Severely scratched hard dirves data recovery technology

[A.DATA]

It's not something that's been done in the past.
Demonstration here.
http://avigdata.com

Attachments

[pepe]

i've been recovering data from platters like that for over 15 years, can't remember exactly... so it's been done in the past.

[A.DATA]

I saw it coming.
If I hurt your respect, I apologize.
People can claim things.
But there is logic and there are facts.
I've been searching the internet for years and haven't found any video or some kind of explanation or article that even comes close to the performance I showed in the video.
There is a consensus in the data recovery community that scratches, especially severe scratches, are 'at least very difficult' to recover if not impossible.
Logic says that if someone wants to claim that they can do something that is generally considered impossible(except for exceptional less severe cases in individual models), then they need to prove it to the public as I did.
Quite impressive experience and extensive knowledge, but no time was found in 15 years to present anything to the public regarding the ability to deal with severe scratches on 2.5" hdds?
My technology is not based on cleaning, although I also do that.
It's a long process with many steps, each step requiring solving performance problems, and there is a certain flexibility for the system to be adapted to many types of discs and situations.
The chance that you just thought about the whole process as precisely as I did from beginning to end is close to zero.
I don't know what methods you use and how you adapt your method to so many existing hard drives.
But I do know that this controversy could end if you showed a video (after all, it is very easy for you) of you skipping three serious scratches in wd shrek usb and only with one existing head out of 8 as shown in mine video.

[pepe]

Of course you hurt not with what you are doing, It is great and i didn't question that part in any way. I just questioned your statement that this kind of work hasn't been done so far. I also pretty confident i am not the only one. Another question is whether it is right to say anything that's not on YT doesn't exist. Going a bit further, days are here when we should question if something we see on the net actually happened (not relating to this very video).
I don't feel like i needed to prove anything with a video, and i won't invest time in that.
About the shrek cloning with H7: could you share a video of the same while putting the platter on different platter position? (ie like top platter at bottom position, to make it a bit more challenging...)

[A.DATA]

could you share a video of the same while putting the platter on different platter position?

If you mean that if the scratch was instead of being on top will be on the bottom, that is, between the two plattres, so yes, my equipment can do it, I wanted to demonstrate it in the first place but I have no way to film a scratch between two platters.
If you mean to physically reverse the platter, so that for example head 6 will reads platter 7 or put the top platter instead of the bottom, so that for example head 5 will reads platter 7, why would I want to do that and modify the firmware if I can get the job done with the existing positions?

days are here when we should question if something we see on the net actually happened

There are limits to how much faked video can look as original.
I gave my explanations between videos, I intentionally didn't touch on the videos themselves.
There are also many moments when you simultaneously see on screen data being read from a scratched platter when the hdd is the only one connected to the card.
You also see vibrations from holding a camera in one hand as the vibrations move consistently from area to area.
Ultimately, the viewer will decide after watching the entire video whether what they see is fake or authentic, the same goes for the video you will show.

Another question is whether it is right to say anything that's not on YT doesn't exist

I also pretty confident i am not the only one

1.The answer is no.
But I already mentioned, logic says that if someone wants to claim that they can do something that is generally considered impossible, then they need to prove it, so you
have on the one hand someone who has already proven to have done it, on the other hand, there are someone or a few others who only claim to be able to do this.
2. You know, over the years I hardly deal with data recovery, this process of how to completely solve the scratch problem has been in my head for many years but I haven't
had time to check if this theory works in practice.
During this period, I asked myself if it is possible that I have a solution in mind, something that has not yet been done (because I have a few more ideas in mind for much
more critical things in life).
A few months ago I suddenly noticed that soon there would be no more hard drives on the market so I decided to set aside some time to check it out.
I did finish doing it and then posted it.
How many years has the field of data recovery been around? maybe 40, 50 years?
Since then, thousands of videos have been published in the field, and not only in YT and not a single one of them showing abilities that come close to what I published, and
this is not a minor issue, scratches on hdds are a very important issue.

