Should we send our data to a professional company?

[sFX KeZeF]

stts

BTW thanks, I really do want to make a home here. I just don't know as much as most and am willing to admit it! But I do want to learn and understand.

T

[jerkykid]

I finally have the opportunity to post something I am familiar with. I was too also in the automotive industry and in fact have owned a few shops. I believe that data recovery is a field that is so identical in so many ways. I was a mastertech and was also L1 certified and I specialized in european (mainly bmw and mercedes) diagnostics. Like data recovery, there is essencially no information on these vehicles and if you want it, break out your o-scope because you are going to have to figure it out on your own. Which is what I did on many occasions. Vehicles nowdays are controlled with all computers and operate on lan and can networks. The one diagnostic tool that I mainly used was an autologix scanner and it was 50K. But, enough of the cars. My point is that I do understand both sides to this whole thing. I never treated anyone poorly unless they had an attitude with me such as....hey how do these electric fans work on this 5-series, I answer and they proceed to tell me I am wrong..ok then figure it out on your own!

The point of the scan tool comment was that I spent everyday getting asked for help from other shops on what certain problems are. Hey can you hook up your 50K scan tool for us figure out the problem and not charge us for it...Ya right are you kidding me?

So they would ask for advice on what to do and I would inform them on what direction to go. I would not tell them the problem but instead give them a hint on which way to go. Otherwise you can bring it to me and I will charge you an honest price 160.00 an hour to figure out the problem, so you wont be smoking 1500.00 electronic modules.

Bottom line is that I have respect for anyone that is a "pro" and does not want to share their secrets, sometimes it would be nice to have a shove in the right direction thou.

There are areas that some newer people could maybe help you guys out such as having cnc machines and maybe could help with designing some tools.

@sFX KeZeF you took a course that was a week long and wasnt good...please send me a pm and let me know as I may change where I will take it

anyway..just my two cents

[zed]

sFX KeZeF, As a matter of fact - regarding that post for the Netgear SC101, i did find a solution and recovered all of the data. It took me 3 weeks but i figured it out and got all of the data back.

It cloned the original disk, i put the clone back into the NAS box then did a firmware update from Netgears web site and bingo- all data was accessible through the NAS.

I like many other forum members here needs help on new cases or types of problems never seen before. I own a PC-3000, Salvation Data Tools, Computer forensic hardware and almost every data recovery software known to man but still - there will be cases where i will come to this forum to ask for help. It may not always give me a solution right away but usually i get some good pointers or clues on how to look to solve the problem myself another way i did not think of. Solving the problem through hard work and trial and error is very satisfying. If i came to this forum and was given the 'quick fix' answer each time, i would probably never learn anything. It's good to get help here on these forums, you can't go calling people selfish if they refuse to tell you all of their secrets. Everybody has their own interests to protect.

You may recall the days when all data recovery companies claimed they had their own software to recover data - i know for a fact many of the large data recovery firms use GetDataBack and R-Studio as one of their main day to day tools.

I share as much as i can, the more people can help each other the better - but if somebody is a jerk on these forums or rude then i won't lift a finger to help. For other kind people on these forums who help me, if they need help always return the favour when i can.

[rchadwick]

stts, it appears you fit into one of three categories:

1) Serious DR hopeful. This I throw in just for fun. If you were serious about learning, why would you so seriously piss off those who could help you?

2) Intends to be helpful. This is interesting, as it's clear you don't have much to offer. This doesn't seem to stop you though.

3) Troll. This seems the most likely. You seem good at pushing people's buttons, and even though you haven't been here long, you seem to think you have more claim than those who have been here years. Your posts consist mostly of attacks, defense, and other nonsense. Whether you're a teenager, or middle aged, you have a real interesting attitude, one incompatible with the realities of life.

I have no interest in bantering back and forth with you. I'm here to converse about Hard Drives. This is a last ditch effort to get you to leave, or at least stop being a dick.

