Hard Drive Data Recovery

Boss's wife used a Western Digital My Cloud to store all her files. (Yep, no backup, I warned her...) Have any of you had any luck with the data recovery programs? The drive spins, but windows can't access it. Tried putting it in another My Cloud enclosure, tried different network wires and different ports on the switch. Looks like RIP hard drive to me. Oh, also tried it hooked up directly to one of our computers, no luck.

Told her I would ask around about potential recovery options. Suggestions welcome.

 

I recommend trying Recuva from the makers of CCleaner. Wise Data Recovery is also popular. But understand, neither guarantees success. Worse, any time you attempt any recovery program with a corrupt drive, you risk further corruption and even less chances for recovery.

With that in mind, if the data is very valuable, it might be better to take the drive to a data recovery service. These can be very expensive because they use forensic analysis with specialized and expensive equipment that takes special training to use. It is not like Hollywood/TV makes it.

 

Thanks for the info Digi. They wound up taking it to a local shop, who was able to make a copy of the drive, then were able to retrieve the data. I did not talk to the shop, but it apparently was the network interface that was bad, but we could not get to the data connecting it to the drive. So, I hope she will look into a better back up system in the future.

She dodged the proverbial bullet this time, would have taken weeks to redo the designs, then would have to have gotten approval again for them all.

 

One thing many (if not most) people don't understand is it is not just important to have and use a backup plan, but that plan must include multiple layers of backups, not just one.

It is great when I visit a client and see they have a backup drive sitting on their desk. But when I ask them what their recovery plan is if a fire, flood, tornado or thief takes their computer AND the backup drive too, I usually get a blank stare.

People need an off-site backup too. It can be a neighbor, the cloud (if you trust the cloud), or a safe deposit at the bank (my choice).

 

When I am not there, I keep my back up drive in a locked fireproof box. I've tried the cloud options but don't care for them.

 

I firmly believe the cloud can be a secure and safe place to keep all my data. That is, I trust the technologies.

The problem is, I do not trust the providers of such cloud services. With major government, corporate and institution networks (including security firms) being hacked right and left; with client's personal information, bank accounts, social security and insurance numbers, even passwords being compromised because some person failed to properly maintain and update those technologies, or they were "click-happy" on some unsolicited link, there's just no way I can trust those people to keep my data safe and secure.

To make matter worse is the apparent inability for these companies to detect hacks, then what makes it revolting is the failure of these providers to notify their clients. Yahoo was hacked affecting 500 million clients, then they were hacked again affecting over 1 billion users! The big hack was in place for 3 years (due to using obsolete encryption technology!) and it took a year after discovery of the first hack to notify clients. They made a conscious decision to just sit on the information. And Yahoo is just an example of the trend.