Hi, Im interested in starting a small biz recovering data from usb drives/ sd cards etc. Ive been looking at salvation data flash docotor & PC-3000 Data Extractor. Anyone any ideas on whats best suited ot recover data from flash outide of just software solutions.

Suggestion off the top of my head as this very moment: depending on the flash kinds complexity you want to be able to address, I would say you will also need good soldering/hot air gun/IR equipment and of course necessary accessories.

Note: I think you may be confusing Pc3K UDMA with PC3K FLash. They are not the same thing.

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

Thanks for that info Labtech, i appreciate it. Where is best to source those tools, there are plenty out there bit like everything else are the reputable. If you use them where did you get them, expecailly the spare parts. I had a closer look at the savationData flash doctor seems to be ok anyone any experince with this tool.

Not sure what "spare parts" mean.

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

apologies .. accessories

Though accessories can mean a variety of things, likely can buy from anywhere, online, even local shops if they have in stock.

Accessories would involve handling tools, as simple as a tweezers for example, to component protective tape for overheating, etc.

Like I said, have to sort of experience some of this work in order to get a grip of what the work is like. A lot of it depends on how far do you care about doing the job right. Should be all the way and "doing it right every single time" should be the only way, but then that is in conflict with budgets and so on.

What you can imagine the work is like visually and in theory is a whole different animal than doing it.

I suggest that you befriend somebody who is doing some of this work or similar and get exposure to get a sense of what is going on. Then get some tools and source some broken flash based devices (or buy some new ones -be aware of fake flash stuff), practice what you intend to do and go from there.

Or if you want to get professional exposure and can afford, then attend the PC3KFlash seminar. Note, this does not mean that I favor PC3KFlash in any way. So, don't make your tool purchase decision based on that.

For more feedback from people on these tools, use the search function. Many opinions on the forum.

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

thank you

If you want to take up hardware Flash recovery with no prior experience you will find it very difficult. The structures and workings of Flash memory is very complex by comparison to any other aspect of this industry.

Good luck

I appreciate it will be diffcult. My plan would be to get proper equipment and software and be able to start off doing basic things and build on the knowledge from there. Im looking at the PC-3000 Flash SSD Edition. I am willing to pay and travel for a day or more training or demo with this toolset, anywhere in the UK with some who uses this (russia for 3 days is a bit of a stretch at the mo). I have experience in PC repair. I'm willing ot give it a go and this is my plan....we'll see what happens. Also like to thank HaQue.. I dont have the ability to reply to PMs.

In my opinion Flash Extractor from Soft Center is a more powerful tool.

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

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

i tried contacting via email no response. ill try again and look at it again. Do you use both pc3k & SC or just the one

I just use SC but know people who use pc3k too.

Both have their pros and cons, but my experience is that SC can solve more cases than pc3k, especially non-standard ones.

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

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

Do you want to diversify your biz and get into training & demo on the SC

For flash recovery tool, SC one is of course the best, we are using it too. we had others and sold them all.

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Question yourself before decision

Hi,
Spent last few week researching this stuff.
Its vast and complicated but i will be making a start and spending alot of time.

What does this refer to in relation to SC-FE:


Auto power mod (TSOP 48)
To avoid soldering wires every time, make this modification.

Would this avoid the above:

Adapter: TSOP 48 power mod chip.

Ta

Yes.

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Odzyskiwanie danych

Hi all, just a quick question. Is it necessary to renewal the SC-FE license every year after purchase? Thanks!

Only if you want support and updates.

Well I would take into consideration the following points, as veiwed by someone new to the field myself, these are my conclusions. Open to correction, flames whatever:

The timeline of Flash Memory is roughly last 6 years to last year not a real lot changed, just small differences and tweak required to read some chips, new mixes, new challenges to account for algos etc, but basically nothing really too much on the whole. Last year to present is a huge acceleration of a) monoliths, and b) SSD Drives.

Both of these are what is going to pretty much force you to need the benifits you will get by upgrading the software. While alot of SSDs use the same Flash Chips, they are controlled in such a way that you will need updates of the software to handle it. Also the larger capacities will certainly mean that the drives will be manufactured right on the very edge of their specs, and potential to fail will be higher.

your question at face value can be answered by: No it should continue to work at whatever state it is at once you reach expiry but you won"t get updates. The other point to consider is that alot of drives fail after a year or two. This means that the year old tech you have in your software is actually perfectly position to fix the drive failing after a year or two of use. So even if you don't get updates, your software is relevant.

If you are the only shop within cooee of anyone else, and you have no competition, you can afford to take the cases you can do and turn away anything that needs state of the art tech to fix. On the other hand if you are in a large city and there are 3 or 4 DR shops, then you need to be able to fix all the drives you can and would benifit by having tech that the other may or may not be in a position to upgrade to.

I hope these thoughts make sense, and you can see that I am trying to view the question from all angles.

Good luck, it sounds like you are committed and enthusiastic, so you have 2 of the most important qualities already... you just need to find a great sorce of TIME as you are going to need it in abundance

A few more tools that I believe will be useful to own would be an Oscilliscope and a logic analyser. These will help you find pinouts of unknown chips and test crystals for starters. Also a VERY good magnification/lighting/photographing setup is a plus. Doesnt have to be expensive, but functional. (my favourite hand held magnifying glass I use daily was $10, and my desk lamp on an adjustable arm $19)

I come from China, from 2008 to the present, has been of FLASH data recovery, used a lot of tools, feel the best tool or Russian SC, maybe a lot of people do not agree with my view, But it brought me thousands of successful cases to prove it. But enough on the basis of the study is very necessary,
If you have more questions you can E-mail it to me. Wish you good luck.
polanwu@163.com