Hi,
I've just had my hard drive sent back from the OnTrack data recovery company in the UK, they said that the damage to the platters were to extensive and they couldnt get an image of the drive. There are some really important photos on the external hard drive that I need to try get back. Any recommendations for companies that deal mainly with physically damaged drives? Any help would be really really appreciated.

You can try Seagate Recovery Services - +44 (0)845 258 5560
But if drive has media damage that can be a serious difficulty to recover even some files

_________________
SAN, NAS, RAID, Server, and HDD Data Recovery.

I have recovered data from a case which Ontrack declared as 'extensive media damage' so a second opion won't hurt. Expect to pay big bucks though. I have heard reports of Seagate charging upto $5000 just to try to get data regardless of outcome.

Wow, that is really a nice job

$ is that US/CAN/HK/AUS dollars?

_________________
All went well until I plugged the drive in.

That is like music to my ears, a lot of people said that ontrack were the best and that there was no point to send on the drive to anyone else. The cost isnt really a problem since the images on the drive are worth a couple of thousand atleast if I can get them back. I'll check Seagate out.

Thank you!!!

A bit pointless discussion as at least here we haven't seen the disk. Maybe they are right, maybe not - and each company has different costs/policies/prices !

I understand that, I just wanted to get an idea from people that know something about hard drive data recovery or have had some sort of experience with companies. It just gives me a guide since I've never had this problem before and I'm lost when it comes to searching through the hundreds of companies that claim they are good.

These are the possibilities, if someone has point 5 to "n" then add...

1) What is recoverable for me may not be for another - because of lack of competency or specific instruments or know-how or patience or time or CONVENIENCE (see also point 5)

2) NOT RECOVERABLE AT THE MOMENT

3) It's simply not recoverable at all but a 2nd, 3rd, 4th or Nth opinion is needed for peace of mind

4) Some PITA jobs are dropped to concentrate on more fruitful ones (don't know but it happens !)

5) The PITA is the customer and not the job itself so it is dropped to avoid unnecessary PITA.

I hate to admit, but I'm guilty of number 5. Some people call and I just pray they don't send their drive in. Or we someone sends it in and they are just a complete a$$ from the very beginning.

We did successful data recovery jobs when ontrack claimed that data was unrecoverable. Last case, what they wrote to their customer was (translation from Polish):
- electronics firmware damage
- eccentric misalignment of HDD components
- damage of heads read-write element which fell onto the platter surface causing scratches of magnetic surface; scratches of bottom platter surface make data recovery impossible
What was more important, and what pissed one of our clients off, was that ontrack wrote that it is impossible to recover data from this drive. They wrote that data recovery is not possible in any lab – not in Poland, nor in any lab in the world (!). And yet... we recovered it.
Our client was very disappointed and decided to write a testimonial which we published online. What was next – "unknown" trolls started to discredit us and started personal attacks on different forums. When regular people saw what is going on, what the client wrote and what trolls are doing they said it is obviously bad PR.
Then ontrack's PR manager showed up and wrote that they will change their default letter (!). After all these years, after many successful recovery jobs done by us after ontrack, they decided to change their default letter that they are the best and there is no one who can recover data when they failed.
Publication of simple testimonial worked. We will see in the future, when another jobs after them will come, what kind of letters they are sending :>

I'm not saying this is your case – but it may be. Second opinion is always good.
PS: As a proof - scans of documents. Of course our client agreed on publication of these. They are in Polish tho Good luck with your recovery!

_________________
Odzyskiwanie danych - MyData.pl

Sad but true. Luckily there are "asshole detectors" that work , or as a legit defense mechanism, sometimes it is necessary to reject the jackassery and.... eventually substitute with OUR

Seriously, the issue has been discussed many times.

I've been tempted to tag another couple of hundred dollars to the quote just to offset all the time spent on the phone before they have even sent the drive in for an assessment. But, at the end of the day, we just grit our teeth and put up with it.

Anyone else notice that the clients to whom you give a price break are the ones that always come back and end up costing you more?

_________________
Luke
Recovery Force Data Recovery

In a nutshell you can be customer oriented... only to who REALLY deserve it.
And finally , business is business.

Back to the case, I've had a few drives from Ontrack already.
Some of them price rejected and some them labeled as non recoverable.

What I can say is that in 50% of the times we were able to get something from the drive.
But as stated before, there are a lot of factors involved, and even I understand on those cases that some companies to reject them upfront.

The most funny one was a WD drive, where client rejected the file listing and the pricing, drive came in to us, and it was password locked. Imagine the password? "Ontrack"

What is the model of the HDD?

Some are more resistant to platter damage than others.

Glad to look at it here in UK if you want to get it sent back over.

No charge for examination/diagnosis and if I can't do anything and you want a 3rd opinion, happy to forward to "company x"

PM if interested

_________________
PC Image Data Recovery
http://www.pcimage.co.uk

New!! HDD-PCB.COM for all your PCB and donor HDD requirements!