Hard Drive Data Recovery - Datatrack Labs

Oakdale

I would first put the drive in a caddy and then try and read its data with Recuva. Failing that I would then try Linux as a trial boot installation.

I would also take the drive out of its original computer/laptop and reboot that computer/laptop with missing drive. Switch off the computer/laptop again, insert drive and reboot....sometimes it can be just a loose connection. I had a computer that wouldn't boot, took the hard drive and did the just said and all was fine when I reinserted the drive.

Another thing you could try is going for a recovery. When you get to the part that asks which partition, load drivers, etc you say Load Drivers. It will then bring up a file requester for browsing.....you might be able to see your photos that way, through navigation of the file requester.

Denise

Miss_sparkle_2

Steve_Andrea wrote: »

Hey Miss Sparkle,

Sorry to hear about your data loss.... Im in exactly the same position...

Im going to send me drive off and will let you know how I get on...

Unless the data is MEGA urgent, dont rush into anything.... if you can wait until mine has gone and (hopefully) come back then at least you will know what your getting yourself into.........

I really needed my data as I'm moving home at the end of this week and therefore had to hand my notice into my work and of course everything I need to help with job applications and interviews is on there! Along with thousands of photos, all my itunes which is probably £3k worth of music etc... It usually is also on my computer but due to motherboard failing it was only on the hard drive and I was just about to copy it back over.

I sent it off Thursday last week to Xytron as they seemed very helpful over the phone and very understanding and friendly. They got it Friday morning and I've heard back from them today. Originally they said most cost between £300-£400 exc VAT. They said today that mine has a severe issue and the engineer told me on the phone it is the worst he has had this year. To try and rectify it they had to purchase a part which I have paid £180 inc VAT today over the phone on my card. Once they have this part then he estimates 40-50 hours to correct it to see if they will be able to recover anything and at the moment he thinks it could be upto £500 exc VAT (£600 inc VAT).

It's turning out to be a very costly affair as originally I had budgeted £480 inc VAT and also purchased a new hard drive sent directly to them to put the recovered items onto... Looking now upto £680 for the part and recovery if they can do it as well as the £60 spent on a new hard drive....

Hopefully will have some good news next week from them so will keep you posted how I get on...

I hope yours isn't as bad as mine and everything goes well (and quicker)... So far I'm happy with Xytron but still feeling a little nervous about it all with paying for a part up front.

cit_k

GeorgeSElder1967 wrote: »

Hi

This is my first post and I understand that this will invalidate my opinion for some people but I felt that after having read someone stating 'don't touch Datatrack Labs Ltd with a barge pole' that I should share my own experiences with the company.

I had a 1TB hard drive that was knocked from a table by a nephew and it basically died a death - I had lots and lots of material on it and ironically it was only in the living room as I was preparing to back it up. I had decided that I'd deal with the loss and move on but as I thought about what was lost I started getting that sinking feeling. So, I decided to shop around and the research that I did led me to Datatrack Labs Ltd.

I spoke to them and found that they were very helpful and open about what they would do and what the cost could entail. I sent off my hard drive and within a short time they sent me a report on what was wrong with it and what needed to be repaired. They also sent me a list of the files that they had been able to recover and when the data was returned to me it was all there as promised.

To be honest the HD was damaged badly - the platter, the Head Disk and some files had been corrupted so it wasn't a cheap job, but by the same token it was also a very reasonable price for the amount of data that was going to be recovered.

Apart from the technical side of things I would, without going into too many details, recommend them simply because Michael Owens, the man I dealt with, is one of the nicest, most reasonable and honest people I have ever dealt with.

I understand that people have different experiences with a company but from my perspective and experience Datatrack Labs Ltd were amazing at what they did and incredibly nice people to deal with and I would have absolutely no compunction about recommending them to anyone that has data that has been lost. The service is honest and every step is discussed with you as it happens and you will, whenever possible, get your data back.

Cheers

George

Alarm bells ring in my head, when a company says that things like platters, heads etc are badly damaged, and send you a quote for repair - along with a list of files they found on the drive.

Fairly obviously they wont be able to get any data of the drive - including a list of files on it, unless they repaired the damage first!

And why would any company do the repair at a quote stage, when the customer may decide not to proceed.

Sounds to me, much more a case of no major damage at all to the drive, and the running of some data recovery software to get the list of files the software can recover.

GeorgeSElder1967

cit_k wrote: »

Alarm bells ring in my head, when a company says that things like platters, heads etc are badly damaged, and send you a quote for repair - along with a list of files they found on the drive.

