HD dead,how much cost to recover if possible? (1 Viewer)

[Karl_Luph]

It finally happened here. The hard drive suddenly went kaput. Now it makes a clicking noise and the computer won't boot up. Tried swapping it out into other computers but it's really shot. I've heard of some shops that specialize in being able to recover info on these disks, but it's a 50-50 chance. Any help is appreciated.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Depending on the size of the drive,could be well into 4 figures

 

[Karl_Luph]

Thanks for the quick reply Jeff, it's a 4.3 gig HD.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

$2-500 probably

 

[Karl_Luph]

Jeff, you know your stuff! That's about what it's going to be according to some of the specialists here in town. Thanks.

 

[Rob Gillespie]

One thing to try before shelling out the $$$: Place the drive in a sealed plastic bag and leave in the freezer for a few hours. Then quickly reinstall back into the PC and copy everything you can to another drive.

People on AnandTech have done this and been able to recover data from 'failed' drives. You do have to move quickly though. No guarantees, people have reported it to work.

 

[Joe Szott]

Karl,

For your next drive, buy two identical HDs and ghost a backup copy. Norton Ghost is wonderful for this, it has saved my behind a few times.

-J

 

[Karl_Luph]

I really appreciate the help! You guys are great. Thanks! I'll let you know how it comes out.

 

[Todd Bohlke]

Something else to try (and this is a last ditch effort.before you chuck the drive: Hold the drive about 10 inches high and drop it squarely on a flat surface. It sounds a little extreme, but this has actually worked for me more than once to get needed data off an otherwise dead drive before I trashed it. It'll probably be just be a one shot deal--chuck it as soon as you get your data.