Add to that, I can refer you to people with extensive experience in the field of data recovery who admit that recovering data from a scratched hdd, recover from the other
unscratched plates is a challenge, recovery from the scratched platter itself is impossible except in cases of light scratches or a few cases where it is possible to use a few
tricks and it is applicable to limited areas, this means that you have two or three tricks in your arsenal that you can only apply in certain cases, These are usually very few
models of 3.5" disks and mainly with a single platter, and these constitute a negligible share of all disks that reach recovery labs.

In light of these facts, it is pretty legit from me to claim that this has not been done before and certainly not in this way, and I will correct this if it turns out not to be the
case.

I don't feel like i needed to prove anything with a video, and i won't invest time in that

Why?
You currently have 4602 posts.
Have you calculated how much time and energy you invested in the forum to show that you are an expert (in the financial aspect, not to impress)?
Of course you also did it to help people, but I saw that you also suggested and hinted at people to send you jobs.

I'm also questioned your statement that what I did, you have been doing for 15 years.
I think perhaps what you did is what I mentioned earlier, some tricks that can be applied in individual cases, maybe you developed it a little more that you can apply to
a larger range of cases.
But you don't have an overall strategy and a comprehensive and complete solution to the problem which you can apply in all cases.

In the physical aspect, my development provides a comprehensive and complete solution to the problem and can be applied to 100% of the hdds and for all situations
unless there is some limitation of the firmware that cannot be solved.

If you accept my offer, by presenting your own shrek video this will show that what you've done so far was included a comprehensive solution to the problem similar to
what I did, if you can't, it means that up until now you've been using the "trick method".

You've invested so much in the forum so far, why not invest a few more moments and then show everyone that you're not only an expert in firmware/software, but
you're also an expert in the technical aspect.

[Izualim]

Perfect example of why i stopped using the forum.
More ego than anything else, shameful.

[A.DATA]

Perfect example of why i stopped using the forum.
More ego than anything else, shameful.

Bad example!
Are you afraid that the real reality will be clarified to the public?!
The public and customers have the full and legitimate right to know what service they can receive from professionals and what they cannot, what exactly could have been done in the past (recommended also by who), and what can be done in the future, AND THAT IS THE MAIN MASSAGE FROM THIS DISCUSSION.
There may be people who would prefer that the issue remain unclear to customers so that when they receive a scratched hard drive from customers, they can tell them whatever they want.

[Arch Stanton]

delete this - FWIW this anti spam is freaking annoying.

Last edited by Arch Stanton on August 19th, 2025, 16:23, edited 1 time in total.

[Arch Stanton]

Perfect example of why i stopped using the forum.
More ego than anything else, shameful.

Bad example!
Are you afraid that the real reality will be clarified to the public?!
The public and customers have the full and legitimate right to know what service they can receive from professionals and what they cannot, what exactly could have been done in the past (recommended also by who), and what can be done in the future, AND THAT IS THE MAIN MASSAGE FROM THIS DISCUSSION.
There may be people who would prefer that the issue remain unclear to customers so that when they receive a scratched hard drive from customers, they can tell them whatever they want.

The real reality

Anyway, AIUI many/most serious labs will just close the drive with the scratched platter and inform the customer they will not be able to recover data. That's fair enough, isn't it? It's what I would do if I can immediately determine I will never be able to keep a set of heads alive longer than a few seconds. As you say, labs will deem it unrecoverable, this isn't unclear. You can't claim it's unclear AND claim labs will tell they can't recover such drives.

Now let's assume you have a way/method to recover drives with badly damaged surfaces, I am no expert and am not that interested, while at the same time you also mention you no longer offer a recovery service, then what's the purpose of all this?

TBH I found your video too boring (let's see how fragile your own ego is, or not of course) and above all to amateurish (what's with the portrait mode?). It's almost as if you don't want people to watch. If you present large blocks of text, present that text in a different way, a document + photos. And please narrate the video + add audio where it is relevant, data recovery techs rely on their ears too I assume. It's easy to critique others (make a video! Prove it!), your own presentation is far from flawless. If you want this new reality to be known to the public, then you need to do a better job IMO.

