Thank you MSE poster and Retrodata!

esuhl

Mashmallow wrote: »

esuhl...to be totally honest, I have no idea! I will ask my husband when he calls though and let you know tomorrow! Computers aren't my strong point!

Ha ha - no worries. And thanks for the recommendation, by the way.

kabayiri

esuhl wrote: »

That's great news - a relief, I'm sure!

Can I ask what you asked to be recovered (e.g. was it a full 4GB USB drive, or an 80GB hard drive with 10GB of photos, etc.)?

As someone who is often asked to fix friend's computers it would be great to have a rough idea in case I ever need to use their sevices...

The size question is a very salient point.

When I enquired about data recovery services a couple of years ago, prices seemed to be based on the size of the external hard drive to be recovered.

Worth considering the use of 2 portable hard drives for backup rather than one.

Mashmallow

esuhl, oops sorry forgot to ask hubby for you! Will remember tomorrow and post!

aliEnRIK

Mashmallow wrote: »

£470 including VAT.

Some might think I should have gone down the free route....but in 20 years time, £470 will be neither here nor there in comparison to having my precious pictures of my children.

I had to give it my best shot....too important to me not to.

I just feinted

robt_2

aliEnRIK wrote: »

I just feinted

Amazing what people will pay when they loose something precious. It is similar to a Provident loan - people will take it because they think it is the only option.

I would wager that the company used either free or very cheap software to recover the data - all of which were recommended on the original thread.

Duncanc_2

robt wrote: »

Amazing what people will pay when they loose something precious. It is similar to a Provident loan - people will take it because they think it is the only option.

I would wager that the company used either free or very cheap software to recover the data - all of which were recommended on the original thread.

What on earth are you talking about? Do you assume that a hard drive never fails mechanically and requires replacement components such as read/write heads?

People like you are too often directly responsible for the total destruction of data.

You have no idea what you are talking about - so I suggest you reserve comments for yourself.

robt_2

Duncanc wrote: »

What on earth are you talking about? Do you assume that a hard drive never fails mechanically and requires replacement components such as read/write heads?

People like you are too often directly responsible for the total destruction of data.

You have no idea what you are talking about - so I suggest you reserve comments for yourself.

Ah, here is Duncan, no doubt the Duncan from the company itsself :rotfl:

I suggest you read my post again (you didn't deny any of it). I merely suggested that the chances are it was not hardware failure (which you didn't deny).

Maybe you could elaborate on 'people like me' ? Seeing as you know nothing about my background or how many years experience I have, it will be an interesting read.

fiddiwebb

aliEnRIK wrote: »

I just feinted

Is your preferred weapon Foil or Sabre RIK

kwikbreaks

Spelling Nazi !!!

I didn't read the original thread so I've no idea if there was any physical damage to the drive requiring proper forensic recovery techniques. If so £470 is a bargain. I suspect though that it was recoverable with software and some know how. You pay for the know how....

Mashmallow

Oh dear, some people are very quick in making their assumptions that I was 'ripped off'!

I put my HDD to my local computer store (very good reputation) and their recovery attempts failed. They managed to retrieve some pictures, but only some, and advised that if I didn't go to a specialist data recovery company, my chances of recovering my childrens pictures were zilch, as their attempts were damaging my HDD even further.

So.....weighing up the probablilty....do I....

A. Take their advice and give my HDD my best shot?
B. Do a home made job on it and freeze it etc?
C. Give up and lose the lot??

I know which one I chose......you will never realise the importance of precious pictures until you lose them.