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is it possible to get data from a broken computer?

post #1 of 17
12/7/09 at 2:42am
Thread Starter 
Years ago my old desktop froze up, the hard drive made a weird noise and it would no longer start.

I turned it off, and haven't use it since.

Thankfully all my important school and work stuff was saved and accessible, but I had lots of stuff I cared about on that computer (notably, MP3s, and a decade worth of family photos).


IS there any way to get the information back?
Would the cost be prohibitive?
Could I just take it to one of those computer repair places at every other strip mall?
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post #2 of 17
12/7/09 at 5:42am
So very, very possible. And so very, very cheap.

Open up your computer, pull out your hard drive, buy a little hard drive player thing (they cost about 30 bucks), plug it in, let 'er rip. Unless it's your hard drive that broke, you can still get all your data off it just like it's a thumb drive.
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post #3 of 17
12/7/09 at 12:28pm
And if it is the hard drive that went, you can send it to a recovery company for a relatively minimal amount of cash.
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post #4 of 17
12/7/09 at 1:00pm
Not to threadjack, but I have an old cmputer lying around . I did a system restore before I stopped using (the whole 8 disk 2 hour system restore). Does this wipe it clean enough to give to someone, or should I just keep it/destroy it?
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post #5 of 17
12/7/09 at 1:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by longskate88 View Post
Not to threadjack, but I have an old cmputer lying around . I did a system restore before I stopped using (the whole 8 disk 2 hour system restore). Does this wipe it clean enough to give to someone, or should I just keep it/destroy it?

Unless that someone is intent on recovering your personal files, yes.

Quote:
Originally Posted by unjung View Post
And if it is the hard drive that went, you can send it to a recovery company for a relatively minimal amount of cash.

It's usually possible to do it yourself using data recovery software too.
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post #6 of 17
12/7/09 at 1:58pm
Agreed, this can be an easy fix. The hard drive might be fine; maybe it was the motherboard that blew a capacitor or something.

1. Pull the old hard drive and slave it to your new PC. You're booting off your current PC so you won't need to boot from the OS on the old HDD.

2. If the old HDD is not working, perhaps it's just the HDD controller. If you are technically proficient you can pull the platters from the old HDD and put it into a new enclosure with a new controller. Not recommended for novices, though.

3. If the above does not work then you may want to send it to a data recovery service. Note that some of them are VERY expensive, so determine ahead of time whether it is worth your money.
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post #7 of 17
12/7/09 at 2:12pm
If the drive is still functional, it would be fairly simple to recover the data. There are a number of ways you can do this yourself.

If the drive isn't functional, it can get costly. Good data recovery services don't come cheaply.

If you want more specific advice let me know.
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post #8 of 17
12/7/09 at 2:53pm
Before you drop money on a data recovery company, here's a trick that sometimes gives life to a dead hard drive. Put it in a ziploc bag and stick it in the freezer overnight. Get your new system ready and hook up an external hard drive enclosure to it. Pop the old hard drive out of the freezer, stick it in the enclosure and with some luck, you might get 10 or 20 minutes of life from it, perhaps enough to pull data off it before it dies again. If this trick doesn't work, you can always take it to a data recovery company and see if they can do any better.
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post #9 of 17
12/7/09 at 3:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ace Rimmer View Post
3. If the above does not work then you may want to send it to a data recovery service. Note that some of them are VERY expensive, so determine ahead of time whether it is worth your money.
^ This. A $1000 data recovery fee is not that uncommon.
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post #10 of 17
12/7/09 at 4:17pm
I was able to recovery files from an old hard drive using one of these. Worked pretty slick.

http://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-USB-DS.../ref=pd_cp_e_1
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post #11 of 17
12/7/09 at 4:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt_K View Post
I was able to recovery files from an old hard drive using one of these. Worked pretty slick.

http://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-USB-DS.../ref=pd_cp_e_1

That doesn't really do anything other than allow you to connect an internal drive externally without using some kind of case.
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post #12 of 17
12/7/09 at 4:49pm
If the HD is dead, you're SOL. To retrieve data from it costs a ton of money as it is a complicated process to take apart the drive and somehow read it.

If this is the path you want to take, don't keep on trying to boot up the hard drive as it will cause damage to the platters.

You're better off sucking it up and learning from this mistake that you should always back up your important files on a separate HD.
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post #13 of 17
12/8/09 at 3:09am
Thread Starter 
thanks all I'm useless with computers beyond word processing and email so I'd have some place do it for me. It wouldn't be too expensive would it?
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post #14 of 17
12/8/09 at 3:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ruben View Post
It wouldn't be too expensive would it?

See post #9. Unless it involves some data that is absolutely invaluable, I wouldn't bother taking it in.

Try to find a friend with an external hard drive enclosure that can cannot to a functional computer through the USB port and who is willing to spend a bit of time to try to recover the disk. If not, just chalk it down to experience and move on - get a regular backup set up this time.
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post #15 of 17
12/8/09 at 5:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scrumhalf View Post
See post #9. Unless it involves some data that is absolutely invaluable, I wouldn't bother taking it in. Try to find a friend with an external hard drive enclosure that can cannot to a functional computer through the USB port and who is willing to spend a bit of time to try to recover the disk. If not, just chalk it down to experience and move on - get a regular backup set up this time.
dont listen to this guy. take the drive in to any computer shop and have them recover the data. its not expensive at all unless the drive is really damaged (which it most likely isnt)
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