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 Post subject: Re: For those who had DOUBT in my Smartware Solution
PostPosted: September 30th, 2013, 6:35 
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Joined: January 18th, 2013, 5:51
Posts: 6
Location: Bucharest
bravo ba!
eqinox wrote:
einstein9 wrote:
JKL107 wrote:
Einstein9, I have a forensic need for your fix. I am a police officer and currently investigating a major crime where I need access to a drive, Please PM me for more information on my case and how I can possibly obtain information to unlocking one of these drives. Thanks

Josh


Dear Josh, and all the others who sent me PM`s about this:

1st. as i said many many times, NOT FOR SALE, SHARE or anything, i`ve been PAID in advance for good, and you guys cannot afford it (no joke) (only 2 here knows by WHOM)

2nd. for those who CLAIM that they have forensic cases, Gov. needs...etc and so on (sorry no bad feeling) but you guys have special Dep. who can handle such cases regardless of the details.

just wanted to say, again and most probably last comment on this topic:

IT IS NOT FOR SALE, SHARE, DISCUSS. anymore

so whatever is your case (Generally Speaking) there is always a way without my help on this, and sure you know where.

Good luck guys (all)

thank you


Hello,
I saw your movie and i was bored today and read most of the posts , look how we doing , your video seems a 2 minutes work from a c++ programmer , to aquire that informations when you plug usb , get serial number and so on . Ill go straight and tell you this , i will send you 10 or 100 HDD which i will pay from my money i will password them ALL with whatever passwords i want and write down even on forum all the serial number of them so everyone can see and you decrypt only 1 and send me back other 9 or 99 you keep for your self.


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 Post subject: Re: For those who had DOUBT in my Smartware Solution
PostPosted: October 4th, 2013, 12:20 
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User avatar

Joined: May 13th, 2010, 11:17
Posts: 2785
Location: Kuwait
eqinox wrote:
einstein9 wrote:
JKL107 wrote:
Einstein9, I have a forensic need for your fix. I am a police officer and currently investigating a major crime where I need access to a drive, Please PM me for more information on my case and how I can possibly obtain information to unlocking one of these drives. Thanks

Josh


Dear Josh, and all the others who sent me PM`s about this:

1st. as i said many many times, NOT FOR SALE, SHARE or anything, i`ve been PAID in advance for good, and you guys cannot afford it (no joke) (only 2 here knows by WHOM)

2nd. for those who CLAIM that they have forensic cases, Gov. needs...etc and so on (sorry no bad feeling) but you guys have special Dep. who can handle such cases regardless of the details.

just wanted to say, again and most probably last comment on this topic:

IT IS NOT FOR SALE, SHARE, DISCUSS. anymore

so whatever is your case (Generally Speaking) there is always a way without my help on this, and sure you know where.

Good luck guys (all)

thank you


Hello,
I saw your movie and i was bored today and read most of the posts , look how we doing , your video seems a 2 minutes work from a c++ programmer , to aquire that informations when you plug usb , get serial number and so on . Ill go straight and tell you this , i will send you 10 or 100 HDD which i will pay from my money i will password them ALL with whatever passwords i want and write down even on forum all the serial number of them so everyone can see and you decrypt only 1 and send me back other 9 or 99 you keep for your self.


Hi Again

1- Highlighted, No one asked you to watch my video and get bored, you may watch the Ice Age (4th) and may Laugh @least,
2- Highlighted, Send me 100 drives better ( Am running out of donors anyway) and will send you my Office Address, you may LOCK THEM ALL and COPY any file to all of those 100 drives (make it random models for my donors later), and Pay for the Service (if you Agree with my charges here) and i will Unlock/Upload here your Drives Contents for the public to see.

@awrelll this Applies to you as well if you have some extra cash

i guess 100 drives + the Fees are fair enough for me, and maybe will close your DR Biz. (most probably)

how does it sound? Agree? PM n let me know once you are ready.

good luck anyway...

