i have a critical problem, need advice

Sean · 2011-02-23T09:43:51+00:00

Okay... Ilse had back to back weddings to shoot over the week-end, one on Saturday, one on Sunday (anyone guess where this is going?) Friday night she falls...

i have a critical problem, need advice

Norman86

Hp... I havent ever heard good things of...

But its weird that the drive has failed so soon!

6 days for the tech to come out?
I have a dell, with next business day support, and it really is next business day support! yes, i paid more to have that, but its good piece of mind!

The tech wont do anything to recover your data however and will more than likely just try format your drive... NOT a good idea!
So get it to a data recovery place asap!!!

Sean

raithza wrote: oh man... I assume the second shoot was done on the same memory cards?

Yes

StephenG wrote: there are companies out there that can retrieve data from crashed hardrives... BUT it is NOT cheap !!! that is if the hard drive itself is physically fried.... then its gonna cost u big... if the harddrive can still work, and its just data retrieve, then it wont be so bad.

I once had to get data retrieved form a flashstick I formatted by mistake.... and that was not cheap either.. but at least it was still working.

well, we have no choice, we will have to recover, despite what it might cost

Tonedef wrote: First thing you need to do is to pull the HDD and stick it into another laptop that is known to work properly. If it still gives problems then a data recovery firm is your only hope.

Okay, will do it once the tech has removed the drive.

Thanks Warren and Rob for the link. Basically it sounds like there is a reasonable chance of recovering the stuff, although it might be expensive.

...mario... wrote: I'm going to second that you take it to a pro first, some of these callout technicians bugger more up than they fix >☹

I don't have a problem doing this, but I am hesitant in doing so in case it invalidates the warranty. If the hard drive is damaged, I still need HP to replace it, and not have them say, "sorry, you had it opened up by someone else"

Norman86 wrote: The tech wont do anything to recover your data however and will more than likely just try format your drive... NOT a good idea!
So get it to a data recovery place asap!!!

Will explain the situation to the dude and make sure he does no such thing

---mario---

Rather phone HP and state the predicament, 'coz the tech WILL lose any hope of retrieving data, so it's your call, I would deffinately not trust a regular tech with that, its a pretty complicated procedure sometimes

Sean

...mario... wrote: Rather phone HP and state the predicament, 'coz the tech WILL lose any hope of retrieving data, so it's your call, I would deffinately not trust a regular tech with that, its a pretty complicated procedure sometimes

Yes, I'll do that, thanks Mario.

IceCreamMan

...mario... wrote: Rather phone HP and state the predicament, 'coz the tech WILL lose any hope of retrieving data, so it's your call, I would deffinately not trust a regular tech with that, its a pretty complicated procedure sometimes

Agree with this,. you need specialised help not regular desktop jockey.

Comapny in midrand CSSI or something does this. I took a MD's drive there once ...cost 6 clip though

if you dont come right ,pm me an i chase numbers for ya

RobK

Sean wrote:
well, we have no choice, we will have to recover, despite what it might cost

Thanks Warren and Rob for the link. Basically it sounds like there is a reasonable chance of recovering the stuff, although it might be expensive.

Last time I had a laptop drive recovered the cost was about R3000 - this was also done by Tecleo(it was a number of years ago, tough). Recovered pretty much everything off the drive.
I suggest, instead of calling HP, you give them a call and see if they can give you some sort of indication of cost. Also, describe what happened and they might be able to give you an idea of what's wrong and whether they can recover the data. You will have to get it to them for a proper diagnosis, of course, and they don't charge if they can't recover.

Sean

Okay, I called them. It's really difficult talking to these guys :-\ . Seems the best they can do is this: The technician will have to come out himself (1 to 6 working days), he will only remove the hard drive and replace with a new one. I can then take the drive to wherever I want. Now my question is, can this dude make it any worse by just removing it?

PeteM

I can't offer any advice, but I feel for you. ☹

Warren

Sean wrote: Now my question is, can this dude make it any worse by just removing it?

Probably not Sean. If the drive is already physically damaged (heads against platters) then the physical shock of removal might make it a tiny bit worse, but it's not like you have a choice. He just needs to be gentle when he removes it.

RobK

Sean wrote: Okay, I called them. It's really difficult talking to these guys :-\ . Seems the best they can do is this: The technician will have to come out himself (1 to 6 working days), he will only remove the hard drive and replace with a new one. I can then take the drive to wherever I want. Now my question is, can this dude make it any worse by just removing it?

You don't need a technician to remove the drive. You can remove the faulty one yourself and just ask them to courier a new one to you. Plug the new one in and, in theory, it should be ready to go, like it was when you frst started the pc up - just a basic setup and the pc was running. The old drive is toast anyway, once the data is recovered, you can, and should, toss it.

