Recovering Failed Time Machine Backup – Crisis Averted

May 17, 2022September 14, 2021 by Aaron Hook

This failed Time Machine backup drive was mailed in from Burbank in Southern California for data recovery. The reported issue was a buzzing sound when you first plug it in for a split second, then another short buzz sound, then another, then silence. The drive would not spin up and would not be recognized by any machine. The client had been using the drive as an archive drive as well as a backup drive, so it was important that the data be recovered. Recovering A Failed Time Machine When you are recovering a failed Time Machine backup, it is best if you are able to get 100% of the sectors imaged and then work on getting the image to mount. A mounting Time Machine drive should work to continue using with Time Machine, whereas a drive that you have to recover with data recovery software will have the files present, but you will have to start your Time Machine backups fresh. Diagnosing the failed Time Machine Backup The first step is to open the drive … Read more

WD Data Recovery From My Book – Quoted $1500 From Other Recovery Shop

May 17, 2022August 24, 2021 by Aaron Hook

WD MyBook WD40EFRX 4TB Drive Recovered With Multiple Issues

A local customer came to us with a 4TB My Book that had been mailed to another data recovery company that had quoted $1,500 for the WD data recovery. The customer declined that fee and had it returned so they could bring it in to us for a second opinion. They needed the data back at a more affordable price point and hadn’t been aware we existed locally when they first sent it into the other recovery shop. Second Opinion Recovery From My Book I am going to do a quick aside on how to get a drive back from a data recovery shop after getting a quote. I write in more detail about this on my page 5 things an expert knows. I recommend telling the recovery shop that you need to save up for the recovery, or you need to consider if the data is worth the recovery price, and ask for your drive back so you can store it until you decide. I don’t recommend saying “I am going to get a … Read more

Unusual Western Digital Elements Data Recovery

May 19, 2022August 4, 2021 by Aaron Hook

This was an unusual WD Elements data recovery. The heads had broken inside the drive and there were actually missing parts to the head stack that were found inside the drive! Western Digital Elements Data Recovery During the initial inspection of the Western Digital Elements drive, I noted there was some platter damage visible on the top platter, and the head stack was not parking on the ramp as it should. This client needed the data recovered from the drive so I found a suitable donor and waited for it to arrive. USB to SATA Conversion While I waited for the donor heads to arrive, I used the SATA PCB I had in stock to swap out with the USB PCB that was on this drive originally. Swapping the USB PCB to a SATA PCB gives me full access to the drive firmware with my PC-3000 data recovery rig. This connection only takes a while to swap out, and it really helps make the subsequent steps easy. A lot of the newer drives (like this … Read more

How To Recover Deleted Photos Best

May 19, 2022July 28, 2021 by Aaron Hook

Baby Photos Recovered From Accidentally Deleted Drive

Accidentally Deleted Data We get asked how to recover deleted photos pretty frequently. This deletion is commonly caused by accidentally formatting a hard drive that has important files stored on it. It seems the most common of these accidental formats are husbands accidentally formatting a drive that contains family photos (particularly baby photos). Unfortunately, it is easier to do than it should be to accidentally delete data, but we can usually help! How to recover deleted photos The first step with any recovery is to make an exact clone of the media you are trying to recover from. You want this image of the drive to be 100% complete, even copying over the areas of the drive that supposedly don’t have any data on them. To complete this you can use a free Linux-based tool like Clonezilla. Note that this is just the first step in the process, so don’t leave quite yet! Once you have cloned or imaged your drive completely to a different hard drive, you are ready to start scanning for deleted … Read more

Master Business Server Data Recovery

May 18, 2022July 20, 2021 by Aaron Hook

Toshiba 3.5" Desktop Drive Model DT01ACA100

Business Server Data Recovery As a business owner, I understand how important it is to have your server up and running properly. If you need business server data recovery, you are likely pretty stressed. From internal wikis to customer databases to inventory control, your business requires the data on the server more and more these days. Your entire business can grind to a halt when a drive fails, causing a loss of important revenue. This drive came from a client that owned a business where their server went down and they were told by a local computer repair shop that the drive was the issue. The computer repair shop was not able to recover the data and recommended we attempt a data recovery as backups were not available for some of the data. This particular repair shop sends any recoveries they are not able to complete to us for our affordable data recovery service. Recovering the data from the crashed server The drive inside the business server was a Toshiba 1TB DT01ACA100 model from 2017. … Read more

