Lost 8 years of my kiddies lives :-(

culpepper

if you do manage to retrieve any data, write it to at least 2 discs as duplicates and put them back in the working machine to make sure they actually wrote to the disc properly. Recently my husband was given a disc with someones photo shoot on it and they were all corrupt, sadly he hadnt backed up anywhere and even the programs that can save corrupt pictures were no good in that case.

DarkConvict

My advice is once/if you do get data off your machine. Keep a local copy on your PC and setup a dropbox account to store the photos online for free.

closed

Mashmallow wrote: »

Firstly, we removed the harddrive and put it in an external case and tried to copy files on a friends computer, but it didnt work.:-(

What happened?

http://www.roadkil.net/program.php?ProgramID=29

If it's a head crash, spinrite will make it worse, as will the freezer trick, as will any disk access, so you need to decide whether you wish to pay 100s for recovery, or wing it, and try recovery software.

http://diskdigger.org/

http://www.runtime.org/data-recovery-software.htm

It could just be a logical corruption, in which case one of the above, or even chkdsk may be able to resolve it, it would have to be a pretty big knock to headcrash it, inside a laptop case.

stevemcol

I have to say this is too important to try and save money. Send the drive to a reputable recovery outfit, take a deep breath and hand over the dosh. You'll regret it for ever more if you don't get your pictures back.

tomsolomon

Mashmallow wrote: »

it will need to be sent of to a specialist company to be taken apart in a dust-free environment, at a cost of around £500!

ERM is it just me, or does this sound like a complete blag?

If the hard drive is corrupt why does it need sending away???

If the hard drive was physically damaged then fair enough, but this sounds a bit fishy to me. I would most definitely get a second opinion...

redpete

tomsolomon wrote: »

ERM is it just me, or does this sound like a complete blag?

If the hard drive is corrupt why does it need sending away???

If the hard drive was physically damaged then fair enough, but this sounds a bit fishy to me. I would most definitely get a second opinion...

We don't know the actual words used by the person in the shop. It doesn't sound like there's anything in it for them to recommend sending it to another company to try to recover the data.

Donnie

redpete wrote: »

We don't know the actual words used by the person in the shop. It doesn't sound like there's anything in it for them to recommend sending it to another company to try to recover the data.

I'm sure they would be taking a cut of £500.

googler

Donnie wrote: »

I'm sure they would be taking a cut of £500.

not if the OP finds their own reputable recovery company....

tomsolomon

Either the HDD has failed, or it hasn't.....
Corrupt and £500 for specialist recovery in the same sentence sounds suspect to say the least...

stevemcol

Do some research, find a good recovery service. Put your HDD in a special delivery envelope and send it off. Pay the bill.
Not worth experimenting.