---mario---

Aslong as he removes it while there is no posibility of a slight electric charge going through it and you keep it away from all the obvious things that will further damage it, it shouldn't have a prob, have you phoned one of the recovery companies and asked them whats best to do?

Norman86

RobK wrote:
Sean wrote: Okay, I called them. It's really difficult talking to these guys :-\ . Seems the best they can do is this: The technician will have to come out himself (1 to 6 working days), he will only remove the hard drive and replace with a new one. I can then take the drive to wherever I want. Now my question is, can this dude make it any worse by just removing it?
You don't need a technician to remove the drive. You can remove the faulty one yourself and just ask them to courier a new one to you. Plug the new one in and, in theory, it should be ready to go, like it was when you frst started the pc up - just a basic setup and the pc was running. The old drive is toast anyway, once the data is recovered, you can, and should, toss it.

Depending of course how the drive is located in the laptop..
some are easy to remove, others, you need to remove the keyboard and sometimes other things too...

Not always an easy fix...

And yes, make sure the battery is removed before working on the laptop...

RobK

Warren wrote:
Sean wrote: Now my question is, can this dude make it any worse by just removing it?
Probably not Sean. If the drive is already physically damaged (heads against platters) then the physical shock of removal might make it a tiny bit worse, but it's not like you have a choice. He just needs to be gentle when he removes it.

Just re-reading the first post makes me thing this isn't a head crash. Possibly the motor that swings the arm is done. With a head crash, the drive will still spin and there'd also posibly be a high pitched whine (singing hard drive ? ). So, I think the posibility of recovering the data is very good. I hold thumbs. This is something that could damage (if not ruin) a reputation and a business.

RobK

Norman86 wrote:
RobK wrote:
Sean wrote: Okay, I called them. It's really difficult talking to these guys :-\ . Seems the best they can do is this: The technician will have to come out himself (1 to 6 working days), he will only remove the hard drive and replace with a new one. I can then take the drive to wherever I want. Now my question is, can this dude make it any worse by just removing it?
You don't need a technician to remove the drive. You can remove the faulty one yourself and just ask them to courier a new one to you. Plug the new one in and, in theory, it should be ready to go, like it was when you frst started the pc up - just a basic setup and the pc was running. The old drive is toast anyway, once the data is recovered, you can, and should, toss it.

Depending of course how the drive is located in the laptop..
some are easy to remove, others, you need to remove the keyboard and sometimes other things too...

Not always an easy fix...

And yes, make sure the battery is removed before working on the laptop...

Well, I know some models of Dell, HP and Lenovo are pretty simple, just a screw or few to remove a panel. ?

Norman86

RobK wrote:
Well, I know some models of Dell, HP and Lenovo are pretty simple, just a screw or few to remove a panel. ?

Some yes!
My stupid Dell Vostro on the other hand needs to be almost completely apart if the hard drive, disc drive or something similar needs to come out or be replaced.
only the Ram and battery are easily accessible on my machine!
Oh, and the backlight for the LCD, which was just recently replaced after giving up the ghost after 3 years!
Thankfully though, i have had VERY few problems with my Dell!

Sean

...mario... wrote: Aslong as he removes it while there is no posibility of a slight electric charge going through it and you keep it away from all the obvious things that will further damage it, it shouldn't have a prob, have you phoned one of the recovery companies and asked them whats best to do?

Yes I've just spoken to a chap at Tecleo. He says what you guys have already stated, the tech can remove it. They'll send a courier to pick up the hard drive and do what they do ?
He's sending me a quote

RobK wrote: Just re-reading the first post makes me thing this isn't a head crash. Possibly the motor that swings the arm is done. With a head crash, the drive will still spin and there'd also posibly be a high pitched whine (singing hard drive ? ). So, I think the posibility of recovering the data is very good. I hold thumbs. This is something that could damage (if not ruin) a reputation and a business.

Thanks Rob. I suppose if it is the arm, the tech should pick that up, the drive should then be fine anyway?

Norman86

Sean wrote: Thanks Rob. I suppose if it is the arm, the tech should pick that up, the drive should then be fine anyway?

Sean, a problem with many tech's is that they arent very tech savvy at all!
They just pitch up and replace without really knowing what they're really doing!

shaundtsl

Thats a tough one man, sorry to hear about that!

RobK wrote: Try http://www.datarecovery.co.za/

I have had to use these guys twice a while back when I was still doing desktop support, they managed to get the data back on both occasions.

RobK

Sean wrote:
Thanks Rob. I suppose if it is the arm, the tech should pick that up, the drive should then be fine anyway?

He can guess, like I did ?. He won't open the hard drive itself, and he shouldn't. Should be done in a clean room of sorts. The drive is toast (though the data should still be intact). Once you get the data off - toss the drive.

PeteM

Thanks for the heads up. I've just backed-up all my important files to a second hard drive... just saying. I doesn't help you though, but your unfortunate situation has jolted me into action. Apologies for the hi-jack.