Mr. Stupid

[stevo]

Yesterday my external Hard Drive fell off a small chair while I was using it. Now there appears to be no movment at all inside & my computer will not recognize it.

I already know I made the biggest mistake of my computer life, with no backup. I am sick over this situation.

What are my chances of recovering my data?

Who is the best in the business when it comes to something like this?

Should I go to Pantip Plaza? What can I do?

This data is very valuable & not replaceable.

Any help is vital to me..

Sincerely,

Steve

[Simmo]

Noone at Pantip or the markets will have a clue. Was the hard drive on when it dropped? .. If so heavy shock damage will probably have pulled the platters out of central alignment and it would need to be clean room repaired.

I don't know of any Thai companies that do that, probably Singapore would be more likely, it'll be very expensive - search on the web.

[Rice_King]

If you can get the drive to spin-up and get your computer to recognize it, this software SpinRite might help you get it running well enough to move the data onto another drive. It won't do you any good if the drive is not spinning or recognized by your PC. If the drive refuses to spin, you will then probably have to send the disk to a drive recovery specialist like DriveSavers. That method can be rather expensive.

[chingching]

If you put your ear to the drive, can u hear anything?

If so I can recover the data, if not like the others have said $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

They say there are two types of people in the world, those that back up, and those that wish they had.

[Crossy]

Drives are actually pretty robust (less so when actually running though).

It is just possible that the impact has simply unplugged the drive from the controller (happened to me once).

Open up the external drive case (small screwdriver required usually) and look at the big connector on the drive itself, push it back on, pray, power up.

[Simmo]

Ahh .. It was an external enclosure, I missed that.

Yes open the enclosure up and check the power connector. Also plug it directly into another computer via IDE or SATA connector and listen if the drive spins up (hold it in your hand as the PC boots).

[monty]

There is one company located in Phuket specializing in data recovery from broken hard drives.

http://www.phuket-data-wizards.com/en/data-recovery.php

Mind, the recovery is much more expensive then the hardware, so you really have to put a value on the data you need to recover and decide it's worthwhile!

Price starts from 4000 Baht, and they state that if they fail to recover any data, there will be no bill...

[Insight]

We've used a company called Safeland Data Care - based here in Thailand.

Will PM you the details.

[francois]

Ahh .. It was an external enclosure, I missed that.

Yes open the enclosure up and check the power connector. Also plug it directly into another computer via IDE or SATA connector and listen if the drive spins up (hold it in your hand as the PC boots).

hi'

how can you dare to say such a dum thing "hold it in your hands when boot"

may ask how many drive you destroyed?

leave it on the bottom of the case and don't touch it!

static electricity ....

francois

[sting01]

Noone at Pantip or the markets will have a clue. Was the hard drive on when it dropped? .. If so heavy shock damage will probably have pulled the platters out of central alignment and it would need to be clean room repaired.

I don't know of any Thai companies that do that, probably Singapore would be more likely, it'll be very expensive - search on the web.

MIs informed, as usual.

Pantip upper floor have a shop who did it, I negociated 2 recoveries for 2000 bht.

You have to go there, there is a lot of small shops, yo ushow the HD and ask, they will send you at the right problem.

[Richard-BKK]

If it was a Seagate hard drive? Seagate Thailand offers trough there distribution channels a service what recovers data from damaged hard drive on plattern data level.

This service cost full price for non-warranty drives and much less for drives with warranty.

[stevo]

If it was a Seagate hard drive? Seagate Thailand offers trough there distribution channels a service what recovers data from damaged hard drive on plattern data level.

This service cost full price for non-warranty drives and much less for drives with warranty.

I will pay a few thousand american dollars if that's what it takes... some things on there are very valuable to me!

I just hesitate about taking it to a place like pantip or a less "proffesional" place, fearing that they may destroy the data even more if they are not careful.. I am also a little fearful of trying the plug thing & opening it up, then attempting to run it.. I have read that running it may cause further damage..

I am looking for the best, & will pay top dollar as long as the price is under $2,000 - $3,000.

What would you guys do in my situation? I would mean the world to me to get back my data, because it almost feels like a friend died becuase of me..

Edited November 10, 2006 by stevo

[TizMe]

What would you guys do in my situation?

That's an easy question to answer. I would buy a new drive and restore my data from the backup that I took.

Everybody, please read this before its too late.

[Tywais]

This is a professional data recovery service, though not located in Thailand, they have branches throughout the world. Try contacting them and see what they suggest.

http://www.ontrack.com/services/

http://www.ontrack.com/labdr/

Though verifying the case connections is still the best thing to do first before going this route. Ideally you should connect it to an internal IDE connection in a computer first in case the electronics of the external case was damaged.

[Richard-BKK]

If it is a Seagate drive go to a Dcomp service center and next week you have most of your "friend" back.

http://www.dcomputer.com/proinfo/service/main.asp

[astral]

Depending on age and terms you may get the disk replaced under warranty?

[h90]

Ahh .. It was an external enclosure, I missed that.

Yes open the enclosure up and check the power connector. Also plug it directly into another computer via IDE or SATA connector and listen if the drive spins up (hold it in your hand as the PC boots).

hi'

how can you dare to say such a dum thing "hold it in your hands when boot"

may ask how many drive you destroyed?

leave it on the bottom of the case and don't touch it!

static electricity ....

francois

lool, they are not that sensitiv. Of course not a good recommendation but not that dangerous.

Even let a drive run open works for a little bit, if your room is clean.....

[ajarnmark]

Ahh .. It was an external enclosure, I missed that.

Yes open the enclosure up and check the power connector. Also plug it directly into another computer via IDE or SATA connector and listen if the drive spins up (hold it in your hand as the PC boots).

hi'

how can you dare to say such a dum thing "hold it in your hands when boot"

may ask how many drive you destroyed?

leave it on the bottom of the case and don't touch it!

static electricity ....

francois

lool, they are not that sensitiv. Of course not a good recommendation but not that dangerous.

Even let a drive run open works for a little bit, if your room is clean.....

I agree with h90.... Francois... try to live in the real world... seems like u r reading too much Dummies series....

Static charge can damage (chances are less than 1%) if u touch any component but not when you touch the body..... though its not recommended coz anything can happen anytime....

holding HDD is very ok.... i have been doing that for the last 10+ years and NOT EVEN A SINGLE TIME anything bad happened..

[h90]

Ahh .. It was an external enclosure, I missed that.

Yes open the enclosure up and check the power connector. Also plug it directly into another computer via IDE or SATA connector and listen if the drive spins up (hold it in your hand as the PC boots).

hi'

how can you dare to say such a dum thing "hold it in your hands when boot"

may ask how many drive you destroyed?

leave it on the bottom of the case and don't touch it!

static electricity ....

francois

lool, they are not that sensitiv. Of course not a good recommendation but not that dangerous.

Even let a drive run open works for a little bit, if your room is clean.....

I agree with h90.... Francois... try to live in the real world... seems like u r reading too much Dummies series....

Static charge can damage (chances are less than 1%) if u touch any component but not when you touch the body..... though its not recommended coz anything can happen anytime....

holding HDD is very ok.... i have been doing that for the last 10+ years and NOT EVEN A SINGLE TIME anything bad happened..

As we are here already at the stupid recommendations: once one HD got stuck (I was student with zero money and a lot data), I knocked it on the floor with every side. It did start again I copied all data. I could start it a few times again with that methode.

But wouldn't suggest that if you have time and money, because there is good chance, that you destroy data which could have get recovered otherwise....