Alternative to Ontrack

[dstrat]

Hi all

I've got an issue with my Seagate 3tb drive.

To sum up my emotions right now -



Basically, I have this drive that I put in an enclosure (might have actually come in this but I can't remember), it was perched on top of a standard height pc tower to which I accidentally snagged the cable and it promptly dropped on the floor. This has happened once of twice in the past but this time it hasn't seemed to of fared well....

It initially started beeping. An excruciating beeping noise. Considering I assume there is no speaker from inside the HD (and I don't have a 'PC Speaker' to produce BIOS beeps either) this must have been some horrific mechanical obstruction or problem inside the HD. I powered off and re-powered on - still beeping. After this, I removed it from the enclosure and hooked it up directly to the computer to which it spins up for and clicks twice every 5 seconds or so. It isn't recognised by the BIOS anymore. I haven't powered it up since.

I'm guessing this leaves me in the realm of requiring a speciailst recovery firm with maybe having to resolve an issue of a heads crash? My files on the drive are very large and ideally I would like to recover the entire contents of a drive.

My understanding is that 'ontrack' may be the best / most well known in the business but I am wondering if there are any other good firms in the UK that may help me (and for a lower price!)? If the deal is good enough in the EU or even further afield I don't mind if it makes sense financially.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

[HaQue]

Hi,
Highly recommend pcimage at I think Peterborough
pcimage (Sean) is a member of this forum

[lcoughey]

One active UK member here is Sean at PCImage (pcimage.co.uk).

[MindMergepk]

Hi,
Highly recommend pcimage at I think Peterborough
pcimage (Sean) is a member of this forum

+1

[ShaneWard]

The think what happened with this is that a head was stuck to a platter and after several attempts to turn on the drive, it finally got itself loose, or lost part of the head on the platter. You are doing the right thing letting the data recovery deal with it. Let them know that the head might be stuck or damaged heads and platter before they turn it on and make the matter worse.

[pcimage]

Thanks for the recommendations guys

But..... any sort of psychically damaged Seagate DM series drive (which I assume this is) will be a total nightmare and the parts costs (on average using 2 or 3 donors per case) will be very high, and thus a very high recovery cost (several hundred £'s at least)

[data-medics]

Yes, unfortunately that will be the case no matter where you send it. I personally try to price those "DM" drives so high the customers go somewhere else.

[lcoughey]

I wonder if this would fall under Seagate's $499 flat rate recovery?

[labtech]

Thanks for the recommendations guys

But..... any sort of psychically damaged Seagate DM series drive (which I assume this is) will be a total nightmare and the parts costs (on average using 2 or 3 donors per case) will be very high, and thus a very high recovery cost (several hundred £'s at least)

And realistically, the feasibility of successful complete recovery on a dropped DM series drive and powered on multiple times afterwards is not high. Quite low rather.

Sorry, best wishes to OP and recovery provider, whoever may be.

[Dmitri]

I've got an issue with my Seagate 3tb drive.
...
I accidentally snagged the cable and it promptly dropped on the floor. This has happened once of twice in the past
...
It initially started beeping. An excruciating beeping noise.
...
I removed it from the enclosure and hooked it up directly to the computer to which it spins up for and clicks twice every 5 seconds or so. It isn't recognised by the BIOS anymore.

According to the description, that's at least dead heads. But can be worse, up to a concentric scratch on the surface.

My understanding is that 'ontrack' may be the best / most well known in the business but I am wondering if there are any other good firms in the UK that may help me (and for a lower price!)?
If the deal is good enough in the EU or even further afield I don't mind if it makes sense financially.

Contacting pcimage was suggested already, so I can only add that you shouldn't search for a bargain in the UK and Europe. These drives are indeed problematic and if you see that price offered is a give-away, then it's a sign to leave. That person likely has no experience with these drives, while they aren't for rookies.

If you decide to send the drive abroad, we can help and will be able to offer the same data recovery services Ontrack does.
At the same time our prices are lower than the average European ones.

[porthas]

+1 for pcimage

Nope, they will charge eval and decline

I wonder if this would fall under Seagate's $499 flat rate recovery?

[dstrat]

Thanks again for all your replies, I haven't forgot about this, it is just I haven't been too flush with money either to just throw money down for a fix. As time goes by, I keep on coming across needing more and more files that were stored on this drive so I hope to do business with somebody soon.