Question about PC World data recovery service

alstemp

Hi

I have been told there's a chance of salvaging some data from a corrupt hard drive on my laptop but I just want to gauge general opinion before I pay out the £100 that PC World charge to do this . . .

Last Friday my laptop (Acer running MS Vista) crashed. I put the lid down and when I opened it again the screen had gone blank. I managed to get it restarted and quickly backed up all my documents (pictures, Word docs, other MS Office docs, etc) to an external hard drive.

However I use Windows Mail and I didn't chance to back up my email folders - I use my laptop for business and have dozens of files which I presume were also saved on my hard drive.

To cut a long story short I think my hard drive is corrupted - it's making a whirring sound and as prompted by my laptop I ran a "Windows Check Disk" programme which after 2 days was showing as only 32% complete so I think it is broken/hard drive busted.

The laptop is still under warranty (purchased in April from Currys). Howver when I spoke to the "Tech Guys" support service, they told me it sounded like a hard drive problem and the drive would have to be replaced. This service takes 14 days. However when I talked to them about the missing emails folders they said I could take it into a PC World store where they could do a data recovery to see what could be salvaged. THis service costs around £100.

Apparently the warranty is forfeited if I take my machine anywhere else (ie non PC World/Currys) to be "opened up".

I would just like a second opinion before sending off my laptop to get the hard drive replaced - do you think I can get any further data from it if I take it to PC World to be fixed?

I just want to make sure it's worth trying to get data salvaged or if it's a lost cause at this stage?

Many thanks for any advice



.AOLWebSuite .AOLPicturesFullSizeLink { height: 1px; width: 1px; overflow: hidden; } .AOLWebSuite a {color:blue; text-decoration: underline; cursor: pointer} .AOLWebSuite a.hsSig {cursor: default}

tomsolomon

Get a Linux live disk, boot up with the disk and see if any of your HDD is accessible.
If it is, transfer your data to a flash drive or USB HDD ASAP...
Data recovery is very expensive.
PC World still up to their old tricks I see.

alstemp

Hi - thanks for the quick response. However I am not really a techie and don't understand what you are suggesting I do. Is this easy to do? Can you give me step by step instructions or send me a link? Thanks

tomsolomon

alstemp wrote: »

Hi - thanks for the quick response. However I am not really a techie and don't understand what you are suggesting I do. Is this easy to do? Can you give me step by step instructions or send me a link? Thanks

Yea sure.
I take it your on your desktop ATM.
Go to this link and down load the file, burn it to disk then put it in the DVD drive on your laptop.
Booting from the disk will give you an operating system you should be able to view your HDD from, if it's not completely broken.
http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download

Or hang on for a minute until someone comes up with a better link.

totalsolutions

Just google Linux live disk, plenty to read and do. Here is one I located for you.
http://www.linux-live.org/

Also look at https://www.grc.com and "SpinRite" the software can correct damaged drive sectors.

patman99

I must admit, the best program for data recovery that I have found is 'Aeseus Data recovery wizard Pro', unfortuanately, you can only run it from Within Windows (I intend to try building-it into my UBCD4Win disc) This really is the daddy of all programs. I believe it is the same one PCW use.

johnny22clare

try recuva from file hippo its a free program it has gotten me out of trouble so many times its worth a shot insted of spending one hundred which really is a joke and your files are not safe with pc world do you really want a bored load of think they know it alls sprawling all over your personal data i wouldnt

Sparhawke

If you really need those files on your computer for your business and it could be disastrous if they are lost I personally would use a company like PCWorld everytime, £100 is a lot of money to be sure, but if you take it to a backstreet store they could irrevocably destroy any chance of ever getting anything back and cost you far more in the long run.

Opening up harddrives and recovering files that way is a very specialised area which needs a level 100 cleanroom, which means less that 100 particles of dust sizing more than 0.5microns in each cubic foot of air, and this cleanroom can cost many thousands of pounds to keep running 24/7/365 because it cannot simply be switched on and off every 3 minutes otherwise it wouldn't be able to claim its namesake anymore. This is where the cost comes in.

Simply put, if one speck of dust ends up in the wrong place on your harddrive it quite possibly could be trashed forever.

This cleanroom is not needed if all you have to do is boot up a disk and never open the harddrive, yet some companies charge you for it even if they do not utilise it so it may be worthwhile to actually ask them what exactly they are going to do with your hardware.

(By the way, there are never any 100% guarantees with this)

And yes, they are quite right in stating that your warranty will be invalidated if you take it elsewhere, as explained above it is very technical and not for any idiot with a soldering iron lol, most people simply buy a brand new harddrive for this reason)

davb

Sparhawke wrote: »

I personally would use a company like PCWorld everytime, £100 is a lot of money to be sure, but if you take it to a backstreet store they could irrevocably destroy any chance of ever getting anything back and cost you far more in the long run.

Opening up harddrives and recovering files that way is a very specialised area which needs a level 100 cleanroom

You are correct in what you say, but the service PC World are offering is

Our Data Recovery service can help you recover lost files using our data recovery software. We also offer a lab recovery service for heavily damaged files or hard drives.

So, for the £100 they are pretty much going to to what has been suggested previously - booting from something else and accessing the drive with recovery software. The lab service (clean room) is going to cost a LOT more.

You do need to decide how much this data is worth to you, as although all these things can be successful, it could also be the case that the more you (or someone else) run the drive, the more damage will occur.
As Sparhawke says, there are no 100% guarantees.

If you want to try yourself, i'm sure there will be plenty of people here that will help.

macman

PCW will just use the same freely available software that you can run yourself (Recuva etc) If they can recover it, you can, or an independent shop can, and do a better job than PCW. £100 for that is ludicrous. You won't get a 'clean lab' service for less than £250.
Most reputable recovery firms will charge you around £30-£40 to see what can be recovered, then you can decide if you want to go ahead, if so the charges will be at least £150 and up.
Once you have decided that, you can take it to PCW for a warranty repair.
Once again the perils of buying at PCW are revealed.
Since you are using your laptop for business, wouldn't it have been wise to keep a backup of your files? Saves an awful lot of hassle ansd expense.

busenbust

PCW and data recovery - in the same sentence? Unfitting. :rolleyes: