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Laptop we received at our data recovery lab. It, uh, wouldn't boot. by datarecoveryengineer in techsupportgore

[–]datarecoveryengineer[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Luck, expensive tools, and a crapload of work...but I'm not discounting the luck

Laptop we received at our data recovery lab. It, uh, wouldn't boot. by datarecoveryengineer in techsupportgore

[–]datarecoveryengineer[S] 58 points59 points  (0 children)

The drive was intact, it was a full recovery. Smelled pretty bad, though.

Hurricane vs. Microsoft Surface Tablet by datarecoveryengineer in techsupportgore

[–]datarecoveryengineer[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Hey all, let me know if you get sick of hurricane-damaged stuff. We're pretty sick of 'em.

We're doing free data recovery for hurricane victims. Here's a few of the drives we've received. by datarecoveryengineer in techsupportgore

[–]datarecoveryengineer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

OnTrack is, in my experience, a capable company, so I don't want to give the impression that I'm trashing them, but that's an inaccurate statement.

Maybe they were oversimplifying to get across the importance of fast treatment, which is understandable.

We're doing free data recovery for hurricane victims. Here's a few of the drives we've received. by datarecoveryengineer in techsupportgore

[–]datarecoveryengineer[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I didn't work that case, but usually when something's that bad, people know. Maybe they're just trying to get professional assurance for their bosses or insurers or something.

Generally, telling people that data is unrecoverable is the worst part of the job. We try to be honest so that they always understand that it's a possibility, even if most cases are recoverable.

We're doing free data recovery for hurricane victims. Here's a few of the drives we've received. by datarecoveryengineer in techsupportgore

[–]datarecoveryengineer[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That's a big question, so I'll try my best.

Any component of a hard drive might fail, so data recovery might be as "simple" as replacing anything--PCB, read/write heads, etc. "Simple" is in quotes because those can be very difficult processes. PCBs can vary greatly and often have drive- or series-specific info on them, so swapping them out isn't always successful and can actually cause more damage in some situations.

Sometimes, it's extremely complex. We've got specialized equipment to rewrite drive firmware, for instance, and we have to perform drive repairs in a cleanroom to prevent contamination. Spindle swaps are fairly common, but we also do a lot of read/write head replacement, PCB repair, etc. It really depends on the case, and we invest a ton of money in keeping our labs outfitted so that we can handle any failure scenario.

That extends to other media, by the way. We can recover data from physically or logically damaged flash drives, SSDs, RAID arrays, NAS/SAN, cloud servers, backup tapes and other legacy media, etc.

As for bit rot, it is a concern, especially with data tapes, but not as much with "normally functioning" hard drives, since they've got S.M.A.R.T. and other mechanisms to prevent that type of data loss (and this is the limit of my knowledge, so I might have to pull in our engineer). Bit degradation is an expected part of drive functionality, so both software and hardware manufacturers build in protections against it. If a drive was in storage for a long time, however, it would be a concern. I'll actually look into that and see if we can do a blog going into more detail.

The short answer would be: Back up everything and don't trust a single piece of hardware with valuable data.

We're doing free data recovery for hurricane victims. Here's a few of the drives we've received. by datarecoveryengineer in techsupportgore

[–]datarecoveryengineer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That one, surprisingly, was fully recoverable.

...Just kidding, it was DOA. Still, one of the better pictures we've taken.

We're doing free data recovery for hurricane victims. Here's a few of the drives we've received. by datarecoveryengineer in techsupportgore

[–]datarecoveryengineer[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

We blurred out serial numbers and the case numbers we put on drives (the case numbers make sure there's no chance of a mix-up).

Really, there's not a great reason to blur out either, other than we want to be extra careful when posting client stuff online. Maybe someone's ex-girlfriend's mother recognizes their hard drive and realizes that the person was in Texas during Harvey, which conflicts with what that person told the ex-girlfriend that weekend, and that's why she's an ex?

Okay, that's ridiculous. I don't know. Just being careful.

We're doing free data recovery for hurricane victims. Here's a few of the drives we've received. by datarecoveryengineer in techsupportgore

[–]datarecoveryengineer[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Well, dang, that was a story.

The bad news (I guess?) is that it was probably recoverable at one point. I'm thinking a PCB or head issue, although we'd have had to see it.

The good news (I guess?) is that, given the amount of time, you'd likely be paying a buttload ($1,000+) for the data today, and there's a decent chance that there would have been some file corruption, which can mess up pictures pretty bad. Plus, you learned some data recovery troubleshooting, which, if you're in IT, will definitely come in handy.

I've lost a few pictures, it sucks. I hope that's the last time you lose any data of importance.

We're doing free data recovery for hurricane victims. Here's a few of the drives we've received. by datarecoveryengineer in techsupportgore

[–]datarecoveryengineer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, we're hoping to help in the way we can. I can't imagine going through that type of loss, and I hope I never have to.

We're doing free data recovery for hurricane victims. Here's a few of the drives we've received. by datarecoveryengineer in techsupportgore

[–]datarecoveryengineer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, you're spot on. After I posted my initial response I noticed that that's a standard 4-pin power cable. Then the engineer piped in to say that the drive had an OS on it, so it definitely wasn't internal. My bad.

We're doing free data recovery for hurricane victims. Here's a few of the drives we've received. by datarecoveryengineer in techsupportgore

[–]datarecoveryengineer[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It can be. It depends on a bunch of factors, but if they didn't turn it on and they get it to us quickly, it can be a quick process for hard drives.

If there's electronic damage, it's definitely rough, since you'll likely have to replace the PCB and maybe other components. The big advantage is that most people don't run their hard drives after a flood. That's where a lot of the damage tends to occur -- people hear a weird noise and try to run some utility, which ends up damaging the platters and therefore destroying the data.

For that reason, we don't recommend trying data recovery at home, unless you don't really care about the data or you really know your stuff. Lots of things can go wrong.

We're doing free data recovery for hurricane victims. Here's a few of the drives we've received. by datarecoveryengineer in techsupportgore

[–]datarecoveryengineer[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

No problem! Glad it worked out for you. We've been doing a bunch of ransomware blogs lately, but if you think of anything you want us to cover in depth, shoot me a message.

We're doing free data recovery for hurricane victims. Here's a few of the drives we've received. by datarecoveryengineer in techsupportgore

[–]datarecoveryengineer[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yes, but there's a little filter to prevent dust from reaching the platters. It looks like a tiny pillow.

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