[Apfhex]

So it turns out the hard drive that came with my PowerBook died (cannot be seen by any disk utility software), right before I had the chance to backup some data. The files I lost are not time sensitive, nor are they important to anyone other than me, but I do not know if I can live without getting them back.

Given these circumstances, I don't think I can justify OR afford data recovery (like DriveSavers) as high as the cost of a new PowerBook!! But I would be perfectly willing to pay such high prices if anyone offered some sort of extended, perhaps monthly payment plan. I fear that there may not be any recovery services that offer such a thing, but I'm posting here to see if anyone knows!

[SSharon]

Some recovery options are not expensive, it depends whether they need to open the drive because that requires a clean room. If they have to remove the platters yes it will cost you a ton, but if the thing still spins keep looking for services to help you.

[Apfhex]

Well, having tested it in an external case, I could hear and feel the drive spinning. But since it can't be seen, I presume that there is some other component inside the drive that is broken, hence it would need to be opened up.

So do you have any recommendations? DriveSavers quoted me $500-$2700 for their cheapest service. The first figure is acceptable but the later is not, and I simply could not afford to pay such a price if it ended up like that. It really needs to be at least under $1000, preferably under $800.

[f1000]

Try replacing the controller board on the bottom of your hard drive with an identical one from a used hard drive from eBay. I've done it successfully myself, and it cost me less than $50.

[SSharon]

Hmm, the only places I have looked up are in NY but a quick google search for california hard drive recovery showed this place which will only charge if they recover and if they don't you only pay shipping. They do have a clean room so I imagine that some of their options are pricey but its worth an e-mail or phone call to see what they can do for you.

Good Luck.

[SafariX]

I had the same thing happen. Try Data Rescue X by Prosoft. It got me 85% of my data off my dead PB HD.

[israces]

Originally posted by SafariX:
I had the same thing happen. Try Data Rescue X by Prosoft. It got me 85% of my data off my dead PB HD.

I agree. I'd recommend Data Rescue X as a first alternative to anything else.

After that and everything else failed, I'd try putting the drive in a PC and running the repair software that came with the drive (if any). It sounds really strange, but I've had it work for me with mimimal data loss. YMMV though, so I'd really think it through before taking that plunge.

Good luck!!

[Socially Awkward Solo]

It will probably cost you $500 from Drivesavers.

[TheJoshu]

Originally posted by Socially Awkward Solo:
It will probably cost you $500 from Drivesavers.

I'm in a somewhat similar boat. (Except Tekserve's data reco already failed me.) How do you know this?

[Landos Mustache]

Originally posted by TheJoshu:
I'm in a somewhat similar boat. (Except Tekserve's data reco already failed me.) How do you know this?

My friends computer had the same problem and they took everything off it no problem. they charged him about 500 to 600 bucks.

[Stogieman]

Originally posted by SafariX:
I had the same thing happen. Try Data Rescue X by Prosoft. It got me 85% of my data off my dead PB HD.

Me too! Disk Utility and Drive 10 could not repair my external FW hard drive. However, I was able to retrieve all of it's information using Data Rescue X. There's a demo you can download on Apple's website. If the demo can't find any files on your hard drive, then you'll save yourself from wasting $89.

Good luck.

[tooki]

A client of a former employer of mine once dropped his PowerBook, and it broke the drive (the TiBook was otherwise unharmed). It cost $1700 for DriveSavers to recover 4GB of data (mind you, they did pay the rush fee, IIRC).

tooki

[Hans M Aus]

Just finished rescuing 12,000 data files with Data Rescue. Great software and well worth the price. Up to now, TechToolPro and DiskWarrior had been my standard recovery utilities, both of which didn't work on this disk.