Data Recovery

[Reload86]

Well my laptop hard drive has died, I've sent it to a data recovery lab as it has holiday photos and my nephews photos and videos since he was born. They've diagnosed it as a fried PCB which would make sense as it was plugged into a foreign socket and seemed to be having problems with the power / battery for a while.

They've quoted £495 + vat, so around £600 to recover the data. I really want this stuff back and I am willing to pay it, but I was just wondering if anyone could recommend any other companies? Just seems a good idea to shop around provided the quality is the same.

 

[fzabkar]

Depending on the fault, a DIY fix may cost you nothing. Otherwise a typical board swap would cost you around US$50, including a firmware transfer.

Of course it would haved help immensely if you had bothered to indicate the model of your HDD. It may surprise you to know that they're not all the same.

If you would like more detailed help, then upload a detailed photo or scan of the component side of the HDD's circuit board.

 

[Reload86]

Well I'm thinking as this stuff is fairly important to me, I'm not going to try and do a dodgy DIY job on it when I've never tried it before or even know where to start.

I would have given more information on the drive, but it's currently still with the data recovery lab and I didn't even check what make / model it was before sending it. According to them the fault is 'Electical failures located throughout the PCB board'.

I wasn't really looking for advice on how to fix this myself as I don't want to risk losing the data completely, I was just wondering if there were any decent recovery services around that may be a little cheaper.

 

[fzabkar]

There is nothing "dodgy" about DIY. However, £500 for a simple PCB swap is extortionate.

If you're not willing to trust in your own ability, then bend over and grab your toes. Otherwise, give us the information we require and someone will show you how easy it can be.