Hard Drive Failure

[disneychrista]

My (work) desktop computer's hard drive failed. Went to do work on it on Saturday and got a can not detect hard drive error. This computer has EVRYTHING on it and unfortunately no backup (dumb move I know). What are the chances that the data will be able to be recovered? If you have had this happen were you able to recovery your data? Who did you take it to do this? How much did it cost you?

 

[DisneyHardin]

It should be able to be recovered. My laptop crashed before and I didn't have a backup of TONS of pictures saved on it. I paid about $100 to a computer shop to get the files off and put them onto my external hard drive (that the guy fussed at me for owning but not using!!!)

 

[LuvOrlando]

Nothing to add other than I hope things sort out for you.

 

[tazdev3225]

Depends on what the issue is that caused the crash. My external hard drive with ALL of my pictures on it crashed. I found a company that was able to get back about 50% of them, maybe 60%. Still figuring that out since I need to coordinate quite a few things with the drive that was returned. It cost me $1700 for the company I found to do it.

Good luck because I know what a hassle it is.

 

[CdnCarrie]

Isn’t everything on a network? At my work nothing is saved ti my personal drives except perhaps shortcuts in desktop. Everything is shared drives.

 

[GreatLakes]

If it is your work computer check with your IT department. They very well may have a backup of it even if you are unaware.

 

[disneychrista]

Isn’t everything on a network? At my work nothing is saved ti my personal drives except perhaps shortcuts in desktop. Everything is shared drives.

If it is your work computer check with your IT department. They very well may have a backup of it even if you are unaware.

Unfortunately, there is no network, there is no IT department. I am the only employee of this company. The entire company is on that computer. When the company stopped production 5 years ago all the company's data was transferred to that computer.

Is more recent data easier to recover? I do have thumb drives from 5 years ago. When they transferred everything to them.

 

[CdnCarrie]

Unfortunately, there is no network, there is no IT department. I am the only employee of this company. The entire company is on that computer. When the company stopped production 5 years ago all the company's data was transferred to that computer.

Is more recent data easier to recover? I do have thumb drives from 5 years ago. When they transferred everything to them.

Ah. I thought you worked for the state government for some reason.

 

[disneychrista]

Ah. I thought you worked for the state government for some reason.

I do, I work of the courthouse. This is PT job working for my former employer. It shut down production 5 years ago but they needed someone to take care of a few things and I am the lucky one who has been retained to do this.

 

[SteveMouse]

If this is the same computer from 5 years ago, there could be any number of issues that will determine if all, some, or no data can be recovered.

If a partisl restore is achieved, a related issue may be what application(s) you were using, and does the current version of the relevant operating system support the application..

Current Microsoft Office applications can almost always read files from earlier versions.

Some older applications may not run, or have updates that run, on newer versions of the operating system.

 

[disneychrista]

If this is the same computer from 5 years ago,

Yes this is the same computer as 5 years ago. The main software used is Quickbooks, that is updated continually. Microsoft Office whatever version was the latest full version (not subscription) 5 years ago and then MS Edge for internet. I am most concerned about QB and the related data. It would be devastating to lose this data. But I think I could access the data up to this time last year.

 

[SteveMouse]

Did you have Intuit/Quickbook’s online backup turned on? It can backup and support restore of some, bit not all elements.

 

[dioxide45]

Availability of the data is dependent on what failed. Worst case, if it was the physical drive that failed, it is much harder to recover. There are options out there to read the drive sector by sector to rebuild the data, but that could cost thousands of dollars and isn't 100%. Best case, it could also just be that the drive connector has come loose inside the case and opening it up and pushing it back in would solve the problem. That is where I would start. Open it up and check for loose connections and try turning it back on.

 

[bcla]

It really depends on what happens. And the mistake that many make is to try and DIY when attempts without understanding the specific reason for the failure may lead to more damage to the data. It could be anything from a head crash to a failure in the drive board.

I'd look up who is respected in doing drive recovery. There could be simple things that can be recovered with software that scours through the drive, or there could be some sort of physical or electronic damage to the hardware. It's unlikely that it's going to be something that can be diagnosed here. And as others noted, it can be really expensive.