_________________
Kuwait Data Recovery - UNIX GTC
The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once. By: Albert Einstein


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 Post subject: Re: For those who had DOUBT in my Smartware Solution
PostPosted: October 7th, 2013, 0:44 
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Joined: September 25th, 2013, 21:11
Posts: 8
Location: United States
einstein9 wrote:
eqinox wrote:
einstein9 wrote:
JKL107 wrote:
Einstein9, I have a forensic need for your fix. I am a police officer and currently investigating a major crime where I need access to a drive, Please PM me for more information on my case and how I can possibly obtain information to unlocking one of these drives. Thanks

Josh


Dear Josh, and all the others who sent me PM<span class="MathJax_Preview"></span><span class="MathJax" id="MathJax-Element-1-Frame" role="textbox" aria-readonly="true" style=""><nobr><span class="math" id="MathJax-Span-1" style="width: 53.625em; display: inline-block;"><span style="display: inline-block; position: relative; width: 46.211em; height: 0px; font-size: 116%;"><span style="position: absolute; clip: rect(1.297em 1000.004em 2.849em -0.685em); top: -2.323em; left: 0.004em;"><span class="mrow" id="MathJax-Span-2"><span class="mstyle" id="MathJax-Span-3"><span class="mrow" id="MathJax-Span-4"><span class="mi" id="MathJax-Span-5" style="font-family: MathJax_Math; font-style: italic;">s</span><span class="mi" id="MathJax-Span-6" style="font-family: MathJax_Math; font-style: italic;">a</span><span class="mi" id="MathJax-Span-7" style="font-family: MathJax_Math; font-style: italic;">b</span><span class="mi" id="MathJax-Span-8" style="font-family: MathJax_Math; font-style: italic;">o</span><span class="mi" id="MathJax-Span-9" style="font-family: MathJax_Math; 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overflow: hidden; height: 1px; width: 0.091em;"></span></span><span class="mi" id="MathJax-Span-81" style="font-family: MathJax_Math; font-style: italic;">F<span style="display: inline-block; overflow: hidden; height: 1px; width: 0.091em;"></span></span><span class="mn" id="MathJax-Span-82" style="font-family: MathJax_Main;">0000</span><span class="mo" id="MathJax-Span-83" style=""><span style="font-family: MathJax_Main;">]</span></span></span><span class="mi" id="MathJax-Span-84" style="font-family: MathJax_Math; font-style: italic;">i</span></span></span></span><span style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; height: 2.332em;"></span></span></span><span style="border-left-width: 0.005em; border-left-style: solid; display: inline-block; overflow: hidden; width: 0px; height: 1.405em; vertical-align: -0.395em;"></span></span></nobr></span><script type="math/asciimath" id="MathJax-Element-1">s about this: 1st. as i said many many times, NOT FOR SALE, SHARE or anything, i</script>ve been PAID in advance for good, and you guys cannot afford it (no joke) (only 2 here knows by WHOM)

2nd. for those who CLAIM that they have forensic cases, Gov. needs...etc and so on (sorry no bad feeling) but you guys have special Dep. who can handle such cases regardless of the details.

just wanted to say, again and most probably last comment on this topic:

IT IS NOT FOR SALE, SHARE, DISCUSS. anymore

so whatever is your case (Generally Speaking) there is always a way without my help on this, and sure you know where.

Good luck guys (all)

thank you


Hello,
I saw your movie and i was bored today and read most of the posts , look how we doing , your video seems a 2 minutes work from a c++ programmer , to aquire that informations when you plug usb , get serial number and so on . Ill go straight and tell you this , i will send you 10 or 100 HDD which i will pay from my money i will password them ALL with whatever passwords i want and write down even on forum all the serial number of them so everyone can see and you decrypt only 1 and send me back other 9 or 99 you keep for your self.


Hi Again

1- Highlighted, No one asked you to watch my video and get bored, you may watch the Ice Age (4th) and may Laugh @least,
2- Highlighted, Send me 100 drives better ( Am running out of donors anyway) and will send you my Office Address, you may LOCK THEM ALL and COPY any file to all of those 100 drives (make it random models for my donors later), and Pay for the Service (if you Agree with my charges here) and i will Unlock/Upload here your Drives Contents for the public to see.

@awrelll this Applies to you as well if you have some extra cash

i guess 100 drives + the Fees are fair enough for me, and maybe will close your DR Biz. (most probably)

how does it sound? Agree? PM n let me know once you are ready.

good luck anyway...


