Data recovery on fried HD

I just lost a 30GB maxtor due to a power surge (along with my power supply, motherboard, and processor). I got one of the big recovery companies to take a look at it and they said it would cost about 700 USD.

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I just lost a 30GB maxtor due to a power surge (along with my power supply, motherboard, and processor). I got one of the big recovery companies to take a look at it and they said it would cost about 700 USD. I talked to a couple of ppl and they said they had recovered data in similar situations for about $50. So, I know the big company is ripping me off since they give me a different price every time, but can it be possible to recover the data for under $200!?
 
NOTE: the hard drive doesn't even turn on when the computer is turned on. It recieves NO power and, therefore, it is not detected by the motherboard (on the new system).
 
Thanks

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599 Posts
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it depends on what exactly is damaged on the HDD. as long as the motor, etc is ok, then there is a possible chance, but it's a longshot - & don't blame me if it don't work.
 
It may be that just the controller circuit board on the HDD is fried, & not the motor, etc - if that's the case, I have heard of ppl with a similar situation getting another identical drive - same make & exact model & revision & taking the controller card off of the working 1, putting it on the knackered drive & then getting their data off the damaged drive that way.
 
I should note that there are drawbacks to this method:
 
1. It might not work.
2. You might damage the card from the working drive in the process of transferring it from 1 drive to the other.
3. both 1 & 2 might happen.
4. It depends on finding another drive - if you have 1 already, fair enough, if you know someone who has 1... good luck in trying to persuade them to let you do it!

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2172 Posts
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For professional data recovery services, where you ship the drive to a facility, $700US is not that high... I've heard of it being well into the thousands, FYI. Does this company offer any guarantees?

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Most (good) companies that do data recovery will not charge if they cannot recover anything. and 700 doesn't sound too bad as I have had much worse estimates in price!!
S

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That $700 quote seems pretty in line with what I've seen. My company used a data recovery company once and it was about $1,200 to get the job done...
 
--Alexander

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530 Posts
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I tried replacing the circuit board on an old conner 420 MB (that was a while ago) I took the circuit board froma a 200 MB conner. And it worked. Of course it's a big risk of doing more damage than there already is.

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I've lost a Maxtor before too, I thought it was the I/O board and I was right... I did that exact same thing by getting another one and exchanging I/O boards... Worked fine. Then I got my data, then put the board back on the new HD, and returned it... LOL I will NEVER buy another Maxtor drive again. I have had 6 die on me... All because of power failures, which is pretty lame if you ask me.
 
Whats so important on that drive anyway...? Don't wanna loose that 25GB of pr0n you downloaded. J/K of course.
 
Well the $700 is a bit low from what I've seen... Funny story though, I had a client of mine who's HD died and they absolutly had to have the data, they spend $1400 to get 13.4MB recovered... LOL sad story. But apparently it was that crucial to them. I am still in contact with that client too, and she backs up her data EVERY DAY now lol... I don't blame her, its not that much data anyway.
 
Good luck dude