The worst data recovery attempt I have ever seen..

[Databusters Data Recovery]

The story with this one is that it had been with a Female PC repair person for 3 months. She gave the customer story after story about what was wrong with it. Then she pulled it apart

Ironically the problem was a TVS Diode and would have taken 10 min to fix.

Once I got it there was nothing I could do but feel sorry for the customer and take this video.

See if you can beat this one...

Andy

 

[Larry Sabo]

Nothing wrong with that; it's called dynamically balanced platters. And that dust on the platters should just fly off because of centrifugal force. The other dust isn't on the platters, so what's the problem? At least she had the sense to wear gloves, unlike my customer's friend who works in government and does data recovery on the side.

 

[lcoughey]

For those of you who aren't sure what you are seeing, the spacer rings that are used to separate the platters are resting on top of the platters. So, ignoring all the debris and fingerprints, it would take a million years to realign those platters (assuming that they aren't flipped over and are still in the correct order).

This is the type of project you send to a data recovery lab if you don't like them. I can assure you that the technician assessing the drive won't be liking you for sending it in.

 

[Databusters Data Recovery]

Larry, as Luke pointed out, the damage to this goes way beyond a bit of dust. The spacers have been removed, alignment is a thing of the past therefore the drive is basically toast. don't even get me started on what happend to the bottom magnet.

Platters are not ment to rock like that or be jammed together.

I wore gloves, she clearly didn't

And it was me that took the video to show people how idiotic it can be when someone attempts something that they have no clue about.

That's the problem

Andy

 

[Vicenarian]

Not that hard to fix; a bit of superglue, some cardboard to wedge in between the platters to space them properly (Pro Tip: If you don't have cardboard of the appropriate thickness, you can use the plastic "pizza table" ring thing that you get in the middle of a Pizza Hut pizza, which just so happens to be the exact thickness! Don't ask how I discovered that though...), and a fridge magnet cut to the approximate shape of the old one, and you should be able to pull the data off there in no time.

Edit: Don't forget to use some compressed air and blow out all the dust inside the hard drive case before you re-assemble it. If you accidentally get some fingerprints on the platters, just spray some Windex on there (and if you don't have any Windex around, you can just spit a bit on the platter itself), and wipe everything off with some lint-free paper towel. Done!

 

[Larry Sabo]

@Andy, yeah, I noticed that. My humour was a little too dry, I fear. You guys are so serious.

 

[Databusters Data Recovery]

I can spot jokes 8 miles away larry, didn't really see where you were going with that one. mibi next time ;-)

andy

 

[Galdorf]

Well that is not as bad as a customer asking you to recover a drive in this condition:

And expecting you to recover some data laptop was thrown against wall by mad husband caught his wife with another man on Facebook.
Platters were all shattered in a million pieces.
Or a fire customer did not understand why anyone could not recover data from a drive in this condition:

I do lots of insurance inspections get lots of melted laptops getting hard drive out is almost impossible on some.

 

[Databusters Data Recovery]

Wow , i have had one shattered one. Wasn't as bad as that tho.

 

[Moltuae]

Not that hard to fix; a bit of superglue, some cardboard to wedge in between the platters to space them properly (Pro Tip: If you don't have cardboard of the appropriate thickness, you can use the plastic "pizza table" ring thing that you get in the middle of a Pizza Hut pizza, which just so happens to be the exact thickness! Don't ask how I discovered that though...), and a fridge magnet cut to the approximate shape of the old one, and you should be able to pull the data off there in no time.

Edit: Don't forget to use some compressed air and blow out all the dust inside the hard drive case before you re-assemble it. If you accidentally get some fingerprints on the platters, just spray some Windex on there (and if you don't have any Windex around, you can just spit a bit on the platter itself), and wipe everything off with some lint-free paper towel. Done!

Nah, there's an easier way ...

You take each platter (after giving each of them a good wash first of course) and use a sharp blade to scrape all the data off, making sure to collect all the silvery bits (you wouldn't want to miss any and risk losing data).

Next, you tightly seal all the little silvery bits of data into a resealable polythene bag and send it off to a data recovery place. If there's a lot of data, you might need to get it weighed to make sure you pay the correct postage. Once the data recovery guys receive it, they'll no doubt thank you for saving them the time to scrape the data off the platters themselves, and they'll have your data recovered and back to you in no time.

 

[HFultzjr]

But can't you Data Recovery guys just "Pull the stuff off with your Thing-a-ma-jig"?

LOL

 

[Databusters Data Recovery]

"But can't you Data Recovery guys just "Pull the stuff off with your Thing-a-ma-jig"?

LOL"

@HFultzjr

constantly, and by people who should know better

 

[lcoughey]

constantly, and by people who should know better

Don't get me started.

 

[Vincent Fang]

Realignment is the issue with three platters if they were not damaged. With two platters, realignment is possible and had been done in our lab. It would be easier to scrape everything off the platter and then dust it in a plastic bag and return to the customer with a big smile, "here's your data and we got almost 97% of it back."

 

[pceinc]

We've been getting a few data recovery quote requests on Thumbtack lately. When we ask for more details it's amazing how many people have stated they opened the drive and said something like the actuator arm is not working or the heads are clanking.

 

[lcoughey]

We've been getting a few data recovery quote requests on Thumbtack lately. When we ask for more details it's amazing how many people have stated they opened the drive and said something like the actuator arm is not working or the heads are clanking.

This is a direct result of too much false DIY information online. What drives me nuts is when a computer tech opens the drive, shrugs his shoulders and then expects the end user to pay the extra fees for the previously opened drive assessment.

 

[Markverhyden]

We've been getting a few data recovery quote requests on Thumbtack lately. When we ask for more details it's amazing how many people have stated they opened the drive and said something like the actuator arm is not working or the heads are clanking.

I see a fair amount as well. And have only had one respond back to quotes I've provided. I'll bet many think they'll get someone to stop by and wave a wand to bring it back to life for $50. LOL!!!

 

[pceinc]

I've started ignoring the Thumbtack quote requests because they never respond.

 

[lcoughey]

Sounds like I shouldn't be too envious that Thumbtack is a US only site, eh?

 

[Markverhyden]

Sounds like I shouldn't be too envious that Thumbtack is a US only site, eh?

LOL!!! You are missing absolutely nothing.