Or... you know... they could send it the 3(maybe more) Western Digital partner labs that I've verified can do it.

You know...long standing labs with talented DR engineers in North America that don't pretend that encrypted drives are a forensics only data recovery process.

Obviously the cost would be on the high end of their services, but not anything near forensics/litigation Recovery cases.


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 Post subject: Re: For those who had DOUBT in my Smartware Solution
PostPosted: October 7th, 2013, 7:15 
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Joined: November 9th, 2006, 15:15
Posts: 2983
tyrdonar wrote:
Or... you know... they could send it the 3(maybe more) Western Digital partner labs that I've verified can do it.



why dont you list these labs? Could be good for the lab to get some exposure, potential clients can contact them, and gives a real opportunity to find out exactly what claims are made and who (if any) can live up to them


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 Post subject: Re: For those who had DOUBT in my Smartware Solution
PostPosted: October 7th, 2013, 8:05 
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Joined: August 18th, 2010, 17:35
Posts: 3636
Location: Massachusetts, USA
tyrdonar wrote:
Or... you know... they could send it the 3(maybe more) Western Digital partner labs that I've verified can do it.

Don't take this as assault, but how did you verify exactly?

_________________
Hard Disk Drive, SSD, USB Drive and RAID Data Recovery Specialist in Massachusetts


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 Post subject: Re: For those who had DOUBT in my Smartware Solution
PostPosted: October 28th, 2013, 18:15 
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Joined: October 28th, 2013, 18:02
Posts: 1
Location: Caracas
"Works with WD Smartware by 60-80% success"

60-80% is a very good sucess rate for this problem. Just out of curiosity, assuming you are using new, password protected drives without any other faults, could you tell me what issues you think may cause the 40-20% unsuccessful access rate using your method?

Greatest regards
Maria


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 Post subject: Re: For those who had DOUBT in my Smartware Solution
PostPosted: March 4th, 2014, 11:46 
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Joined: March 4th, 2014, 8:02
Posts: 1
Location: Australia
Here's a funny story from an aspiring lesser geek to the geek gurus out there:

I'm no HDD guru but I feel a little closer to being one after:

* The USB Mini-B port on my 1.5TB WD MyBook Essential drive had been dodgy for the last year, progressively getting worse until a week ago it no longer worked inside the enclosure and the dodgy port required closer inspection;
* I removed the drive from the enclosure, removed the controller board (as I'm sure countless innocent victims have done before me) and inserted it into my new $119 docking station (they told me $109 over the phone) thinking I was very clever, only to eventually find myself frantically googling WD MyBook Essential issues and learning about WD's AES-encrypted controller boards after the drive WOULD NOT MOUNT, unlike the assortment of other drives which work perfectly;
* I spent some time trying to locate a controller board and got close but ultimately realised the job might be beyond me as other software/firmware resolutions may be required even if the board does fit the specifications by some miracle;
* I reattached the controller board with the USB Mini-B port hanging on by a thread (or perhaps by a blob...of solder), sticky taping it roughly in place and applying pressure by resting the hard drive on the box the docking station came in, with the box a laptop cord recently came in strategically placed under the USB cable, raising the cable head to a 45 degree angle (FYI the laptop cable that had arrived a few days earlier was a case of third time lucky - they sent me the wrong cord TWICE! That's Officeworks, National PC Solutions (extended warranty repair company located on the other side of the country) and the laptop cable company working overly well together, not);
* I proceeded to successfully mount the drive and back up 250GB of data to various hard drives in bits and pieces over a couple of days (all drives neatly lined up in my new docking station)...
* ...before knocking the cable and severing the last molecule of solder holding the port to the board rendering the "sticky-tape-and-two-boxes-fix" 5/6ths unsuccessful...but 1/6th successful!;
* I asked a PC nerd from Gumtree.com.au, who recently performed a largely successful fix to another laptop of mine, to re-solder the port onto the controller. He said he could but he didn't want to. Ok, thanks...
* Searching for some final hope I sheepishly gravitated back to the WD site and somehow came across my local data recovery agents. It's always the last place you look...naturally...I mean the manufacturer site really is always the last place you look, isn't it?! Does anybody really expect to find any answers there...ever?! The website that contains those fake FAQs, that are more like Frequent Answers to Questions Never Asked (FAQNAs or FANAQs?) than FAQs. I mean they're no help on the phone during the warranty period, why should they be any help now, our hard drive's suddenly turned out to be a legacy product! But joke as I may, I think I'm humbled. The gurus here are right - it's too hard, take your drive to a DR specialist because unfortunately it seems that no cheaper option is a better option, all the options seem to bring the percentage chances of recovery spiralling down while the cost goes from free to just a bit cheaper than your previous cost estimate, to free and back to just a little bit cheaper again as you constantly try to balance risk with cost with reward as risk increases, monetary cost decreases, time cost increases and reward inevitably decreases. So after a phone call, a trip into town, a 24hr wait and an email, I'm up for $275 plus the cost of a new drive to copy the data to (which I'll be buying myself for under $100 if I go through with it) minus $50 if I let them keep the old hard drive 'for parts to be used in data recovery in the future'. So maybe $325. Note to self - buy new hard drive for $100 BEFORE old hard drive packs up when you know it's on the way out).