 

[Yasha Hartmann]

I'm sorry to hear that your desktop computer's hard drive has failed. The chances of data recovery depend on several factors, such as the severity of the failure and the steps taken to recover the data. It is not always possible to recover data from a failed hard drive, but there are professional data recovery services that may be able to help.

If you do decide to pursue data recovery services, it's important to choose a reputable provider with a track record of success in recovering data from failed hard drives. Prices for data recovery services can vary widely depending on the complexity of the recovery, the amount of data being recovered, and the provider's pricing structure. As a rough estimate, data recovery services can cost anywhere from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars.

In the meantime, if your computer is still under warranty or if you have a service plan with the manufacturer or a third-party provider, you may want to contact them to see if they can help with data recovery or offer a replacement for the failed hard drive. Additionally, if you have any important data that you need immediately, you may want to try recovering it yourself using data recovery software or by contacting a local computer repair shop for assistance.

 

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

Ultimately, everything is recoverable. It just depends on the tools the professional has - police will obviously have better tools than an amateur on the street and so on.

I hope you find luck!

 

[_19disnA]

I do have thumb drives from 5 years ago. When they transferred everything to them.

Restoring that data is a possibility depending on how many additional transactions took place in the last 5 yrs. Is this warranty data or do you continue to sell parts for their products? Most warranties for consumer goods are only 1 yr and many products don't even have a warranty. Even if you only work part-time, I assume you get paid so there must be some aspect of this company that still generates revenue. Hard to know without more details.

 

[disneychrista]

Restoring that data is a possibility depending on how many additional transactions took place in the last 5 yrs. Is this warranty data or do you continue to sell parts for their products? Most warranties for consumer goods are only 1 yr and many products don't even have a warranty. Even if you only work part-time, I assume you get paid so there must be some aspect of this company that still generates revenue. Hard to know without more details.

I'm honestly not sure what any of this has to do with my problem but here are the details. This was a beer manufacture. We currently have our product manufactured by a contractor. There is income & I get paid a set monthly retainer to take care of the books.

 

[bcla]

Ultimately, everything is recoverable. It just depends on the tools the professional has - police will obviously have better tools than an amateur on the street and so on.

I hope you find luck!

There is some stuff that is simply not recoverable - even by NSA/CIA/DoD level recovery efforts. If a drive head crashes, that physically scrapes the platter and there's no recovering any data that's in the area that's physically scratched. It might be possible to rebuild the head, but that can be really expensive and might not work. I've heard of cases where the head completely fell off (Seagate had a notorious series that went into Apple machines) and then the arm kept on scraping the platter on later attempts to access the drive.

The one thing that's overrated is having a "clean room". That's overkill for most recovery efforts. The repair just has to last long enough to copy over the data.

 

[Communicore1991]

Ultimately, everything is recoverable. It just depends on the tools the professional has - police will obviously have better tools than an amateur on the street and so on.

I hope you find luck!

There is some stuff that is simply not recoverable - even by NSA/CIA/DoD level recovery efforts. If a drive head crashes, that physically scrapes the platter and there's no recovering any data that's in the area that's physically scratched. It might be possible to rebuild the head, but that can be really expensive and might not work. I've heard of cases where the head completely fell off (Seagate had a notorious series that went into Apple machines) and then the arm kept on scraping the platter on later attempts to access the drive.

The one thing that's overrated is having a "clean room". That's overkill for most recovery efforts. The repair just has to last long enough to copy over the data.

Pretty much with @bcla said. I work in a profession where data recovery is part of our work and the more things transition to solid state drives, the less possible file recovery is becoming. Case in point on a Mac if you delete a file, and then empty it from your trash, it's gone. That is different from saying all references to the file or portions of the file are gone, because it's not but the entirety of the file cannot be "undeleted".

To the OP: Drive Savers are the best in the industry and are not cheap but they're also going to be your best chance at recovering the data: https://drivesaversdatarecovery.com/

They are pioneers and innovators in the industry so given the importance of these company files, you don't want to mess around and want to have pros do the recovery. I hate to scare you but trying to cut costs on data recovery come with a LOT of risk and likely little reward.