Repair dead hard drives

[datasuperman]

hello everyone, I own one laptop repair shop in Brugnera and recently I got many dead hard drives from Italy, especially Seagate and Western Digital, none of them are detected in the PC. I have over 200 hard disks each month asking for repair and data recovery. I am therefore decided to buy some good data recovery hardware to repair these dead hard drives.

I searched long and find in my city one company who is providing those stuff. The company is one reseller of SalvationDATA technology and they suggested to buy three tools: HD HPE PRO, HD doctor suite and Data Compass premium. I want now get more suggestions if these three tools are the best ones I should invest in before my purchase from the Brugnera distributor?

Here is one recommended link I got from Luca IRS Italy and that link explains how to repair the dead hard drives

[delhiguy]

hello, datasuperman, I am from new delhi and using sd tools as well, they are pretty good, just one thing is about their working hours, I am in India and almost the same as theirs, if you are in Italy, well, just prepare for it if you need support

[cguan_77]

hi datasuperman, you were saying that some of them not detected by the PC so i suppose no matter how good the software is if the hdd is not detected by the PC then it's quite hopeless..
if the hard disk got same speed, capacity and manufacturer. try swapping the PCB (printed circuit board) check whether you can save some of the hdd..

but just curious how much is the capacity of those hdd, are they worth to be repaired? if the capacity is 20GB only i think you better think twice..LOL..

[Abraham12]

I went away on holidays for 2 weeks, came home, turned on my PC and after about 10 seconds, heard some electrical fizzing. Ack!

I quickly turned off my PC, but being an idiot, thought, "I'll just make sure all the cables are in correctly and try again."

So I do that and hit the power switch. This time I get more buzzing and smoke starts coming out of my power supply. Nice one!

Ok, so I go and buy a new power supply. No worries. Get it home, replace the fritzed one. Turn on the PC.

Hmmm, something's wrong. Something's dead wrong. My main Seagate 80gig hard drive is not being recognised. I put my ear next to the drive - there's no sound - it's not even spinning up.

I try a few things - using a different power connector, different ide connector, etc - all to no avail.

My hard drive is dead. Panic sets in..

o I do some searching on Google. I turn up lots of sketchy info about how other people have fixed hard drives. I even try some of them.

One of my favourites - put the hard drive in a plastic bag and put it in the freezer - cooling it down shrinks the parts and may enable the drive to spin up properly. I actually try this and get lots of funny looks from my wife. Still, it doesn't work.

I look at some businesses that do hard drive recovery - the prices are exhorbitant! I could buy 2 replacement drives for those prices.

[datasuperman]

Thanks a lot, cguan_77, your suggestions are valueable! my drives have the sizes as 80GB, 120GB, 500GB and 1TB, most are 500GB. Actually these drives are more from my friends, relatives and clients coming to me mouth by mouth and they want me to check if I can do something for them. I have used software like Winhex, Easy recovery and even some free software to handle some easy recoveries but for those undetected ones, those tools failed to do anything.

I charge none or little to those drives recovery but that does bring me many more clients for laptop repair and purchase.

I am now thinking to bring my shop to a normal data recovery service level and wish to find the best data recovery solution. Those drives in my shop can be a good resource to start I think.

I am making decision to buy SalvationDATA data recovery tools including the HD HPE PRO, HD Doctor suite and Data Compass Premium. Thanks for any more suggestions.

[datasuperman]

Hello, Abraham, where are you from and what is the data recovery cost there?

[viviensdcn]

Hi
Abraham12

does your crazy idea:put the hard drive in a plastic bag and put it in the freezer" really work? it is fantastic method i ever heard of.

and data recovery service charge are quite high, so maybe we can buy some cost-effective hdd repair or data recovey tools.

as for thetools from SD, they provide free technique support and upgrading, it attempts me.

[drs01]

hello datasuperman, to repair dead hard drives is not only requiring good data recovery tools. Because usually dead hard drives sometimes have physical damage in heads or motor, then you need to open the drives and replace the heads or platters. But it is a must you must open the drives in a clean room environment, at least you should have one clean bench to work with. Therefore, you should also ask if your supplier of data recovery tools have one complete system for the clean room stuff, etc.

[datasuperman]

Thanks, Man, drs01, your avatar is cool and your suggestions are very useful and I will ask SalvationDATA today if they provide the clean room solution too, I will post all my experience here and even after I purchase their tools, I will post my user experiece to be shared

[recoverdata]

Hi, why don't you consider data recovery software? so far as I know some software can deal with most of data loss problems, lots of DR companies will choose data recovery software at the beginning, they are cheep, do you think so?

