Portable hard drive data recovery

[Nola25]

Morning

My back up portable hard drive has gone kaput, probably after spending three years in a work bag being slung around various sites.

Reads drive contents sometimes but nothing accessible.

Downloaded and paid for Stellar recovery software which read all files and said it could recover around 160gb of data but the recovered files are just names and types with no bytes or content. Software stated lots of bad sectors on the drive.

Local computer guy has managed to recover 128 files using different software and suggested sending off to somewhere that have the know how and equipment to strip the drive down.

Has anyone used a HDD recovery company before that they’d recommend that isn’t going to cost a fortune?

Been quoted £899 by Stellar with no guarantees of data recovery.

Cheers

[Captain_Morgan]

Wouldn’t it just be easier, quicker and cheaper to restore your backup to a new drive?

[Harpoon]

If it's a backup, do you need what's on it?

If you do, ask Ontrack for a quote:

https://www.ontrack.com/en-gb

[Nola25]

Captain_Morgan said:

Wouldn’t it just be easier, quicker and cheaper to restore your backup to a new drive?

When I said backup, I really meant all the stuff I moved from various devices that had been replaced so basically where I’ve kept everything over the years.

Files are mainly photos from 20 odd years of holidays/significant events etc

Thanks for the link to Ontrack, will give them a go

Cheers

[Vasco]

Given how cheap this kit is nowadays, I'm always amazed that people don't back up everything - more than once. I've got just about everything important backed up at least twice, certainly photos.

[Sorry, it doesn't help your situation, just an observation]

[eeLee]

buy SpinRite and run it on it. I would expect it to rescue some or all content, I've been there and done that on many drives.

Downside is $90 with no evaluation. If someone you know locally has it, they might help.

[Nola25]

Vasco said:

Given how cheap this kit is nowadays, I'm always amazed that people don't back up everything - more than once. I've got just about everything important backed up at least twice, certainly photos.

[Sorry, it doesn't help your situation, just an observation]

Believe me, lesson learnt here!