Laptop Crashed, all data lost - BEST RECOVERY COMPANY??

[R11ysf]

So Windows 10 crashed and after all of HP and windows self repair systems and even a system restore it wouldn't fix itself. Our IT guy at work tried to recover it with a Windows 10 media disk and despite it saying that it would save all data in "windows.old" file this appears to be empty and there is now 20gb in a recovery partition that wasn't there before all these files now appear empty.

He has run some recovery software on it but I've read you should limit putting any new software on as it may over-write the previous data which may be recovered by a professional company.

This has lost 10 years worth of photos, videos etc but crucially it also has a lot of my financial information and passwords which were kept in a folder locker locked file. I would like to give this to a recovery company and get back all of my information but does anyone know a reputable company to give this too. Will the company be looking through all my photos and information?

Any suggestions and also how much this would cost?

Thanks

[Morningside]

There is a PH'er that does data recover.

[Rawwr]

1st up: BACKUP STUFF.

2nd up: Places like RDR (https://www.rapid-data.net/) will have a stab at it and will probably be able to get most stuff back. Places like Vogon will definitely be able to get everything back but you may need to pay for it via a mortgage.

[dmsims]

Why would your IT guy at work experiment on the only copy of the data you have ??????????

[Order66]

dmsims said:

Why would your IT guy at work experiment on the only copy of the data you have ??????????

Surely they imaged/cloned the drive first?

[lewisco]

Try running SpinRite

[alock]

R11ysf said:

So Windows 10 crashed and after all of HP and windows self repair systems and even a system restore it wouldn't fix itself. Our IT guy at work tried to recover it with a Windows 10 media disk and despite it saying that it would save all data in "windows.old" file this appears to be empty and there is now 20gb in a recovery partition that wasn't there before all these files now appear empty.

The original windows folder will have been renamed. A new windows folder will have been created in the space where your photos were. Some might be recoverable depending on the size of the disk.

Fire your IT guy.

After your power supply failure a few months ago where you were worried you might lose stuff, you've now had a disk failure where you probably have lost stuff, maybe you should now start performing backups?

You had a warning and ignored it. No sympathy.

[R11ysf]

alock said:

The original windows folder will have been renamed. A new windows folder will have been created in the space where your photos were. Some might be recoverable depending on the size of the disk.

Fire your IT guy.

After your power supply failure a few months ago where you were worried you might lose stuff, you've now had a disk failure where you probably have lost stuff, maybe you should now start performing backups?

You had a warning and ignored it. No sympathy.

Thanks for the smart arse reply, there's always one internet hero out to not provide any help but use it as a means of making their pointless life seem more worth while.

This was a BRAND NEW LAPTOP. And I had recovered all of the old data from the old laptop by taking the hard disk out and using a caddy. I have a lot of data but it is a massive chore to do that again.

[R11ysf]

Rawwr said:

1st up: BACKUP STUFF.

2nd up: Places like RDR (https://www.rapid-data.net/) will have a stab at it and will probably be able to get most stuff back. Places like Vogon will definitely be able to get everything back but you may need to pay for it via a mortgage.

Thanks for this, looking at the link they say laptops from £97 which is similar to another recommendation I had of https://www.krollontrack.co.uk/

I suppose my real question is do you TRUST them? This has all my bank and financial information and passwords with some accounts I never use but do have stuff in them. With all that information someone could legitimately empty 5-10 places without me noticing for a while.

Essentially if this was a laptop full of your wife's nudes who would you give it to?

[Rawwr]

Wait. Are you saying you have a copy of all the data?

[Rawwr]

Also, as mentioned, C:\windows.old\users

[tristancliffe]

R11ysf said:

Thanks for the smart arse reply, there's always one internet hero out to not provide any help but use it as a means of making their pointless life seem more worth while.

This was a BRAND NEW LAPTOP. And I had recovered all of the old data from the old laptop by taking the hard disk out and using a caddy. I have a lot of data but it is a massive chore to do that again.

Just copy the data from the caddy again, and you'll have limited the loss to whatever has changed or been added since then. But you'll have 90% of your stuff back.

The remaining 10% (numbers made up to illustrate point) might be recoverable in the same way - plug hard drive into a caddy and copy what you need.

[AndrewEH1]

R11ysf said:

Essentially if this was a laptop full of your wife's nudes who would you give it to?

Post it up to me, I'll fix it

But seriously, if you have the data on an old hard drive (that hasn't been corrupted by an inept IT guy) start with getting the data from that into a couple of removable USB hard drives.

Edit again: You should never store all your data on your primary device. You only really need current and regularly used stuff on there. I have all my data on a network drive plus copied onto two USB hard drive every week. My PC only has software on it and current work.