Fairly obviously they wont be able to get any data of the drive - including a list of files on it, unless they repaired the damage first!

And why would any company do the repair at a quote stage, when the customer may decide not to proceed.

Sounds to me, much more a case of no major damage at all to the drive, and the running of some data recovery software to get the list of files the software can recover.

Hi,

Sorry - I guess my last post was a little misleading.

The process was that I sent the HD away and then I got an initial email detailing the damage and providing a quote for what the repair would be. I chose to accept that quote and asked Datatracks to proceed with the repair.

Once they had done that within, to be honesty I can't remember how long it was but is was within their quoted time they sent an email that had a list of the data that was recovered - this was only after I had approved the quote and procedure though.

Having reread my post I can see where the confusion lay but to clarify the information wasn't all sent at the same time.


Cheers

George

Steve_Andrea

trust99 wrote: »

Friend of mine just had a quote from Data Track labs under my observation. Apparently data can be recovered for approx £250 with additional cost for USB HDD. If you want to wait 14-21 days for your HDD. (500GB hdd btw)

There is a more rapid service of 5-7 days @ an additional £450!+ quote

Or if urgent emergency turnround of 24-72 hrs @ an additional £ 750+quote making it nearly a thousand pounds.

Be interesting to see if retrodata charge a similar price.

BTW am not knocking Data track labs, am just sharing experience especially if you look online at some of the other firms and scammers

Did they say how long the quote was valid for?

tonyh66

Steve_Andrea wrote: »

Did they say how long the quote was valid for?

I don't know if you would be willing to try and find an identical (brand, model number, size)hard drive to the one thats broken and swap the external electronic parts over this may work for you.

I forgot to add, this option will cost you a 1/10th of the data recovery option and if the electronics swap doesn't work you still have a new HD which you can forward to the data recovery firm if you go that route.

Moretistic

tonyh66 wrote: »

I don't know if you would be willing to try and find an identical (brand, model number, size)hard drive to the one thats broken and swap the external electronic parts over this may work for you.

I forgot to add, this option will cost you a 1/10th of the data recovery option and if the electronics swap doesn't work you still have a new HD which you can forward to the data recovery firm if you go that route.

This is a bit risky, reminds me of mission impossible deactivating a nuclear bomb - should I cut the red wire or the blue wire?

I bet the data recovery company will love to charge more after a home user attempt.

trust99

Steve_Andrea wrote: »

Did they say how long the quote was valid for?

Just looked at the quote and couldn't see a date, however due to the massive loading in cost if you want it in less than 14-21 days my friend has decided to go elsewhere. (Will be interesting to see how the quotes compare in both cost and required action)

Didn't seem happy in parting with the HDD either. First attempt to have the drive collected aborted as Data track labs didnt release the HDD to the courier which was a next day collection/drop! DataTrackLabs have allegedly put it in royal mail 3-5 days which is irritating.

Further results will be posted on this forum

trust99

Moretistic wrote: »

This is a bit risky, reminds me of mission impossible deactivating a nuclear bomb - should I cut the red wire or the blue wire?

I bet the data recovery company will love to charge more after a home user attempt.

From what I have read and what my friend/s have experienced one should scour the internet for reviews and information such as this thread on a particular company.

Don't make a hasty decision.

If you are not that techincal or comfortable with using Hirens boot CD or swapping components find someone who is, most people have a friend or friend of a friend who could probably do this quite.

I would only consider using an expert recovery company only in the following cirumstances
a) The data was extremly valuable to me personally or fiscally
b) HDD was physically damaged not logically damaged

And only then after checking them out thoroughly. Also it would appear that you should probably be comfortable with the idea of speanding many hundreds of pounds.

Depending on my current friends situation on which I am monitoring / reporting I will hopefully have some more information on data recovery companies Versus doing it yourself

Steve_Andrea

trust99 wrote: »

Just looked at the quote and couldn't see a date, however due to the massive loading in cost if you want it in less than 14-21 days my friend has decided to go elsewhere. (Will be interesting to see how the quotes compare in both cost and required action)

Didn't seem happy in parting with the HDD either. First attempt to have the drive collected aborted as Data track labs didnt release the HDD to the courier which was a next day collection/drop! DataTrackLabs have allegedly put it in royal mail 3-5 days which is irritating.

Further results will be posted on this forum

Who did they go with in the end? any idea of costs?