How much money would you shell out to get our data back?

[drragostea]

Recently, my Seagate external HD broke since it was making beeping noises. Seagate Tech Support told me that the beeping noise usually means that the drive has a power failure or it is a bad hard drive. The Community Forums wasn't very helpful either, as there was no response to my query. I'm surprised that the drive would fry since I've used it for less than a year.

It's very frustrating because I've done a sloppy job of relying on backing up all my data on the external HD, leaving the folders on my main PC outdated. After contacting i365, a "professional" data recovery company, they estimated they would charge me $700-$1,200 for the Economy level of their data recovery service (assuming it's slower and less of a priority compared to their faster, $1,700-$2,200 Priority Service).

It was also my first portable hard drive, and I've made a mistake of purchasing a passport drive, not a desktop A/C powered drive.

And, oddly, I did get a lot of errors from Windows telling me that the drive was still in use, when I attempted to use the 'Remove attached devices safely' (or something like that) in the taskbar. I'm not sure if it was related to that, since I pulled the USB cable on the drive since it wouldn't quit.

Hard earned cash isn't easy to come by these days. How much would you pay for your data (all your priceless family photos and years of important documents)?

[tashi]

That's a shame drragostea,

And, oddly, I did get a lot of errors from Windows telling me that the drive was still in use, when I attempted to use the 'Remove attached devices safely' (or something like that) in the taskbar. I'm not sure if it was related to that, since I pulled the USB cable on the drive since it wouldn't quit.

Bit late in this case but another time either wait for Windows to give permission, which sometimes takes awhile, or shut down the PC. But don't pull the plug.

I don't think one can put a price on "priceless family photos and years of important documents".

[Zenobia]

Sorry to hear about your drive.I know it comes as a shock,losing that stuff. :(
I'd pay a couple of hundred to recover my photos and documents,probably.

[GeneRyan]

hard to put a price on something that you already reguard as priceless...

years ago when i was 16 and on my first car, everybody's first car is priceless, it broke down. Fried an Exhaust valve. took it around to many shops who all quoted me more than the car was worth.! i decieded maybe it was time to learn how to replace a valve. My mother says to me "yo udont know that much about cars, youll just screw it up". I replied "it cant possibly get any more broke than it is!!!" So i fixed it myself and drove it another 2 years.

During that extravaganza i learned more than one lesson.
First obviously: i learned how to replace an intake valve on a 1980 honda civic....lol

Secondly(and the most important lesson): i learned that the mechanics were all gonna rip me off!!!!!! how do you know what is a fair price unless you know exactly what the work entails. to this day i have never used a Mechanic!

since that experience i attempt to fix everything my self, with research, dedication, and guts, before paying some shmuck my hard earned money.

guess im kinda suggesting that maybe try to recover it your self and save the bread for the dinner table!.

1 more tip. Your external HDD is still an HDD and it can also fry just like any other HDD, While i use an external HDD for files i want to be safe and easliy accessable.....there is absolutely no replacement for a hardcopy!!! i.e. CD, DVD, Tape Drive!!

[drragostea]

Bit late in this case but another time either wait for Windows to give permission, which sometimes takes awhile, or shut down the PC. But don't pull the plug.

But could that be the cause of the problem? The last time it worked was a few days ago, and apparently, I pulled the plug again because I received the same error . I've closed all the windows that were related to the drive itself. Other times, I would turn the PC on standby and pull the plug while the HD is off. Not sure if that might be any better.

Secondly(and the most important lesson): i learned that the mechanics were all gonna rip me off!!!!!! how do you know what is a fair price unless you know exactly what the work entails. to this day i have never used a Mechanic!

Well, sadly there can be sneaky people who're willing to exaggerate their service sometimes or maybe rip you off. They all lead to the same result: they've done a grade B job and you chipped in a few extra bucks (maybe more ).

Recently, I've been burning a few folders of documents to CDs (a very good idea so it can last maybe... forever). But that's the most I can do.

Eh, not a big deal since it was maybe a years worth of data... (just 30GBS ) But I'm certainly not getting the warranty, as I have no idea where this drive is being shipped (Seagate claimed that they'll perform a low-level format) after it's cleaned.

My solution: Get a new desktop HD and suck it up.
Thanks guys.

[tashi]

But could that be the cause of the problem? The last time it worked was a few days ago, and apparently, I pulled the plug again because I received the same error . I've closed all the windows that were related to the drive itself. Other times, I would turn the PC on standby and pull the plug while the HD is off. Not sure if that might be any better.

I don't know the chain of events but pulling the plug can corrupt data.

[GeneRyan]

Cd's and dvd's have a 100 year shelf life

[GeneRyan]

this reply will probably get removed since its a "worked for Me" statement!

you need Dry air! if at home stand over the heater, stove, oven, not too hot mind u, just a place where humidity lvl's are low, while standign there wrap your drive very well with syran wrap. so tight that no moisture can enter. toss the drive in the Freezer for a few days. some times the steel parts will contract causing the stylus to begin to work again. it will work temporarily, just long enough for u to boot up and recover some info anyhow!!! Im currently undergoing classes to obtain my MCSE, one of my teachers recommended that to me when my internal HDD broke a year ago! you wanna let the drive warm to bout 55-60 degrees before you turn it on. because the heat created by the drive will cause it to sweat. baaaad sweat. meh if that dosent work....like i said before its not like ur gonna break it any farther ;P

[drragostea]

tashi, now I doubt those errors might be causing the failure. Thanks. : ]

Gene, that might be worth a try but I doubt it'll resolve the problem because it seems to do with some power failure not a flawed spinning disk.
But thanks though.

Yes, CD and DVD's do last almost forever as long they're kept in good condition. I just haven't have the time to purchase some of those CD-RWs. Rewriteables. The one's I have are decent 4.7GBs, but they're only recordable+readable.

i365 now tells me the lowest price they charge is $700 for successful recovery. T_T Now I might really reconsider purchasing a new desktop+digital camera.

Tough choice, but I'd give up all those family photos and pictures and save possible $1,000.
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But I seriously had this funny thought, about getting taser or some similar tool so I can shock the USB port and it'll come back to life. Of course, that was in my dreams .

[GeneRyan]

fuji CDR/DVDR for instance, have a 110 year shelf life. it varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. Fuji CDRW/DVDRW only have about a 25 year shelf life.... best keep sensitive stuff on CDR/DVDR. not to mention that rewritable discs are crap in the first place.