Edited by AndrewEH1 on Thursday 27th April 15:52

[saaby93]

R11ysf said:

Essentially if this was a laptop full of your wife's nudes who would you give it to?

Thats a fair question
If youve got a drive thats stopped rotating but should have good data in it (wife or business) , who would you trust?

[anonymous-user]

if it was me I would remove the HDD and get a caddy, clone the disk. Then basically use the recovery software to access the cloned drive, there are loads of there. the info should be there, it won't disappear unless someone has re-written it of it is physically damaged I can see it being recoverable, I have done it myself with out paying someone when I split water on my laptop. if this doesn't work you still have the original drive.

[dmsims]

The Spruce goose said:

if it was me I would remove the HDD and get a caddy, clone the disk. Then basically use the recovery software to access the cloned drive, there are loads of there. the info should be there, it won't disappear unless someone has re-written it of it is physically damaged I can see it being recoverable, I have done it myself with out paying someone when I split water on my laptop. if this doesn't work you still have the original drive.

Did you actually bother reading what the OP said the "IT guy at work" had done ???

[anonymous-user]

dmsims said:

Did you actually bother reading what the OP said the "IT guy at work" had done ???

yes I bothered to, the op said the data hadn't been rewritten so again don't see the issue with what I have written, but I will leave it to the experts to argue amongst yourselves. Even formatted drives can be recovered.

The data isn't lost as anyone with half a brain knows this, the location of the data would have been lost , but like I said and many others have posted any file recovery software can do the job of ghosting the hdd and recovery, you don't need to spend hundreds on an expert, who most have never actually done it. I have recovered other HDDs in the past for friends, took a few attempts but can be done.

Edited by The Spruce goose on Friday 28th April 01:25

[mikeiow]

R11ysf said:

alock said:

The original windows folder will have been renamed. A new windows folder will have been created in the space where your photos were. Some might be recoverable depending on the size of the disk.
Fire your IT guy.
After your power supply failure a few months ago where you were worried you might lose stuff, you've now had a disk failure where you probably have lost stuff, maybe you should now start performing backups?

You had a warning and ignored it. No sympathy.

Thanks for the smart arse reply, there's always one internet hero out to not provide any help but use it as a means of making their pointless life seem more worth while.

This was a BRAND NEW LAPTOP. And I had recovered all of the old data from the old laptop by taking the hard disk out and using a caddy. I have a lot of data but it is a massive chore to do that again.

A bit harsh, I agree, but in this day and age I do wonder why people are blasé about their only copy of their data.

Apologies, I am more Mac aware (partly because with time machine and an external backup, I don't have to do quite so much IT support to the family!)....you say a folder locked with Folder Locker? So an open source tool? That has potential to confuse things, I suspect.

I've no direct experience with those companies who offer data recovery. I suspect if you could find a GOOD (well reputed) local IT company, it may be worth having a face to face conversation with them. In Leicester there is one I've used on Woodgate: ask them to clone the drive (that you provide or buy afterwards!) & leave the original intact.

Ultimately you sound like you need to feel comfortable, and that is difficult with remote organisations.

To all reading this thread.....As I tell my kids:imagine that tomorrow your laptop and phone are both utterly broken: can you get to all the data (photos, school/uni work) you need okay?
In this age of relatively cheap drives and google-drive/Dropbox/Box/OneDrive/iCloud/Flickr/Zoolz/etc, there isn't really any excuse not to protect your electronic life!
See http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/free-onl... for more ideas....I use 4 of them with about 100GB free as well as my time machine (bit of a belt and braces guy!)

Good luck!

[R11ysf]

saaby93 said:

Thats a fair question
If youve got a drive thats stopped rotating but should have good data in it (wife or business) , who would you trust?

Yes essentially this. In today's world you read about a celeb here or there putting in their laptop to get fixed and having their photos leaked or the repair guy finding photos of child p**n etc so it's abundantly clear that they look through the data. My concern is when they find a large file entitled "Private Banking" they are obviously going to look through it and then you are totally down to the honesty of the individual repair man. I mean if I saw a file called "Coca-Cola Secret Recipe" I'm going to look at it and this is my concern.

With regards to backing up of data I have 90% of it from the old laptop and I looked at creating a recovery drive but didn't really understand how to do it. I just can't believe that they don't give you a simple old recovery disk anymore. My Xp laptop lasted 10 years and was still working well until the charging pin physically broke off through overuse and the modern windows 10 craps itself in 1 year.

Thanks for all the suggestions, I guess I'll have to just go and speak to some people directly and see what I think of them and then take a leap of faith.

[R11ysf]

Rawwr said:

Also, as mentioned, C:\windows.old\users

When the Window 10 Media disk was being put in by the IT guy it said that it would keep all data and put it in windows.old but when I go to the directory it seems to be empty?