o/t computer help

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onlyme

onlyme

Active Member
Jul 17, 2012
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my external hard disc has stuck!
i have been quoted at 800 quid plus to fix it.
as it contains 3000 plus photographs from over the last 6 years i am desperate to have it fixed.

any of you guys know of any way i can sort this out without paying such a large amount of cash?

thanks in advance for any help.
 
If you have that many photos on the hard drive don't take it to pc world, joking aside try an independent shop like that place down gittet street
 
The most sensible thing to do is BACK UP. Then when the shot hits the fan and the little components inside tie nooses around their necks you don't have to pay silly money to get your **** back.
 
If i might, can I suggest that you enquire about a new caddy? It'll cost around £40-£50. simply removew the internals of the the hard drive, place it in the new caddy and it should then fix the problem. the usual problems occur with the carrier (caddy) rather than the hard drive itself. Hope this helps
 
Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup ...... I know I don't do it either! <doh>
 
Depends how badly the drive is fooked. If its had a mechanical failure, then yes, it's going to cost a fair whack I'm sorry to say. £800 seems a little steep. Don't take the drive apart either....that will not end well.

If it's still spinning, try googling for recovery tools if you fancy having a go yourself.

Anyone else reading this, if you use your PC to store photos on, ffs back up. Back up to DVDs, back up to USBs and back up to a cloud based service like Google or Apple. Not backing up is like in the olden days storing your negatives and photos in the fire place.
 
I am assuming it's your primary drive? what do you mean when you stay it's stuck? If you can boot it as a secondary device on another machine you should be able to recover most of the photos as long as it's not totally broken, it may take a few attempts and it may take a very long time but I have done it before on a number of occasions. £800 is an embarrassment. Someone local should be able to have an attempt for less than £50, For £800 I can only assume they are trying to recover byte for byte which isn't what you need assuming you only want the photos.

http://www.hullcomputers.com/data-recovery.html

I can't vouch for this company but they are quoting more reasonable prices.
 
If it is an external plug in drive(USB with added power adapter) I would try alternative cables etc, before assuming it's the actual drive that has crashed.
 
dem_on said:
If it is an external plug in drive(USB with added power adapter) I would try alternative cables etc, before assuming it's the actual drive that has crashed.
Click to expand...

Or if you have a desktop PC unscrew the external HD and plug it straight into your PC. 90% of external hardrives are just normal hardrives with a plastic box around them and a SATA to Usb conversion.

But I really wouldn't actually recommend that if it is bust the last thing you want to do is keep trying to use it.
 
£800 They are taking the piss. As i deal with this sort of thing my company would never charge such a huge sum there is nothing there to justify that large amount!

As others have said you could invest in a new caddy or a desktop plug in as a secondary device or look for a software recovery online if not working you could take it apart and take your old spindle out and replace in a new one! But would advise take it to a PC/laptop to do that.
 
thanks everyone.

b s man this was my backup, my son downloaded a virus so i put all the data on the external,deleted and re installed windows and just never sent the data back to my p.c. hence the problem.
thanks again guys.
 
onlyme said:
thanks everyone.

b s man this was my backup, my son downloaded a virus so i put all the data on the external,deleted and re installed windows and just never sent the data back to my p.c. hence the problem.
thanks again guys.
Click to expand...



How old is your son? chances are he didn't download the virus. It's unbelievably common for parents to blame their children because they download music etc... but usually it's their parents opening the wrong emails and clicking on ad-links in google that is the source of the problem.


Source: experience

Edit: Good luck recovering the photos, successful or not don't buy another external disk. Simply use dropbox or skydrive, they even update automatically when you plug your camera into your computer and you will never have to even think about it ever again.
 
Recovery Tools are only likely to succeed in the event of accidental deletion or minor bad sector faults. If the mechanics of the disk are completely knackered then it is likely to take specialists to recover the individual magnetic platters. I'd expect that to be expensive although I've never had to have it done.
 
USB's are dirt cheap on Ebay/Amazon nowadays, best bet is to keep 3 copies of stuff if it is of real sentimental value to you. I hate Windows personally would rather use Linux but for things like Silverlight not working, learnt the hard way myself how a virus can wipe out your computer a few years ago.
 
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