If you claim, you prove, that's an unwritten rule. The claim that you're the only one in the World capable of recovering such drives is without proof/evidence and yet you demand others to prove their claims.

[A.DATA]

Anyway, AIUI many/most serious labs will just close the drive with the scratched platter and inform the customer they will not be able to recover data. That's fair enough, isn't it? It's what I would do if I can immediately determine I will never be able to keep a set of heads alive longer than a few seconds. As you say, labs will deem it unrecoverable, this isn't unclear. You can't claim it's unclear AND claim labs will tell they can't recover such drives.

You are mixing two different times.
In the video, I refer to the time when the labs return the drive to the customer, this is the moment they deem it unrecoverable, they return the hdd to the customer without the data so what do you expect them to say?
In the previous post I refer to the time before, what do they generally state to those around them or if a customer asks them if you can successfully handle a hard drive with massive scratches?
So there will be those who will actually tell the customer in advance, I don't deal with scratched hard drives.
The second group will say they can only solve some situations, or only from the other unscratched platters.
The third group has the same ability as the second group but let everyone believe that in most cases they can deal with severe scratches, as I said "there may be people".
You can read in the emails I get what people say they were told before the recovery attempt, even charging for "cleaning operations" even though no data was recovered.
So this is the lack of clarity for the public that I mentioned, the public don't understand clearly whether it is possible to recover in scratched hard drives situations or not, and if it is sometimes possible, is it also possible to recover from the scratched platter itself on multi-platter hard drives or only from the others healthy platters.

while at the same time you also mention you no longer offer a recovery service, then what's the purpose of all this?

Now this is not just a misinterpretation on your part but a pure distortion of what I said!
Where did I say such a thing?!
What I did say was "I hardly deal with data recovery" this means occasional work, secondary work, not main work, and it is indeed a part-time job for me, I deal with and research in other fields a significant part of my time.

If you claim, you prove, that's an unwritten rule. The claim that you're the only one in the World capable of recovering such drives is without proof/evidence

Such a thing can never be proven.
My only proof is that I can do such a thing.
As for whether someone else can do that or not, there is only common sense and probability.
Try to find somewhere in the world (at the time of writing these lines) a mention, not even a video, or a company that developed or sells such equipment for example to recover data from 2.5" hard drives with multiple platters when it will be possible to skip several serious scratches without a problem and read from the scratched plate itself and over time.
I checked all my references on the subject, most of the time I refer to it as being documented for the first time or the technology I developed is exclusive, regarding whether such cases have been resolved in the past or not, I stated this at the beginning "and I will correct this if it turns out not to be the case".

and yet you demand others to prove their claims.

I demand that people prove what they can easily prove, because they spend time marketing themselves anyway, I'm not asking them to prove something that can never be proven as you demand.
And if they can do a few tricks to recover from a few individual situations that they won't compare to my system whose performance I demonstrated in the video, of course those who do not know the problem in depth, cannot imagine what obstacles I had to overcome to show what is demonstrated in the video.

TBH I found your video too boring (let's see how fragile your own ego is, or not of course) and above all to amateurish (what's with the portrait mode?). It's almost as if you don't want people to watch. If you present large blocks of text, present that text in a different way, a document + photos. And please narrate the video + add audio where it is relevant, data recovery techs rely on their ears too I assume. It's easy to critique others (make a video! Prove it!), your own presentation is far from flawless. If you want this new reality to be known to the public, then you need to do a better job IMO.