[Olive1985]

Hello datasuperman,

I am in the same situation as you now. I searched on internet and found there are only two real hard disk repair and data recovery tools supplier, SalvationDATA and ACE Labs. I sent both of them to require a solution. I got the reply from SalvationDATA in the next day and they introduce me a comprehensive solution from hard disk repair, head/platter swap and data recovery. While ACE still doesn't reply me. In the solution of SalvationDATA, I notice they are offering the tool for head swap also, the name is HPE PRO. But I remember some friend told me, if I want to open the hard drive, I must have a cleanroom. But it is really a big investment for me and I do not have engough budget to go on. Anyway, I like their solution.

Anyone think is cleanroom necessary when using the HPE or other tools for head/platter swap? Or I do not need the head swap tool in the begining to start my hard disk repair service.

Any suggestions will be highly appreciated. I will be waiting to see your helpful ideas.

Thanks a lot.

[datasuperman]

Hello Everyone, I got email from Luca IRS in Italy and I am planning to see the tools in person before my puchase, I may attend the data recovery training from June 28th to July 1st provided by IRS , the following is the address:

Headquartered in Italy
Viale Europa 13 Z.I. Casut
33070 Brugnera (PN) Italy

Anybody wants to go with me? It takes me half an hour to be there by driving!

[datasuperman]

Hi, why don't you consider data recovery software? so far as I know some software can deal with most of data loss problems, lots of DR companies will choose data recovery software at the beginning, they are cheep, do you think so?

I don't think so, sir, I have many software, but none of them recover data physically, that's why I go with SD and see...

[datasuperman]

Hello everyone, thanks a lot for all your help with me purchasing the best data recovery tools for my data recovery business. I have stayed in Brugnera with IRS and they showed me how to use SalvationData data recovery tools and I am very happy about it. I bought the whole package including head and platter swap tools, firmware repair tools and data recovery hardware-data compass from them, besides a flash doctor. flash doctor is free for me for the whole package purchase.

I have started using the tools from yesterday. I played with them the whole day and I like data compass the best, it's easy and powerful and i have recovered data from 3 seagate 7200.11 drives and samsung drives.

I can not use hd doctors well because it's more difficult than data compass and I need to find support from salvationdata today and see.

I will post more about my user experience here when I have it. thanks again for all your help! Thanks daniweb with this great forum for us to share!

[datasuperman]

Hello guys, I played with SalvationDATA data recovery tools for almost one week, I want to say it's really wonderful and I especially like their technique support by remote assistance. I began recovering data from drives coming from my friends and relatives and in case I failed, they won't give me a cry. My friends are very exciting about the results and they never expect they can get the data back from some silent drives. I bought one clean bench from Maylasia and it cost me USD1500 around including shipping cost and I am now practicing head and platter swap using HD HPE PRO following the video provided by SalvationDATA. It's really nice user experience and I found I fall in love with data recovery, maybe not just because it brings me more money, but more about the hand-on experience, feeling like a hero, anyway, still a lot of to learn.

[drs01]

you are super, datasuperman!!!

Your passion moved me a lot but remember data recovery is not one day's job, when you're performing the clean bench data recovery cases, grasp firmly the tool, be 100%careful, not dropping any screws to the platters, no finger print on the platter, no disclosure of the platter to the non-clean environment. One thing you are right is that practice more. You can play with the tools but never play with customers' drives and data. Respect your customers and respect data recovery business and finally you will win! Good luck, Man!

[Olive1985]

Hi Datasuperman, do you think it is a must that we need by Cleanbench after we purchase the HD HPE PRO or i do not need. because i do not have engough budget now as the economic crisis and i hope to shorten the investmetn to start my data recovery business.

[datasuperman]

Hi olive, clean bench has been discussed a lot for data recovery. clean room or clean bench is only necessary when you need to open the hard drives, swap heads or platters, like for many data recovery cases such as firmware repair and logical data recovery, you don't need to open the drive at all and therefore, you don't need the clean room or clean bench as well. When I am using Salvationdata data recovery hardware, only when I use HPE PRO to open disks and I work with my clean bench, for data recovery with data compass, hd doctor or flash doctor, I don't need the clean bench at all.

The following is one article I read from data recovery salon, it tells you when you need a clean room to perform a data recovery, please check by yourself:

http://www.datarecoverytools.co.uk/2009/07/13/clean-room-is-not-a-must-for-data-recovery/

[Olive1985]

how many rates does hard disk open take? and how about the propotions of firmware problem in data recovery?

[datasuperman]

Hi, Olive, Clean room data recovery cases usually cost 500euro-1500euro, it depends on the amount of data, if it's easy to get a donor, if there're some other hdd failures, this will finally decide how long it takes to recover all the possible data. Firmware failure is a common data recovery case but for me, as I am new in data recovery business, most data recovery cases I have done are logical failures and I do receive many clean room cases but it's really hard for me at this stage.