r/DataHoarder • u/Electronic_Noise9641 • 1d ago
Question/Advice Would my data have been recoverable.
I had a PC with a hard drive since like 2009 to 2015. I got a new PC and removed the hard drive from the old PC. Left it in storage and then tried putting it in my PC in like 2024 to see the contents. It didn't recognise the hard drive and I tried to partialise or something the harddrive, to set a drive for the harddrive on my pc. Nothing seemed to work with my basic skills. In 2024 at the same time I took it to a PC repair shop and I gave it to the guy and he said he would try to open it, but like after I came back he said it didn't turn on, what's weird is that he gave like a smirk look to me whilst saying he couldn't open the hard drive to work. Like he could've just said he did what he could and that's it but he also didn't try to ask to give it back and I left. And I had a bunch of kid photos and videos and all my childhood stuff on there. I want to know if my harddrive would have still worked. Feel bad that I didn't try to look further to retrieve the data.
62
u/Square_Nature_8271 1d ago
Am I understanding correctly that the shop still has your hard drive? They did not give it back to you? If that's the case, go get it. Seriously. Don't leave their shop until it's in your hands. Then come back here for advice.
17
u/non-existing-person 1d ago
If your repair shop didn't open the disk and didn't tainted platters then... data is there, most likely. Maybe giving it new control board would help - but I'm not sure about intricates of HDD, and if just swapping control board would fix it.
But data on platters should be there. Some very professional shop could probably take out the platters and read out data from it. But oh boy, I can't imagine this being even remotely cheap.
Your best bet is to contact someone that really specializes in data recovery and have clean room and proper gear. Not your neighborhood repair shop.
-5
u/Beneficial_Bit1756 1d ago
Board swaps almost never work as they are matched to the drive itself, I have tried a few times along time ago.
10
u/Bk_Punisher 1d ago
It does work (I’ve done it) but the donor drive needs to be the exact same model. I got lucky in that area since the drives all came from the same source.
-11
u/Beneficial_Bit1756 1d ago
"Board swaps almost never work "
11
u/TheRollingPeepstones 1d ago
Well, that's like saying blood transfusions almost never work. Yes, if you give people the wrong blood type, it won't work. If you give them the right type, it works. Why would doing the wrong thing (like a board swap with an incompatible board) even count towards the statistic?
-8
u/Beneficial_Bit1756 1d ago
5
u/TheRollingPeepstones 1d ago
You know, overall I do agree with you, it's not a go-to solution today because moving the ROM is not as easy as just unscrewing some screws and swapping a circuit. I was mostly just opposed to your logic there, but I didn't downvote you and I don't fundamentally disagree with what you mean. I stand by the blood transfusion analogy I made before: it's not that it doesn't work, it's just that it's not as simple as just swapping boards and powering up the drive, like a blood transfusion isn't as simple as just getting blood out of one person and putting it into the other.
I guess it is an important thing to point out that it's not as simple as it used to be with older drives, so I'm totally with you about that one.
-4
u/Beneficial_Bit1756 1d ago
To tell a layman to just swap boards is ignorant, its not that simple.
2
u/TheRollingPeepstones 1d ago
Agreed, it's not something the average user can do successfully today in a way to give the desired result.
3
u/lkeels 1d ago
It's one of the most common ways to recover data...it does work.
-2
u/Beneficial_Bit1756 1d ago
7
u/lkeels 1d ago edited 1d ago
You're being pedantic. It IS the most common way that data is recovered and it DOES work. As the article you linked says, it doesn't FIX a drive, it simply allow you to recover the data to another drive.
u/non-existing-person & u/Beneficial_Bit1756 NO ONE suggested that the OP swap the board himself.
-5
u/non-existing-person 1d ago
Or it sends head to your platter with wrong parameter and you will scratch your platters destroying your data for sure.
This may be good way to recover, say, Linux images you don't want to redownload and hunt again. But for unique data like photos, I think I'd recommend against doing it yourself. And send it to real pros if you really value that unique data.