You are right, this video is not suitable for people who are not expert, as you stated about yourself

I am no expert and am not that interested

.
So people like you who do not understand the meaning of the performance shown in the video, put emphasis on marginal things like what comes out of the translation like the true reality or "portrait mode" or the quality of the graphics in the video.
Professional people who focus on research aren't interested in fringe things like flashy video editing to attract people or what "portrait mode" is.
I am aware that the video editing is poor and explanations are lacking.
I have no knowledge of photography, graphic editing, and marketing is the last thing I know how to do.
As I said at the beginning "I suddenly noticed that soon there would be no more hard drives on the market so I decided to set aside some time to check it out.
I did finish doing it and then posted it" in a short time, I completed a major part of the research, I learned to edit video in a basic way with the free software I downloaded and learned to build a basic website in WordPress in a few hours, that was the time budget.
I had no intention of making a "flawless" video in terms of graphics, and of course I didn't demand from others flawless presentation, only I ask is proof of performance and authenticity!
It's also not financially worthwhile to let professionals do this work for me first because the hard drive market is rapidly disappearing and second because the number of cases I have time to handle is very limited anyway.

[Arch Stanton]

Hi,

If I ask, "what's the purpose of all this", and I pre-suppose you're not dealing with data recovery because somehow I got this impression, the IMO main takeaway from that is, is that I ask a question. The question, what's the point, what's the goal here.

But you being you, you can not help being argumentative and assume I was attacking you and "distorting the truth". Your answer could have simply been, "yeah but I do still do data recovery and what I hope to achieve with my demonstration is.."

In fact, that is what the first post could have been. An explanation and not a boring video. That the video isn't perfect is really an understatement. And then when the first reply is someone stating "I'm already doing this" (paraphrasing) I personally half assume he didn't watch the (entire) video, or he didn't understand the video (which is mostly due to the video), you don't have to immediately become that toxic: "I saw it coming. If I hurt your respect, I apologize".

So without going through you entire answer to me, I see two problems that can all be attributed to you:

- Poor presentation
- Toxic handling of the audience

[A.DATA]

Hi,

If I ask, "what's the purpose of all this", and I pre-suppose you're not dealing with data recovery because somehow I got this impression, the IMO main takeaway from that is, is that I ask a question. The question, what's the point, what's the goal here.

But you being you, you can not help being argumentative and assume I was attacking you and "distorting the truth". Your answer could have simply been, "yeah but I do still do data recovery and what I hope to achieve with my demonstration is.."

Are you acting innocent?!
At any given moment, my email and my website address appears in my video ("which you watched very carefully"), for what reason do you think?
In the video description it is clearly written that I perform data recovery.
And you demand that I honestly explain what I achieve with my demonstration?!

In fact, that is what the first post could have been. An explanation and not a boring video. That the video isn't perfect is really an understatement. And then when the first reply is someone stating "I'm already doing this" (paraphrasing) I personally half assume he didn't watch the (entire) video, or he didn't understand the video (which is mostly due to the video), you don't have to immediately become that toxic: "I saw it coming. If I hurt your respect, I apologize".

So without going through you entire answer to me, I see two problems that can all be attributed to you:

- Poor presentation
- Toxic handling of the audience

Let's examine what was here.
The current category rules by the management are this:
"This forum is for topics on finding new ways to recover data. Accessing firmware, writing programs, reading bits off the platter, recovering data from dust"
A person came and published a legitimate post that fit the category EXACTLY.
Then a barrage of accusations (that turned out to be untrue) were thrown at him in an attempt to contradict completely! his words (including accusations of the ego motive).
And then the person with who took an active part in making the allegations, resentful that the attacked person responded in a slightly more aggressive tone in his opinion.
That person also found the one who is to blame for everything, but everything! in this whole situation, it's the one being attacked.
He also found the reasons for the guilt.
Guess what the reason is?
The attacked person estimated beforehand (and was right) that he was going to be attacked and immediately went on the defensive.
Another important reason, A 30-minute video which was posted by the attacked, was visually presented things in detail, with explanations before and after each segment and not within the clip itself so as not to damage the authenticity of the clips, was not done in an attractive way and with unprofessional graphic editing and without narration.
One more thing:

Toxic handling of the audience

?!
Who opened his post reply like this without the post author doing anything to him?

