Data Recovery

[Tech Dunce]

I have a corrupted Windows disk, no backup.

Has anyone in the group ever used a data recovery service in Jamaica?

If yes, were the results good? And if yes, would you care to reveal the name of the business?

Thanks.

[Falcon1986]

Haven’t used any of these. Just found from Googling:

TredLabs
Hi5 Jamaica
Prismatic Technology

Most will charge to do an assessment before running the full recovery for an additional charge. If the data is that important, give one a try.

Have you tried performing the data recovery on your own? Like bootable tools on UBCD, SystemRescue CD or Knoppix? It’s been a while since I’ve used those, but they should be free.

[khat17]

@Falcon1986 already gave you the list of places locally. Here's something to do from your own system.

Download "Hard Disk Sentinel" to another device. Portable version. Boot from a WinPE if possible and use the extracted HDS to check your drive. If the drive is good, you can proceed. If the drive is failing or has faults - we'll get into that.

If the drive is good. Download the free PartedMagic ISO. Boot and use the CLI. Run "testdisk" and use it to scan for prior partition tables. Use the available options to rewrite the previous partition table. Ensure you make a note of the sizes - this may require a little finesse. Once done, you should be able to reboot and be fine. Skip any disk check prompts just to be sure. Verify things are fine. Backup what you need.

If the drive is not good or failing. Same PartedMagic and "testdisk" - but this time you'll need to do some stuff first. Get an external drive which is good and can hold your data. Use "testdisk" to browse the available partition tables and recover your files to the external drive. Then replace and copy your files back.

Yes - PartedMagic does come with a version of HDS, but it's older and doesn't support certain things.

If you have a Mac - use DriveDx to do the disk checks. As for data recovery on a Mac - not sure.

And there you have the basics of my "data recovery secrets". There are other nuances involved at times - but that's the general info. If you need someone to assist - you can message/call. If you're gonna bring it for me to get it done, it'll cost you less than the official labs. Bear in mind - recovery labs usually remove the platters and rip the data using specialized equipment. That's part of what justifies the costing.

[Tech Dunce]

Thanks for the replies folks.

I thought of trying to recover the data myself, but now that I understand what might be involved, I have lost the urge completely.

Khat17 I am sending you a private message.

[khat17]

So here's the update thus far.

The drive was sent to me. Received and confirmed the serial based on photos sent prior. The drive doesn't show up in Windows - it's a Mac drive. The drive periodically flashes in Disk Utility on Mac - so it's not being recognized by the system. The drive is recognized in Linux, but it shows up as a damaged file system. Attempts at recovery have been unsuccessful as the drive isn't stable when plugged in.

Checks show the drive has been parked for about 2 years since the initial failure. It was recognizing on a Mac then, but now it doesn't show up or mount. My recommendation is to purchase a new or used drive of the same make/model and swap the PCB. If that fails then the last step would be to swap the actuator and heads. That last one is risky, but it can be done - depending.

That's where things are now. Will update on the progress.

[Arch_Angel]

So here's the update thus far.

The drive was sent to me. Received and confirmed the serial based on photos sent prior. The drive doesn't show up in Windows - it's a Mac drive. The drive periodically flashes in Disk Utility on Mac - so it's not being recognized by the system. The drive is recognized in Linux, but it shows up as a damaged file system. Attempts at recovery have been unsuccessful as the drive isn't stable when plugged in.

Checks show the drive has been parked for about 2 years since the initial failure. It was recognizing on a Mac then, but now it doesn't show up or mount. My recommendation is to purchase a new or used drive of the same make/model and swap the PCB. If that fails then the last step would be to swap the actuator and heads. That last one is risky, but it can be done - depending.

That's where things are now. Will update on the progress.

Interesting. Thanks for the update khat. Learn something new for when I might end up in a similar situation.

[khat17]

OP has agreed to the PCB swap - so I've purchased a replacement drive off eBay. Will test it when it gets here and confirm it works. Next step is PCB swap. If that fails - next step would be actuator swap if OP agrees to it.

[khat17]

Took a lot more time than I originally thought. Drive is now here. Will attempt the PCB swap over the weekend all being well. Will update.

[Chris]

Eager to hear how this works out. Good takeaway is the importance of having backups.

[khat17]

Good morning. Well - the drive may have a compounded issue. The PCB may be bad as well as a head issue.

When the PCB is swapped - the original drive still doesn't show up. The new drive also doesn't show up with the original drive's PCB. So that suggests a potential PCB fault. When swapped back, the new drive comes up quite fine. I've opened the drive (the replacement) and checked for the head/actuator positions and closed it back. Took a drive test after and it's good.



As for what would need to be swapped internally, these are the parts.



I'm not 100% comfortable with this operation since the arms for the head are parked a bit close under the platters. If the OP is fine with total data loss - I'll proceed with the attempt. Would have to swap the head assembly and the PCB to be more sure of readability. If this works - everything would have to be copied off ASAP. If it doesn't work - it's a total loss and both drives would probably have to be junked.

The other option is a data recovery lab that has the proper tools to get the job done. If it's sent overseas, it'll be a bit cheaper than TredLabs. I believe TredLabs would be about USD$700 and you can get recovery done overseas for about USD$400 depending on where and if you search. Maybe can get it done for less too. Maybe.

Waiting on the OP to decide.