Wondering about cost of data recovery.

[BradBo2]

My harddrive burned up on me.
I put it in my external enclosure and it quit. It was super hot to the touch and after that it didn't work in any CPU.
I know it was broken, or burned up, because I put an older hd in the enclosure and saw a wisp of smoke come from the circuit board of the second hd and that too died.
I was wondering what service someone might recommend form file recovery?
Is there a relatively inexpensive service available to recover approximately 20 gigs of data.
Ive read some pretty startling amounts charged for this service.
Also, is replacing the circuit board a reasonable option for an average computer user?
Its a WD 80 gig hd and I could buy another for pretty cheap if that's an option.
Thanks!

 

[xrodney]

Usualy data recovery can cost thousands $, but there are some companies doing it cheaper for students etc (my friend paid 200$ to recover all data from his 40GB drive 2 years ago).

If only circuitboard is damaged, there is posibility to get exactly same hdd and switch boards. Usualy screw driver is enough for this (must be special as circuitboard dont use standart screws) and in few cases litle soldering (remeber one hdd whitch have engine ssoldered to board).
If there is no mechanical dmg to hdd and engines are not burned this should work.

 

[Chaiser]

In many cases you actually have to reprogramm or swap out ROM and firmware on PCB. In order for that you will need some expensive tools. Better still try using a data recovery company. Just make sure you pick the right one. I had to use data recovery services a few times already. I first of all used expensive ones. Had to pay $1499 for bad heads data recovery AND $399 for donor. Second time I did a bit better reaserch. Tried Aero - http://aerodr.com, they couldn't get my data off. Then resend it to Micra - http://www.micradatarecovery.com and was really happy with their service. Had to pay only $599 overall for internally damaged drive.

 

[MrLinux]

Digging up a thread from two years back is a real lame way of trying to advertise your company.