My guess is the data recovery agent doesn't want to solder the port back on either. I guess it does reduce the percentages so I understand that...that said, with the skills it would be a cheaper solution. But this is what really erks me:

(a) First and foremost, these dodgy USB ports, and everything that's dodgy today;
(b) Second, I don't know which average every day user who buys these drives from the local Officeworks for personal use really needs AES-encryption for 'their own privacy & data security needs';
(c) On visits to newegg.com and eBay I find refurbished WD HDDs for sale;
(d) In this thread I reed about 'proprietary solutions'; and
(e) I come to the following conclusion:

WD who is partnered with DR agents who have admittedly repaired thousands of these products in the last few years, produces drives with dodgy USB ports ((a)), that the user cannot then mount in a bare state ((b)) and ends up paying the DR agent anywhere from $275 to (let me check that email again...) $2,000 depending on user's choice of 24hr or 5 day turn around and method of recovery i.e. either straight backup (which I now believe to be a or potentially 'the' aforementioned 'proprietory solution' ((d)) because it's the solution to problem (b) isn't it. It's like injecting a deadly virus into somebody's bloodstream and blackmailing them with the antidote) or 'temporarily' fixing the PCB first (if they can fix it temporarily why can't they just give it back and let me do my own data recovery?) which 'usually requires new parts' (well maybe it's reasonable if they have to source a donor board but if they 'can' source a donor board then isn't that a permanent fix?) and costs twice as much (exercising their proprietory clout much?). So they can't just re-solder the USB port to the board for $100? Surely that would be the temporary fix they are talking about, wouldn't it?! Frankly I feel that they are conning me. Then I suppose they make a few extra bucks selling refurbished hard drives to newegg.com or similar.

Is this a service or is this a new-age con analogous to a cigarette company preying on consumer need, replacing nicotine with the consumer's need for their own data? Do they sit in their board room and say "It's not the hard drive they really want, it's the data. If we can cause them to lose access to their data and dangle the key right out in front of them for a price, there's going to be nothing they can do and if they want the data back they're going to have to pay for it, and it will be their conscious decision to do so. We'll hold the key to them getting that data back, and nobody's going to stop us. Nobody can stop us. We'll be rich. Rich I tell you. RICH! Mwahahaha. Mwahahahahaaaa. MWAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!"?

After all this may I just say, "***** WD and their dodgy USB ports and their AES encryption and their proprietory solutions to problems they create themselves!"? And may I ask a question, is WD the only company I have to steer clear of to avoid this happening again? And if not, please tell me all the companies to avoid, or just tell me that Seagate and Toshiba are okay. Then I'm happy, for now.

Please note, I probably know nothing, these are just the stupid conclusions I come to sometimes and I needed to rant, for obvious reasons.


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 Post subject: Re: For those who had DOUBT in my Smartware Solution
PostPosted: March 4th, 2014, 17:31 
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Joined: December 4th, 2012, 1:35
Posts: 3844
Location: Adelaide, Australia
The theory that WD is partnered with DR agents, making crappy parts just to get money after repair is simply conspiracy theory.

