Who Is The Best/most Reputable At Data Recovery?

Hello All,

I had a Zyxel NAS, running a 1TB mirrored RAID on two 7200rpm 1TB 3.5" SATA drives back in 2014. The fan quit in the NAS, causing it to crash. Upon inspection of the HDDs, one was okay and the other suffered a head crash.

Using the one good HDD as a slave, I was able to confirm the files were still intact. No....I didn't save the files at that point (because I'm a genius).

I bought a Netgear "ReadyNAS Duo" and assumed that it was running Linux as well (stupid me for not realizing that it used "XRAID"). I put a new (matching) HDD in one slot and the old HDD in Bay 2. I thought I initialized the new HDD, but soon found out that both discs were formatted. I instantly removed the HDD that had data on it and haven't touched it since. I have also kept the HDD that suffered the head crash.

I believe both HDDs are WD Caviars, but they've been in my basement for a while (years) and I can't access them at the moment. I know for a fact that they are both matching 1TB 7200rpm SATA drives (which should be enough for a clever person).

Anyway, I'd like to know what the best way is to go about retrieving the data from them. I'm pretty sure I'll have to send both of them out (one due to the head crash and the other for deep forensics).

Can anyone tell me who the best/most fair/most reputable companies are and why?

Thanks in advance!

 

Oh? How did you determine that? I note a "head crash" is very unlikely unless the drive was bounced off a hard floor a couple times. And even then, drives are designed to "park" the R/W head over a designated "landing zone" when idle and when power is removed - just to prevent physical damage to any data storage areas on the disk. Also, to determine if a head crashed causing physical damage, the drive would have to be physically disassembled and the platters carefully examined.

Have you tried just connecting them individually to a working computer, either internally of via a USB adapter? Then using a file recovery program like
Recuva from the makers of CCleaner. Wise Data Recovery is also popular.

See also: NAS Data Recovery: Recover Data from RAID Based NAS - EaseUS

Note that having a data recovery service "attempt" (there can never be any guarantee) to recover can be very expensive - into the $1000s! I would have to question if this data that's been sitting in a basement for years, is really worth it!

 

I'd say you're logic lines up quite well with my experience. I have family photos, music and movies on those HDDs, along with important documents. Most of which is irreplaceable. Unfortunately this all happened when I was blindsided by a "divorce" (my girlfriend of 10 years left the state with our autistic child after failing rehab), so I had much larger issues in play at the time (including having to sell my house, due to the cost of the court battle).

I used some of the software solutions you mentioned on the "good" HDD and I was successful, but I didn't save the data prior to inserting said disc into the new ReadyNas (which I believe formatted it). As for the disc that crashed, the head may not have made contact with the platter, but I was getting that "click of death", so I assumed that it crashed (as it would not spool up long enough to read).

I believe I have used all of the software solutions you mentioned (using both HDDs as slave drives, via a STAT to USB controller). I also used the Ubuntu recovery method, as well as DEFT Linux). However, it's been a few years, so I thought I'd check back here and see what the good folks (like yourself) had to say.

I'll try again on the working HDD, but I'm curious to know if you have any recommendations as to how to get the other HDD to spool up and read the data.

Thanks again for your response! It's much appreciated.

 

That "click of death" is actually the sound of the R/W "arm" (not the "head" itself) swinging back and forth, banging against the end stops while searching for the first cluster of file it is seeking. So if that data cannot be found, you often hear that noise. Still not a good sound, regardless.

If the file recovery programs can see the drive, but are not successful in recovering any data, there really is nothing you can do. A data recovery service is your only option and like I said, those can be very expensive. They have to disassemble the drive and attempt to read (with special hardware) the data/file "fragments" from each platter individually, then attempt to reassemble those data fragments into viable files. And that assumes the data in those storage locations is not corrupt. It is a very long, tedious and labor intensive process, that gets longer, more tedious and more labor intensive - thus more expensive with larger drives.

And for sure, it is not at all like CSI on TV. Success is not a given by any means.

And not trying to bring you down further, but to make matters worse, any attempt to use the drive (including attempts to recover the data) after the damage/corruption occurs only decreases the chances of recovery even further.

My concern there is you said you feel the drives were formatted. Depending on how they were formatted, that could be very bad news. A "quick" type format simply clears and updates the file "tables", leaving all the data storage locations untouched. There is just no longer a map telling the file system were the file's starting point is located. But a "full" format touches each and every cluster on the drive, preparing it for new data. And that is nearly as effective as a "wipe" program obliterating any data stored there.

I think researching data recovery services would be worth it. There are some that do an initial analysis for a nominal (comparatively) fee. Just make sure you know what you are getting into before you sign anything. Also note, if you turn those drives over to any recovery service, any personal or sensitive information on those drives will no longer be under your control - despite any promise they make to be discreet and to keep your data safe and secure.

 

Agreed. The one that was formatted was simply initialized when I setup the new NAS, so I'm hopeful about that one. The "clicker" was never reformatted, so I'm hopeful that someone can pull the RAID 1 data off of it. Do you know of any DR companies that will check the viability for free/cheap?

Thanks again.

 

Sorry, but no.

And sorry to state the obvious but the best solution is to prevent the problem. I learned decades ago how essential it is to keep multiple, current backup copies of any file I don't want to lose.

 

I use to listen to a podcast this guy was on. https://myharddrivedied.com/hard-drive-recovery
We do an evaluation of hard drives for $50 each, after which we can tell you what is wrong with the drive, the probability of recovery, and if possible we will provide you a list of recoverable files.

1. Ship your drive with your completed and Data Recovery Agreement (PDF) to us:
   My Hard Drive Died
   601b Industrial Court
   Woodstock, GA 30189
   Phone: 678-445-9007
   email: Scott@MyHardDriveDied.com
2. We evaluate your drive, then contact you via email
3. We will tell you what we can recover and send you a list of possible files recoverable.
4. You agree to complete the recovery (with full payment)
5. We send your restored files to you on the media of your choice (costs incurred). Return shipping is charged to the customer.

 

Pre-covid, I think he did classes in Florida and Washington DC? Been a while since I've listened.
https://myharddrivedied.com/presentations-resources. You can also get a learn at home kit.