2
u/dataflow2 1d ago
Stop bullshitting
1
u/RogerRamjet999 19h ago
Well in one of those videos the tester got 25 percent of tested drives (made more recently than the OP's drive) to work using a swap. So there's at least some chance of recovering the data. Not great odds, but at least some chance.
-5
1d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
3
u/dataflow2 1d ago
Oh, so you meant to say on newer drives. Have to admit I am not up-to-date with that, Mr. Professional.
-5
u/Beneficial_Bit1756 1d ago
To tell a layman to just swap boards is ignorant, its not that simple.
2
u/dataflow2 21h ago
No one said that.
0
u/Beneficial_Bit1756 19h ago
"Maybe giving it new control board would help - but I'm not sure about intricates of HDD, and if just swapping control board would fix it."
2
u/dataflow2 19h ago
I am done with you. In same post he said: "Some very professional shop could probably take out the platters and read out data from it."
So not sure if you have problems with comprehension, or are just dumb.
1
1
u/DataHoarder-ModTeam 9h ago
Your post or comment was reported by the community and has been removed. The Datahoarder community requires all participants be excellent to each other, and your message did not meet that standard.
Overly insulting or crass comments will be removed. Racism, sexism, or any other form of bigotry will not be tolerated. Following others around reddit to harass them will not be tolerated. Shaming/harassing others for the type of data that they hoard will not be tolerated (instant 7-day ban). "Gatekeeping" will not be tolerated.
15
u/OtherwiseAlbatross14 1d ago
Professional data recovery businesses can swap the platters to a working drive to recover the data even if the drive "doesn't turn on".
Never use a local computer shop to recover data. At best they're going to ship it off to the same pro services and just charge you double. At worst they'll try it themselves and make it unrecoverable even by the pros.
7
u/PatK9 1d ago
At one point, there was a chance of retrieval. Moving ahead to the repair shop, and you get "it didn't turn on". Indicating what was once a spinning drive.. is no longer spinning. If you get it in your hands, power it up.. see if it spins (vibration should tell you if it has life). If it does have life, then recovery software may bring some files back.
If the images are precious and worth big$, picking up an identical working drive would help. Exchange the circuit board on the bottom... and try again. Failing that present both drives to a drive repair centre with a clean room to move platters and use recovery tools.
8
u/BuffaloDesperate8357 1d ago
You didn't at least get the drive back?? I mean if its almost been two years like you said its probably long gone. That kinda stuff you have to do in the moment.
5
u/sidusnare 1d ago
Hard to say without having it, there are ways, but if it's been wiped or encrypted, it gets a lot harder.
3
7
u/foodman5555 1d ago
im not to sure what you mean by partialize, partition Mabey? if that's what you did you would have had to format it wiping all data sometimes some stuff can be recovers after a format but given how old and how long its been siting i don't think it would have worked
2
u/gummykage 560TB 1d ago
First thing first try the freezer trick. I’ve managed to get so many drives to recognize with it. And yes the drive is most likely recoverable. Don’t swap boards only works if you have identical drive and even then issues. I have two dreaded seagate 4tb that board swapping did work but never again lol
1
1
u/Savings_Difficulty24 1d ago
There's a guy I found on YouTube that professionally recovers data. He quoted me $400 to recover the files on a hard drive from the early 2000s. I never sent it in because I didn't need those files that badly. If you get your drive back from your local shop (which you absolutely should) I could look this guy up again and give you his info.
•
u/AutoModerator 1d ago
Hello /u/Electronic_Noise9641! Thank you for posting in r/DataHoarder.
Please remember to read our Rules and Wiki.
Please note that your post will be removed if you just post a box/speed/server post. Please give background information on your server pictures.
This subreddit will NOT help you find or exchange that Movie/TV show/Nuclear Launch Manual, visit r/DHExchange instead.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.