How To Retrieve Deleted Photos

May 19, 2022July 12, 2021 by Aaron Hook

This drive came in for a deleted photo file recovery. The client had accidentally formatted the drive and 2 other recovery shops had tried to get the data back but were not able to get usable data. In this post, I will cover how to retrieve deleted photos. Keep in mind I offer an affordable deleted file recovery service, so if you want help with safely recovering your deleted files, just fill out my recovery form to get started! Accidental Format – How to retrieve deleted photos Formatting a drive with data on it is very similar to deleting the data. Most older style drives like this one don’t cover the data up when you delete it, so a lot of it can be recovered as long as the drive wasn’t used after the data was deleted. Keep in mind that some newer flash-based drives do indeed purge the data when it is deleted, so it is not always possible to retrieve deleted files. Limitations for deleted file recovery One of the most common requests … Read more

Better USB Data Recovery – SATA Board Swap

May 19, 2022June 28, 2021 by Aaron Hook

USB Data Recovery with SATA Tools In 2003 SATA was introduced. Since then, almost all drives have had a SATA interface. Most data recovery tools are designed to connect through the SATA connector, and every step of the recovery process usually involves plugging the hard drive you are trying to recover by utilizing the SATA connector. Now, quite a few of the major drive manufacturers are starting to build their hard drives with the USB port built into the drive. So instead of having an adapter in the external hard drive enclosure that adapts the SATA interface to USB, they now have a USB port built into the drive with no SATA connector present. When these USB data recovery projects come in, it is best to first swap the USB PCB for a SATA PCB, then continue with the recovery process. Toshiba MQ01UBD100 USB Data Recovery This Toshiba drive came in from a client who needed data from a drive that just stopped showing up on their computer. The drive arrived inside its external enclosure, … Read more

Raid Data Recovery Service – RAID Controller Failure

May 18, 2022June 18, 2021 by Aaron Hook

2 drives connected to the PC-3000 data recovery tool

This client needed an affordable RAID data recovery service. Their Buffalo Link Station music server had stopped working and they called me from Wichita, Kansas requesting a RAID data recovery. The external RAID drive had two hard drives inside which were working together in a RAID 0 configuration. This means half the data was on one drive, and half the data was on the other drive. For those keeping score at home, these are Samsung HD103UJ 1TB Drives. The drives themselves did not seem to be the issue as much as a problem with the Buffalo RAID controller. Buffalo RAID Data Recovery I remember when I first heard about RAID 0, I thought it filled up the first drive until it was full, then started using the second drive. Or maybe one file would be put on one drive, and another file on the second drive. But this is not how RAID 0 works. RAID 0 Stripe Info Basically, the controller of the RAID (in this case the Buffalo controller) is set with certain settings … Read more

Professional Toshiba HD Recovery MQ01ABD075

May 16, 2022April 2, 2021 by Aaron Hook

This Toshiba HD Recovery would spin up, but would not be recognized by any computer. The customer had tried connecting it to a few different machines, but the drive would not be recognized by the computer at all. This client was looking for an affordable data recovery service to get back their important files. Toshiba HD Recovery When connected to the PC-3000 data recovery rig, the Toshiba hard drive would ID and I could launch the utility, but would not allow access to the data on the platters. This type of symptom is usually caused by a firmware issue on the drive. I read all the firmware modules I could to find what the issue could be. In this case, the G-List had a lot of data present and could be corrupt. Anytime I see a lot of info in the G-list I clear it out before starting the imaging process, but in this case, I was hoping that clearing that module would allow access to the data on the platters. After clearing that firmware … Read more

Quickly Recover Deleted Files From My Passport

May 16, 2022March 29, 2021 by Aaron Hook

I received a Western Digital My Passport hard drive where I needed to recover deleted files. This drive was connected to a computer with some important Excel files open. The My Passport drive was then physically disconnected without being ejected (and the Excel program was still open). When the drive was reconnected to the computer, the files were no longer visible on the drive. This was a perfect storm situation; important files were open and in use when the drive is disconnected accidentally. Recover Deleted Files Although the files were not deleted, this type of recovery would still be called a deleted file recovery. The process to recover deleted files is the same as the process to recover missing files. The client had taken the drive to a local computer repair shop to see if they could get anything back. The repair shop attempted a deleted file scan and they found evidence of 2 of the important excel files, but they wouldn’t open and appeared to be corrupted. These 2 files were of no use … Read more