Distressed Toshiba DT01ACA100 Stopped Mounting

May 16, 2022April 22, 2022 by Aaron Hook

Data recovery on Toshiba DT01ACA100 to get back database file. This Toshiba DT01ACA100 drive stopped showing up on the computer and it had a very important database file for the owner’s business. They first brought it to a shop that took a look at the drive and attempted to get the data off but were not successful in being able to retrieve anything from the drive. The shop recommended us for affordable data recovery and the client decided to send us the drive for a recovery attempt. Weak head and bad sectors Once I received the drive I diagnosed it and found that it had a weak head as well as some bad sectors. The first step with a weak head is to disable the head and get back everything else possible without utilizing the weak head. Once that was complete, I turned the weak head back on and used very gentle imaging settings to get back as much data as possible without stressing the weak head. I changed the imaging settings after each pass … Read more

Unreliable Toshiba MQ04UBB400 Stops Working

May 16, 2022April 15, 2022 by Aaron Hook

External USB Toshiba Drive that just stopped working.

This External Toshiba MQ04UBB400 drive came in from a client in Michigan. They had been using the hard drive for about a year when it started to not show up on their computer any longer. It started out just being unreliable, and then eventually stopped showing up completely. Mail-in Toshiba data recovery The client contacted a local data recovery technician in Michigan who had the equipment necessary to complete imaging and PCB-based recoveries, but the tech did not have a PC-3000 for more advanced data recovery procedures. The recovery technician recommended us for the data recovery as we have been able to help their clients in the past with affordable data recovery. Swapping the G0034A PCB The first step I like to complete with these Toshiba MQ04UBB400 USB-based drives (drives that have the USB port built onto the PCB), is to swap out the PCB with a standard SATA based PCB. In this case, I had the USB PCB part in stock so I was able to swap the PCB board out and move over … Read more

Beeping Toshiba Drive Recovered Quickly

May 12, 2022April 5, 2022 by Aaron Hook

Anytime I hear that a Toshiba drive is making a beeping sound and not showing up on the computer, I think of stuck heads. Beeping drives are very commonly drives with heads stuck on the platter. With a beeping Toshiba drive, you usually hear a beeping sound 1-3 times before the drive just goes silent. Because the heads are stuck on the platters, the platter is not able to move. You hear a beeping sound because the motor is trying to spin and failing. Toshiba Mail-in Recovery In this beeping Toshiba drive case, the customer took their computer to a local computer repair shop because their drive had just stopped working. The shop diagnosed the problem as a bad hard drive and told them to mail it to us for recovery. The customer contacted us to see if we might be able to recover the important photos and excel files present on the drive. Based on our track record with beeping drives, I assured them there was a very good chance the data would be … Read more

Completely Dead Toshiba DT01ACA100 Case Study

May 16, 2022March 21, 2022 by Aaron Hook

Completely dead Toshiba drive 3.5 desktop drive

Anytime I hear that the most important data is Quickbooks and Excel files, I know I am dealing with a small business that really needs its data back! As a small business owner myself, I know exactly how important those business files are. Recreating them is usually possible, but the amount of time you invest in creating the files is overwhelming when you start thinking about having to create them all over again. I am pleased to be able to offer affordable data recovery services for small businesses. I also have a rush or priority service if you need your data back as quickly as possible. Dead Toshiba DT01ACA100 Recovery This Toshiba drive came in from a family that had multiple small businesses locally here in El Dorado, Kansas. And they needed that data back as soon as possible to be able to pick up where they left off when the drive just stopped working. Diagnosing the dead hard drive They reported that the Toshiba DT01ACA100 hard drive was completely dead. Once I had it … Read more

Effective Dropped Hard Drive Recovery

May 12, 2022December 24, 2021 by Aaron Hook

Toshiba laptop drive that was completely dead after being dropped

This dropped hard drive recovery features a Toshiba laptop drive that stopped working immediately after the drop. The drive was made in 2014 and has a 750GB capacity. Toshiba Dropped Hard Drive Recovery The drive was first brought to a computer repair shop that diagnosed it as having internal issues and needing a cleanroom recovery service. The shop was not equipped to handle this type of advanced lab recovery, so they recommended that the customer contact us for an affordable data recovery option. The customer called us and after discussing the project in some detail, they decided to drop it off for our cleanroom lab tier recovery service. MQ01ABD075 Recovery Diagnosis The first step with a dropped drive is to open it up and take a look at it under a microscope in a cleanroom environment. It is very important that a drive not be opened outside of a cleanroom environment so no dust or debris settles on the platters. During the inspection, you are looking for signs of platter damage, head damage, bent spindle, … Read more

Toshiba DT01ACA200 Hard Drive Not Working After Power Outage

May 12, 2022December 3, 2021 by Aaron Hook

2TB Toshiba Desktop Drive that stopped working after power outage

This 2TB Toshiba drive came from a local small business that creates custom T-Shirts. The drive had stopped responding after a power outage that occurred at the business location. The power outage was caused by a power surge in the area. Power Outage Failures For those keeping track at home, this was a Toshiba DT01ACA200 model drive. I generally find Toshiba 3.5” drives like this one to be fairly robust. With a power outage leading up to the drive failure, it was almost certain that the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) would be the issue with the drive. While a power surge can cause other damage to a hard drive (think head pre-amp or similar), the most common issue by far is an electrical failure on the PCB itself. Hard drive not working recovery The small business owner had brought this Toshiba hard drive to a computer repair shop in Wichita, who verified there was an issue with the hard drive and recommended that she call us directly for affordable data recovery services. While some computer … Read more

Toshiba Recovered After Different Recovery Shop Failed

May 13, 2022October 5, 2021 by Aaron Hook

This was a mail-in recovery that we received after another recovery shop failed to recover the needed data. The previous recovery company said they were not able to get anything from the drive and gave it back to the client. The client in this case was a computer repair shop that had heard about us and decided to give us a try! The repair shop mentioned our affordable quote for lab recovery was way less than half of what the other shop had quoted for the recovery. MQ01ABF050 Toshiba Recovery The hard drive came in as spinning normally but not being recognized on a computer. Connected to the PC-3000, it initialized properly and gave the correct drive ID. Doing a heads test showed that there was a weak head that was causing access to the data to be extremely slow or even not possible for some of the drive. Swapping the bad head I recommended to the customer that we complete a head swap to get a set of working heads in the drive, then … 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

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