HD dead

[DrN]

Hi folks, miserable day as my ext HD with almost 1 TB data died,probably 70% of which  were mods I've been collecting for years.

Turned off PC normally, next day HD decided not to work.It's a WD USB 1TB disk I have bought almost 2 years ago.It's recognized as a device, but not as a disk.A technician had a look and told me I have to contact a specialized data recovery company.

As the cost might be very high( they told me it could be between 200-600 E),I worder if I could take the risk and try recover it with the available online tools.

Some of the data are very important.I dont mind losing  some mods,even now not available to DL, but personal files /family photos are another story.

Any opinions?Thanks in advance.

[samhain6]

If it is seen as a disk, but the file system isn't recognized, one could always try various recovery programs (GetDataBack comes to mind).

 

Assuming the tech removed the hard drive from the external case and directly attached the drive to a system (to ensure the USB case wasn't the issue), there isn't much that can be done (outside of professional data recovery) if the drive isn't properly recognized. 

 

If it is a drive controller failure one could theoretically try to get a replacement from another identical drive, but that is a long shot.

[Emberheart]

Google and specific sites dedicated to recovery and such may be of the most use to you. Sometimes a technician is right, sometimes they recommend a specialist because that's how they earn a little on the side. Be mindful though that something which is damaged may get more damaged if not treated or approached the right way.

[ds64]

Just a week ago, my boss Camera's MMC got corrupted, it won't open and didn't recognized as a drive in the PC.
Then I try this:
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec

Make sure you use the compatible version (32bit/64bit) and it's a freeware.

It's works for me, every video and photo got recovered perfectly.
But I don't know if it's gonna recover other files than video or photos though, I haven't try it for files other than video and photos (JPEG).
If you don't mind to use some online tools, then it's worth a try.
 

Be careful though, maybe it can go wrong.. use this as a last step...