[stts]

Hey chadwick

Its unfortunate that you stand behind the attitudes of supiriority when in reallity we all put our pants on the same way. But maybe one day you will recognize the prejudices infesting this forum and choose to change your thinking. After all, everybody makes mistakes.

As to your points,

1) I have a job, so I dont need to be a serious DR hopefull. I am just insatiably curious and like challenges. Hmm, could we say getting info out of this forum could be a serious challenge? Naw, its still the internet and everything leaks.

2) I never said I had much to offer, but then again, that depends on perspective. Some may think I have much to offer. But its clear I dont have much yet to offer you. Say la vie.

3) Naaa, a troll has no purpose. My pupose is clear, and though I have not been here long, respect and human decancy requires no seniority. And I dont push everybodys buttons, some understand and respect what I say. I wish it weren't like this, but somebody has to say something, and I have nothing to loose since my data is not in jeopardy. Thus I dont need to brown nose.

Some call it being a dick, some call it speaking out about the BS here. Pick your title, but there is usefullness on this forum so Im not inclined to go anywhere. So why dont we all just say we are sorry, burry the hatchet, and start treating each other as equals.

[rchadwick]

So, let me get this straight... You don't have any interest in learning data recovery. Since I haven't heard mention of any specific questions in a while, I assume you're not working on a drive right now. And, you have nothing to offer.

So, why are you here?

[stts]

I have an interest in learning, but only to a reasonable extent. I have no interest in spending $12k for equipment, or taking classes. I backup my data and when a drive balks, I play with it a little to see whats up. I know how data is layed out on drive partions, and hunt down progeys that fix bad blocks that crop up. I have head swapped with great success and live swapped to no avail. Its fun, and great skills to have, but they are hobby skills that I will never need professionally. I wish I could play around with the SA, but now I know it costs lots of money to do that. Maybe down the road, a hacker will make it cheaper for us all to play in the SA. But things are always changing and pretty soon there will be no mechanical drives.

I have a small pile of dead drives, but I am done playing with them and I will be doing RMAs to get new drives. I have other things to do and I learned all that is practical from them. But I will share my knowledge as time permits on this forum for others benefit. Obviously, its knowledge the newbies will be most interested in. But I still have questions. Like the head magnet. Its a very powerful sucker. When its lifted off, how do you know the flux lines arnt wiping out the platter data? People talk alot about HSing, but that magnet can be a disaster even if you dont drop it. And there would be no clue.

[sFX KeZeF]

Zed,

I total understand, I am not saying anything other then I have seen both sides, and understand both sides. I blows my mind to see what some of the pros have done. I respect what they have learned and why they don't want to give it away. I just don't understand some of the attitudes from some NOT all of the pros, and I really don't understand the someone who just pops in and says hey can you tell me how too.......save me thousands of dollars with your equipment for FREE!

With the technician thing, we did have our fair share of other techs from small companies wanting us to diag the car for them so then can fix it and make money. Then they would mess it up and send the car over with the customer who is now pissed doesn't want to pay (rightfully so) yet think we should also do it for free. Then the other company calls and says we lost our but on this job can you bail us out....

So don't get me wrong I was on the Pro side at one time and have felt the same way many of others have felt when they were asked to dish it out for free or cheap!

Plus who wants to bite the hand that feeds them! I want to make a home here not enimies. Again, I was just trying to show both sides of the issue, thats all. I will also admit in comparison to the pros, elite, the data gods or whatever you want to call them, that I don't know crap! I am not goigng to pretend I do because I have some type of special equipment. Like I said, I went about it the wrong way, and I am man enough to say that, cause it is true LOL!....but there's a long story behind that.

I did the firmware deal, it didn't work, plus someone looked at it with out any write blockers and delete one partition on one drive and messed with the file system on the other drive. I even did a clean install of windows on one of my machines and tried all the steps numerous times. Man that is one messed up deal they have made.