It is just simply the same as every other thing that is made, materials are at least specification to save money. Look at any product and you wont find many examples of extra material for support reason or any other extras to make the product more reliable - whatever it may be.


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 Post subject: Re: For those who had DOUBT in my Smartware Solution
PostPosted: March 5th, 2014, 5:17 
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Posts: 293
Location: England
Surf: first of all i feel your pain but really it is driven by us the consumer.

Quote:
I'm no HDD guru but I feel a little closer to being one after:

This is usually the main cause of a consumers trouble: experimentation.
Heath Robinson (macgyver?) solutions are all well and good in old tech like cars with no computer or hacking the sunday dinner, first aid halfway up a mountain with no doctor. They have no place in critical situations where others can provide g'teed pro help.

Quote:
* The USB Mini-B port on my 1.5TB WD MyBook Essential drive had been dodgy for the last year, progressively getting worse until a week ago it no longer worked inside the enclosure and the dodgy port required closer inspection;

You mean you watched this shit happen and too no action for a ****ing year?
Do you wait a year when your car goes wrong and then blame the garage for the ludicrous bill?
Did you then come home and take the car to bits?

Quote:
* I removed the drive from the enclosure, removed the controller board

So Mr-close -to-Guru, how much have you invested in ESD protection?
ESD floor? Bench? ...... Wrist strap? i'm taking a random guess at zero as most punters will ask : "wtf is ESD ?"

Quote:
inserted it into my new $119 docking station

Maybe trawl a few (reputable) DR equipment gear sites and you may realise that $100 is nothing by comparison.
Even rudimentary imaging gear will start at between 3 and 4 thousand depending on which options you choose.
More capable gear will easily double that price. not including proper PSU / UPS protection, ancillary equipment etc etc

Quote:
but ultimately realised the job might be beyond me

Can you imagine a dentist/surgeon/DRpro getting to this stage, patient opened up on a table?
If you think pro repair is expensive try the true cost of amateur repair.

Quote:
the "sticky-tape-and-two-boxes-fix" 5/6ths unsuccessful...but 1/6th successful!;

before you gripe over price can you imagine *any* business running at under 20% success rate ?

Quote:
(a) First and foremost, these dodgy USB ports, and everything that's dodgy today;

Consumer driven:
Customers want bigger faster cheaper. How do you think the cost savings are made?
Any company touting Quality with any significant price increase over a competitor will lose out in an economy driven market.
Want quality/stability? go back to SCSI; the weight of a brick, the capacity of a matchbox and the price of a used car.
You will pay extra for Enterprise solution. These are designed and tested run at a much higher duty cycle.

Worst case min/max? ppl buying a "bargain" $200 plasticky netbook with crappy 2.5 drive, downloading the world on a fragmented drive, sat on a fluffy vent blocking cushion eating snacks and slurping drink, running movies and having firefox eat up all the memory with more than just a few open tabs.
Oh and i run my business from it too: "Disaster Recipes R Us"

Quote:
(b) Second, I don't know which average every day user who buys these drives from the local Officeworks for personal use really needs AES-encryption for 'their own privacy & data security needs';

Consumer driven:
You, and anyone else that bought into it, obviously. No one forced you to buy the drive.
Do you also believe the shit on car ads that show a CEO on his way to an important company meet, in torrential rain, driving at max speed and swerving to avoid a fluffy kitten with the skill and finesse of a Finn in a World Championshop Rally? "Its' ok guys, Dave is driving the new wupeehookingdo360Z all terrain - He'll make it!"
No: it's marketing BS and we all know it.

Quote:
(c) On visits to newegg.com and eBay I find refurbished WD HDDs for sale;

Consumer driven:
If folks insist on buying used crap, there will always be a business there to fulfil the demand.
Even seen ppl (visitors not gurus) on here asking how to repair half dead drives to survive just a few more weeks in order to make a sale.

Quote:
(d) In this thread I reed about 'proprietary solutions';

Well to stay in business companies need to turn profit.
read: I bought into this shit now i need *you* to fix it: oh you need a proprie... wait-a-g-d-minute...

