it back to the US for another replacement. The data was all backed up stuff from my HD, so I didn't actually lose anything, but still, I'd never trust a Seagate drive again...

[sleepyjohn]

I have a Seagate hard drive that needs repair. For some reason plugging in the power supply fired a chip on the board.

Recommendations?

Valjean

how do you know it's a chip fried? They usually show burns on the hidden side of the board I believe. Did you open the bottom and have a look?

I wonder if there is an old computer bits central database internet order maybe in the US like they have for car parts. May well be.

If so you could order the same board if you know that is the problem. They are easy to replace no soldering only screws.

You must be sure that it is exactly the same including the firmware version.

John

[hdengineer]

well,

1. Seagate Seatools is a good tool for hd diagnosis. you can find them in seagate's website.

2. SalvationDATA is a great hdd repair company from china. maybe you can find out their resellers around you.

good luck!

[Valjean]

It's been awhile I guess I should have posted the result. I found the repair shop in the bowels of Pantip. The guy got out his sodering iron and did some magic. Cost me 100 baht and it worked fine. It looks to me that he somehow went around the chip. Anyway I got my data off and was happy. As it's only an 80 gb drive it's really not worth trusting data with.

Thanks for the tip to find the guy in Pantip