T

[chanson]

Dear Everybody here,
I think you are all lost in this post, and turn to be offensive and aggressive to each other.
In my opinion, Data recovery is a wide and professional field which requires learining and experience and knowledgs, etc. many aspects invloved in this.
Want to be a professional always starts from the lowest stage and grow up and finally to be mature gradually. There is no bosy who is born as a professiona and can provide data recovery service. This is a majic story and dream.
So everyone should be generous and ready to help the newbies and the beginners.
Selfish man will never have the big bread.
Share is not only a way to tell your knows to others, but also a chance to learn more from others.
So, I strongle recommend that every one are friendly here.Stop to abuse and taunt!!!
PS, I am a beginner here, and i want to learn as well as stts.

[badboy]

ok, i think every one has expressed own opinion.

and we all know data recovery is really a complicated job.

Gold was hot and knowledge was not. so of course you can share your experience, knowledge and so on.

but nobody could say the one who prefers to collection is selfish.

if necessary, ok, close this article.

[Dmitry Postrigan]

This topic has been cleaned up and closed.

[Dmitry Postrigan]

This topic has been reopened per member request.

[Odiferous]

Everyone seems to be blaming each other for not wishing to openly discuss the "trade secrets" of data recovery.

Shouldn't those of you complaining be blaming the HD manufacturers instead, for withholding this information?

I don't see why, having spent many years and formidable sums of money learning and practising the art, I should be expected to tell everyone, in one fell swoop, everything I know.

When I started out in DR, there were practically NO resources on the internet, when compared with now.

As far as I am concerned - if you want to become a DR Guru, put in the time. Put in the money, the experimentation. Think of it as an apprenticeship. Don't expect seasoned professionals to hold your hand. And stop whingeing if someone refuses to tell you everything they know about a particular drive.


Duncan

[hddguy]

Everyone seems to be blaming each other for not wishing to openly discuss the "trade secrets" of data recovery.

Shouldn't those of you complaining be blaming the HD manufacturers instead, for withholding this information?

I don't see why, having spent many years and formidable sums of money learning and practising the art, I should be expected to tell everyone, in one fell swoop, everything I know.

When I started out in DR, there were practically NO resources on the internet, when compared with now.

As far as I am concerned - if you want to become a DR Guru, put in the time. Put in the money, the experimentation. Think of it as an apprenticeship. Don't expect seasoned professionals to hold your hand. And stop whingeing if someone refuses to tell you everything they know about a particular drive.


Duncan

I totally agree with you

[pcrecovery]

I read this whole thread through and I have to say that EVEN if we were to openly share all these "secrets" with everyone, this would sadly not be enough anyway.
You are quite limited in this field without specialized equipment and lots of tools. Unless you have a very simple case, you cannot realistically hope to solve your problems without a considerable investment both in time and money. The fact remains that it is cheaper to pay someone else to recover your data for you in most cases. PC-3000, SD doctors, etc. all cost thousands...HPE, laminar flow benches, etc...it all adds up to way more than a DR job. Most of the time, even jobs that don't require a cleanroom, will still require use of tools like PC3k and others. The makers of these tools have spent fortunes reverse engineering and studying these peculiarities in drives. I think it would not be fair to them for others to give the knowledge away to everyone. On the other hand, if you call them up, and by their tools, you will get nice manuals and a wealth of information. Either you are serious, and will pay the money, or you are looking for FREE that which others have paid for and/or worked very hard for. I also understand that there are those who want to get started in DR business...but if you are serious, then you need to spend alot of money and get all the tools and equipment right away...these come with support and manuals that answer most of your questions. However, sadly, most people couldn't do this work, even if they recieved one-on-one training. This is a fact. Also, even a simple business, like a store....well, most people fail at any business anyway. This is also a fact. Of course, you have your hobbyist, as someone already mentined...they are just doing this for fun, right? So, they should never get upset and anyone, ever...since this is NOT serious busines for them....right? So, really, the pros and gurus shouldn't feel threatened at all....i know i don't...I am just being realistic.