Quote:
Solder:He said he could but he didn't want to. Ok, thanks...

Consumer driven.
Local/small tech businesses may employ "jusrisprudence" to jobs. If you ripped the cable, what other shit did you do that you aren't telling.
Owner has to balance the likelihood of a customer trying to shift blame on to him, him inadvertently screwing up, leaving the client in an *alleged* worse state than he came in and risking getting his ass sued off in a consumer driven "compensation claim" society.

Quote:
My guess is the data recovery agent doesn't want to solder the port back on either.

Guess again. A Pro company cannot do a job by halves. If they do, they risk losing reputation by quoting on the basis of what *You* think the problem is and increasing the quote as they find that

Quote:
* ...before knocking the cable and severing the last molecule of solder


you did even more damage like ripping the track/joint/whatever.

Quote:
is WD the only company I have to steer clear of to avoid this happening again?


No: every company has to turn a profit even if it means manufacturing demand: go figure.
Avoid everyone or at least make sure you keep you end of the deal by taking preventative measures.
Don't sit watching something or someone slowly die in front of your eyes and then cry over it if you had the slightest chance to look after it yourself.
Hard drives : pah!
Look at the shit companies sell you to eat: perfectly shaped, nutrition free, _cheap_ crap -> rampant obesity, health problems, hospital bills. As one dude on TED put "more ppl are dying of Drive-Thru's than Drive By's"

It's everywhere dude. If you let life Suck - it will.

Quote:
Please note, I probably know nothing, these are just the stupid conclusions I come to sometimes and I needed to rant, for obvious reasons.


Me too.
It's cold outside and i much prefer ignoring the dogs needs to sit here typing.. uuuh hang on ...
btw would you like fries with that?
Have a nice day :)

K

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 Post subject: Re: For those who had DOUBT in my Smartware Solution
PostPosted: November 9th, 2014, 4:07 
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Joined: November 9th, 2014, 3:59
Posts: 1
Location: alberta
Einstein9
I am quite interested in this post as I have done exactly this in that I changed a password while drinking, and cannot get into the harddrive. Can you send me a message as to how I could go about finding a solution for myself. You are the first person who I have heard of who thought this was even possible. Any message I have received from anyone else was good f***ing luck and my apologies if this reply is annoying in being the 2001st such request but as I am sure you realize no one else seems to be capable of accessing these damn things.


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 Post subject: Re: For those who had DOUBT in my Smartware Solution
PostPosted: November 9th, 2014, 5:27 
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Joined: December 4th, 2012, 1:35
Posts: 3844
Location: Adelaide, Australia
If you read the posts, all of them, you may realise that:
1) Einstein9 won't tell
2) There are supposedly many other companies out there that can now do this.
3) people have some scepticism, For 1.. the applications used.. why Softice and Wdasm when IDA and Winhex already used.
4) The video could jast as well be someone entering in a known password, though I don't believe Einstein9 is dishonest, and I fully believe he has done all he has said.
5) Einstein9 didn't crack this - a RE team did, Einstein9 has credited them
6) This video did not show access to DATA, but access to a blank disk. I would have liked a more detailed video that actually addressed all the issues and showed solutions.
7) The hints you seek are already contained in the posts.. supposedly if you remember the good old days peeking and poking memory addresses, you have some idea how to do it. If you are unfamiliar with reverse engineering, then I don't think you are going to progress much on this.
8) contact a DR Lab and get a quote
9) I wish this thread would evaporate


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 Post subject: Re: For those who had DOUBT in my Smartware Solution
PostPosted: May 27th, 2015, 9:08 
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Joined: May 27th, 2015, 7:59
Posts: 2
Location: Brasil
Hi Einstein9, how can I have your software.


