[geeks] Hard drive recovery

[Mike Hebel]

On Aug 8, 2006, at 2:41 PM, Charles Shannon Hendrix wrote:

> I could use some recommendations for hard drive data recovery.
>
> I know someone who has a drive with important data, and the drive
> refuses to spin up.  They want to recover the data.
>
> Personally I don't know anyone with a good reputation.
>
> Something local to southeastern Virginia preferred, but mostly
> he just needs someone competent.

If the information is worth paying thousands of dollars for I would 
suggest Googling for Ontrak.

If you just want to sort of futz with it there are a few things you can 
do:

If the drive doesn't spin at all try pulling it out of the machine and 
shaking it really hard edgewise like you were shaking a can of spray 
paint.

Try cooling the drive then seeing if it spins up.  Make sure there is 
no moisture.

Failing all that you could try and find the _exact_ model drive 
somewhere and swapping out the circuit board.

Lastly - there have been a miniscule amount of times that I've seen 
someone open a drive in an extremely clean area and it will run if the 
platter is manually started.  (Kind of like a dead spot in a bearing or 
something.) This is extremely rare and is only a last resort as even 
the most remote amount of dust will prevent you from data recovery in 
these cases.


Thems yur options.  ;-)

Mike Hebel
----
Repeated tragedies, repeated pain, the wishes of man are so strong and 
yet so frail and weak. To live, to stay alive, who would have known 
survival was this hard...this painful? I must choose. I must make the 
choice, in the moment that intertwines life and death. Can I choose to 
remain a human? - Vash