I'm seeking a hardware-software solution that will allow me to recover data from hard drives that have a problem with the SA, damaged heads (1, several or all), a lot of bad sectors.

Currently I have only DMDE and drive until you see the BIOS I can do something. However, I would like to deal with more severe cases.

I'm thinking of buying PC3000 but as you know it is terribly expensive.
Perhaps there is some sense a cheaper alternative?

You could go for MRT or DFL. They are cheaper, have licenses that can be transferred, and do imaging as well as firmware repairs. Not as well as PC3K but unless you are committed to making a success of data recovery on a commercial scale, they are the only alternatives. There are many software packages that do firmware repairs (see HDD oracle) but my impression is they are very restrictive in terms of licensing/hardware changes and lack support.

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Sabo Computer Repairs & Data Recovery

Thank you for your post.
PC3000 has a license can not be transferred? Does that mean that I can not sell anyone PC3000 card?

That's right, ACE's policy is the card dies with you, non transferable.

Such a policy is a failure.
Now I understand why people destroy their cards. As example here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Nhx5XAcgCU

I read about the DFL and reportedly does not have this support. MRT is a niche solution.
Willy-nilly, and so I will probably have to choose PC3K.
Is manual to PC3k is well written? Are there eg. Procedures for dealing with specific disks in specific cases?

tell it to the manufacture, his product, his decision.

oh no you got it all wrong, this video is proof for ace that the owner destroyed his old card part of a deal for a newer card he made.

https://forum.hddguru.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=32036

Don't think that reading the manual will help you solve "all" your cases, not to mention that you need to have an understanding how to approach the problem (which no manual can provide you (IMHO)), but its a good start to understand the product.

And what is the guarantee for this card? If the card is dying with me, whether it has a lifetime warranty?

Buddy ,
If You Die Nothing You Own Makes any Sense ,Hard Truth of Life

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Regards
Amarbir S Dhillon , Chandigarh Data Recovery Labs [India]
Logical,Semi Physical And Physical Data Recovery
Website-> http://www.chandigarhdatarecovery.com

This is not the answer to the question of the guarantee card.
By the way, you have an interesting profile on fb.

Well,
I Would Say PC 3000 + Data extractor .I Possible am The One Of The Few With Salvation Data , MRt ,DFL And Acelab Tools Here On Forums ,PC 3000 Is The Best Investment You Can Make IMHO ,Thanks For My Facebook Comment Yes i Do Post Interesting Stuff There Off And On

_________________
Regards
Amarbir S Dhillon , Chandigarh Data Recovery Labs [India]
Logical,Semi Physical And Physical Data Recovery
Website-> http://www.chandigarhdatarecovery.com

I think Ace might let you transfer it in a case where you're selling your entire business, not just the system. For that matter the new owner of the business could just continue corresponding with them using your existing email and they'd never be the wiser. So I suppose if I were to die, my wife could just sell the whole business (PC-3000 included) to an interested party and they could continue using it.

PC-3000 is the most expensive and has a strict licensing policy, but if you do recovery all day every day it's worth it. Keep in mind that any system is going to have ongoing update and maintenance costs too, so it's not even just the purchase price. You really have to think of it more in terms that you're renting the system with an initial payment to buy in. It's the cost of having the best system, all that research takes an investment of engineering and someone has to pay for it.

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Data Medics - Hard Drive, SSD, and RAID Data Recovery Service Company

A good comparison is to rent the system.

Tell me, is it worth it right away to buy the Data Extractor? Do not purchase this same PC3K does not make much sense?

Without DE, you won't be able to extract data in many cases. While in some cases you might be able to "fix" the drive enough that you can image it on another tool like DDI 4, many times you need that PC-3000 power to handle it. Such would be the case where you have say a Toshiba or HGST with damaged translator or G-List damage, or a case of a WD My Book or My Passport and you need to override the encryption after converting it to a SATA board.

When I initially purchased I gave a shot to not buying DE right away. Lasted about 3 weeks before I broke down and got the addon. Totally worth it.

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Data Medics - Hard Drive, SSD, and RAID Data Recovery Service Company