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 Post subject: Re: For those who had DOUBT in my Smartware Solution
PostPosted: May 27th, 2015, 9:13 
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Joined: May 27th, 2015, 7:59
Posts: 2
Location: Brasil
einstein9, How can I get your software?
:?: :?: :?:


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 Post subject: Re: For those who had DOUBT in my Smartware Solution
PostPosted: May 27th, 2015, 10:03 
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Joined: May 13th, 2010, 11:17
Posts: 2785
Location: Kuwait
prjassis wrote:
einstein9, How can I get your software?
:?: :?: :?:


You Cannot

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 Post subject: Re: For those who had DOUBT in my Smartware Solution
PostPosted: March 22nd, 2016, 16:24 
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Joined: March 22nd, 2016, 16:20
Posts: 1
Location: Midwest, USA
einstein9, is there any way I could correspond with you privately regarding a data recovery issue involving a My Passport Elite drive?

Regards --


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 Post subject: Re: For those who had DOUBT in my Smartware Solution
PostPosted: May 7th, 2016, 3:08 
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Joined: May 7th, 2016, 2:59
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Location: United States of America
Attachment:
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locked scfeen.jpg [ 249.77 KiB | Viewed 32245 times ]
I have a similar issue, if not, the same. I have a WD My Book Essential 500gb external harddrive. I haven't used it in over 6 years and I forgot the password. Even the hint doesn't help. I tried to click on the link for youtube and the link is bad. Seems like it violated Youtube rules and got removed. Any idea where I can find this video so that I can unlock or bypass the password window? Thanks in advance.


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 Post subject: Re: For those who had DOUBT in my Smartware Solution
PostPosted: May 10th, 2016, 12:01 
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Joined: October 16th, 2013, 13:21
Posts: 713
Location: Brazil
The video was just a demonstration of his procedure working, but it did not showed HOW it was done.

If you need those files, the easiest solution would be a DR Recovery shop. Depending on which city you are, you can find some people in the forum that could help you.


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 Post subject: Re: For those who had DOUBT in my Smartware Solution
PostPosted: May 10th, 2016, 20:15 
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Joined: September 8th, 2009, 18:21
Posts: 15461
Location: Australia
"Works with WD Smartware by 60-80% success"

ISTM that such a success rate is statistically indistinguishable from a brute force, dictionary attack. If it were a genuine crack, then the success rate would be 100%. Unless there are some firmware versions that contain a flaw that exposes the original key, then I can't see how it could be done. In fact, I can't see why the new key would need to be stored anywhere.

The drive begins life with a known key, so the data can be decrypted.

    data from host + original key sector --> encrypted data
    data to host <-- encrypted data + original key sector

The user then protects the drive with a password. This results in a new key and the original key is deleted.

    new key sector = original key sector + password

The original key sector is recovered if the user supplies the correct password, otherwise an incorrect key is regenerated.

    new key sector + password = original key sector
    new key sector + incorrect password = incorrect key sector

AISI, there should be no way to recover the original key and therefore no way to crack the encryption.

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 Post subject: Re: For those who had DOUBT in my Smartware Solution
PostPosted: May 10th, 2016, 21:54 
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Joined: September 29th, 2005, 12:02
Posts: 3561
Location: Chicago
fzabkar wrote:
AISI, there should be no way to recover the original key and therefore no way to crack the encryption.

Based on the published research WD drives with encryption have flaws
Some versions have backdoors and some versions have poorly generated key which would reduce number of operations required for bruteforce drastically (for example, on one WD version the actual key "strength" could be reduced from 2^32 to ~2^6, which makes it very possible to bruteforce )

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 Post subject: Re: For those who had DOUBT in my Smartware Solution
PostPosted: May 11th, 2016, 5:35 
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Joined: December 4th, 2012, 1:35
Posts: 3844
Location: Adelaide, Australia
You rarely or never crack the encryption - you find a flaw in the implementation.

Ransomware flaws, for example, have included leaving copies of the key in RAM or registry.

I gave myself a headache and read through this thread again. seems the password isn't necessary to decrypt the data, meaning the password itself isn't used in the encryption algorithm.. I couldn't view the video as it was taken down by youtube for "This video has been removed for violating YouTube's policy on spam, deceptive practices and scams." But IIRC, it just showed an empty drive opening up.

I don't understand what 3 "hidden functions" are... In my RE experience, functions are there, you just need to understand them.. and the reversing part still doesn't sit well.. but aside, still no-one has named a lab that will do this for the general public. I feel that would be useful.


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