The real reality

[Arch Stanton]

keep digging bruh.

Whatever your goal is, you're doing great.

[Arch Stanton]

Made me think of this story, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sloot_Dig ... ing_System

[Lardman]

I think you'll find that this is the simple line that has offended people.

It's not something that's been done in the past.

Which you must have known would be contentious when you wrote it. It's a definitive and incorrect statement that you were correct on, which you instantly challenged and denigrated because you haven't seen a video posted online of it being done.

If you're recovering data from scratched platters - good for you and your clients ,but it's not a World's first or Earth shattering news to the community. Those who can already are, but for most of us it's just not economically viable to even bother trying.

[A.DATA]

keep digging bruh.

Whatever your goal is, you're doing great.

I really don't have the time and purpose to argue, but if someone tells me something that I believe is not true, I feel obliged to answer.

[A.DATA]

I think you'll find that this is the simple line that has offended people.

It's not something that's been done in the past.

Which you must have known would be contentious when you wrote it. It's a definitive and incorrect statement that you were correct on, which you instantly challenged and denigrated because you haven't seen a video posted online of it being done.

After a comprehensive inquiry I made, I was really convinced that there are parts of the video that were not done before.
And it's not just because there is no video like this online, this is due to a combination of several reasons.
I also said "Try to find somewhere in the world (at the time of writing these lines) a mention, EVEN NOT A VIDEO, or a company that developed or sells such equipment for example to recover data from 2.5" hard drives with multiple platters when it will be possible to skip several serious scratches without a problem and read from the scratched plate itself and over time".
I also said that this is consistent with what several decent data recovery professionals with extensive experience have said publicly about what is possible to do and what is not.
In addition, someone who knows and is in contact with many data recovery people and is often on forums confirmed this to me personally, he said, people attribute many things to themselves, but regarding scratched hard drives is not the case.

If you're recovering data from scratched platters - good for you and your clients ,but it's not a World's first or Earth shattering news to the community. Those who can already are, but for most of us it's just not economically viable to even bother trying.

Can you please explain why some are already doing this and it is economically viable and for most of them are not economically viable?
If you see a hdd with scratches, you ask the customer, is it worth paying so and so for some of the data? if he answers yes, why not do the work?

[Arch Stanton]

I really don't have the time and purpose to argue, but if someone tells me something that I believe is not true, I feel obliged to answer.

You could have just made your case and respond in a non toxic manner.

I saw it coming.
If I hurt your respect, I apologize.

If you can't see how this is toxic, then no one can explain this to you.

[Lardman]

After a comprehensive inquiry I made, I was really convinced that there are parts of the video that were not done before.

Which, as I said before you were corrected on.

If you'd have demonstrated this technique on something like a 4TB spyglass or a 2TB rosewood... that would have been noteworthy.

Can you please explain why some are already doing this and it is economically viable and for most of them are not economically viable?
If you see a hdd with scratches, you ask the customer, is it worth paying so and so for some of the data? if he answers yes, why not do the work?

I'm beginning to think you're just being argumentative. DR is a global industry, client have vastly different budgets, attitudes to what they are prepared to pay for a recovery and more importantly the recovery device types they send in. THAT defines how much investment as a company I can allocate into R&D for more involved recovery solutions to offer to my clients.

Like most labs I only offer services my clients will purchase from me in sufficient quantities for me to make a profit from, to some that means they don't bother with Flash, SATA SSD or perhaps NVME and outsource those cases. For me that line is obvious physical platter damage. Other labs who do offer those services collect more of those types of cases and can offer them to clients at a cost that I couldn't match, I refer clients onto them.

Like I said, if you're still seeing those drives and if your clients are willing to pay the cost you need to recover them - then all that's great for you. I haven't seen a sub 1TB 2.5" spinner for over a year, they have all been replaced by samsung/crucial/sandisk solid state drives.

[A.DATA]

If you can't see how this is toxic, then no one can explain this to you.

I have already addressed the weight of this claim and if you used such language as well.