HD For Indies

High Definition Video for Independent Filmmakers
A How To Guide for Digital Filmmakers
Welcome all! This is my blog to share my latest research,
thoughts, etc. on utilizing HD for independent filmmaking.

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Contact me at mike@hdforindies.com

All content copyright 2004-2007 Mike Curtis.

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Crashed drive - data recovery service recommendations?

Hey all -

A friend of mine has a hosed drive in their Powerbook - it is making Click of Death types of sounds (said it sounded like somebody dropped a nail on the floor). The data on there to be recovered is personal - most notably photos from last year or two.

At this point, the drive won't mount, nor will it even show up in Disk Utility, and it makes these clicky drive seek type noises repeatedly but never gets anywhere. So unless someone knows of a miracle app that can see drives Disk Utility can't, no software application is going to fix this mechanical failure.

So it isn't like it is a business that can afford it, so does anyone have a recommendation for a data recovery service for physically failed drives that doesn't cost an arm and a leg? I know enough that if it makes the Bad Sound that one should NOT try software data recovery tools.

This is a great example why you back up data, NOW - because you never know when a drive is going to fail, it doesn't wait for you to back it up first (ever!).

Please post in the Comments field if you have a recommendation, esp. if from personal experience. I've used DriveSavers in the past (Dad crashed a desktop drive, death by heat from living in a cabinet), but they were expensive, looking for a less costly alternative.

-mike.

PS - and no it isn't a machine of mine!

Posted by: Mike Curtis / 5/23/2006 04:45:00 PM

Comments:

My roomate's drive was doing the same thing and he was able to copy all the data off by sticking it in the freezer for a while.

# posted by

Anonymous : Tue May 23, 04:52:00 PM CST

Tekserve here in NYC does provide that service. It is a very cool, well respected shop in the Mac community. Rates vary but it's worth a phone call if you are willing to ship it out.

http://www.tekserve.com/services/datareco.html

# posted by

William : Tue May 23, 05:30:00 PM CST

I had exactly the same problem with my PB -- and so did several of my students. These were all Toshiba drives. In my case, I used a program called Virtual Lab to recover most of the data. I blogged about it here: http://www.photoethnography.com/blog/archives/2005/02/equipment_drive_2.html

(I'm not affiliated with the company, my blog is about photoethnography). In any case, hope you can recover anything.

back up!

Karen

p.s. I use SuperDuper! for backing up, a truly super duper program.

# posted by

nasukaren : Tue May 23, 06:04:00 PM CST

This is truly important. Seriously, l have homemade vids and pics of my lady and I having sex. Yes I said sex. WE are all adults I hope. Like hell that would go to a data recovery center. OMG, I can see the tabloids getting that. This caught my eye and I needed to post.

>Anonymous<

# posted by

Anonymous : Tue May 23, 07:20:00 PM CST

I had the same problem and went through 3 labs before bringing it to ActionFront...
they were extremely effective and fast... but no where close to cheap. for me it was 2k (canadian) to get it back.
they were the only ones who even said they could get it back. I recomend trying a cheaper lab and if they can't fix it try these guys www.actionfront.com
I'm up in canada but they have a lab in dallas.

# posted by

jules : Tue May 23, 07:48:00 PM CST

Try ESS data recovery in IL. I used them a few years ago when I lost a drive with my cg demo reel. After being quoted at $2k by a local place, I tried them after finding out they had a cap at $750, no matter how many hours they work on it. Ended up being 18 hours, which is like $3k at standard hour rates, but they got back 98% of my data and it only cost $750.

# posted by

David N. : Tue May 23, 08:18:00 PM CST

Drive Savers. Enough said. It may cost $500 to $1,500 but if the data really means alot, well then....

Have your friend call them. He or she will be talking to a profesional that will not scold them for "not backing up". but will listen to the situation and quote a firm range of repair prices. They usually offer a fix-it, or its free service.

You can even find discount coupons on the web.

Good Luck.

# posted by

Anonymous : Wed May 24, 01:14:00 AM CST

you can sometimes get a clicking drive to work again by freezing it for 30 minutes in the freezer then quickly taking it out and offloading it with either a 2.5" external drive bay or a 2.5" to 3.5" adapter. I know it sounds a little sketchy but it does work.. its definately the cheapest way to go.

# posted by

Jarred Land : Wed May 24, 03:18:00 AM CST

I was told and saw a pic of a drive in a freezer while connected to an open system... apparantly that worked...

The 30 minute drive in the freezer worked for me as well but it dies pretty soon after, so you need to ensure you get the most important stuff off first....

an no not your mp3 or ummmm other stuff :)

# posted by

Anonymous : Wed May 24, 06:16:00 AM CST

MOUNT IT TO A LINUX BOX. THERE ARE SOME REALLY GOOD SCRIPTS FOR RECOVERING THE DATA. YOU CAN DO ALL KINDS OF THINGS WITH REDHAT...SUCH REBUILD THE LOOKUP TABLES, MINOR DECRYPTING OF CORRUPT DATA, AND REMOVAL OF THE FILES, NOT SOFTWARE...

IT HAS SAVED ME TWO TIMES AT THIS POINT

# posted by

Anonymous : Wed May 24, 08:57:00 AM CST

Just had this problem myself on my 2003 G5 tower's factory HD.

How did I save it?

Data Rescue II software. I mounted the HD via target disk mode on a powerbook. Then ran Data Rescue II. Took two days, but it saved everything. EVERYTHING.

I had already tried Disk Utility and DiskWarrior to no avail. So this gets my vote of approval. If it hadn't worked I would have been sending the drive off for some very expensive repair.

Hope this helps.

# posted by

Paul : Wed May 24, 05:17:00 PM CST

Hey all- thanks for all the advice - but the catch now is that the drive won't mount under any circumstances, nor will it show up in any disk utility - so recovery services I think are my only option due to a mechanical failure, not directory damage or corruption or anything like that.

# posted by

Mike Curtis : Wed May 24, 05:48:00 PM CST

Mike, have you tried SpinRite? It's a highly-regarding PC-based disk repair utility, but can access Mac drives if they're plugged in. Might be worth a shot.

# posted by

Anonymous : Wed May 24, 06:46:00 PM CST

When i had a similar kind of Disk failure where in i had to recover the data in the Disk that was very important to me. It consisted of all the Images, Videos and all the stuff related to my wedding and all my work of the past two years. I was like lost everything then a friend of mine guided me to Disk Doctors Labs Inc where i recoverd all my data and in a Quick matter of time. That day i was relieved.

# posted by

Robin : Wed Jun 21, 06:04:00 AM CST

Helli,
Yes, this is very important now for all the users that they take regular backup of their data so as to have a copy of thie data. I do this promptly now as i once had a data loss situation but lucky for me i recovered my data with the help of Disk Doctors Labs Inc, but as it is said prevention is better than cure so take backups. When you can prevent from being in a data loss situation by having a back up then first point is why let it happen at all

# posted by

Robin : Fri Jul 21, 06:11:00 AM CST

I have had problems with clicking drives more then a few times. If the drive is not clicking, then I can usually recover it myself. By using some of the tools such as Recover it All, R-Studio, they are pretty good. But when the drive is clicking and not available in the Bios, then I submit it to my local Data Recovery Expert in Orlando
Three Square Solutions. They do a good job with that.
Here is the website Data Recoverythey also have a money back policy.

# posted by

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# posted by

freefun0616 : Fri Sep 18, 02:41:00 AM CST

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Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Crashed drive - data recovery service recommendations?