It helps to visualise the layout of the data on the disk. before it was overwritten, the data would have looked something like this:

Although the fresh Windows system is much smaller than the original data, it prevents you from seeing any of that old Mac data.

Once we made copies of the drive, we were able to reconstruct the missing parts of the Mac data, and could see all the original files and folders, with their original structure.

Luckily nobody had tried to fix the problem with this drive. Often the fixes people attempt are worse to recover from than the original problems.

This raw format is called a “digital negative” containing untouched data straight from the camera. These raw format images are usually larger in size compared to standard compressed JPG images.

The benefits are that it allows modification of the untouched uncompressed image such as sharpness, saturation and white balance at a later date using relevant photographic software. It is surprising how many customers we see who are not even aware that their digital camera stores the images in this way. Below are a few of the different raw file types in use today

ST373454LC Unusual RAID Drive

We have recently recovered a RAID 5 array which consisted of three of these ST373454LC SCSI hard drives. These are solid, weighty drives, which don’t give off a great deal of vibration, despite spinning at 15,000 rpm; 3 times faster than most laptop hard drives!

Upon opening one of the drives for cleanroom rework we discovered why these drives  spin so quietly. In the picture below you can see that although the drives are standard 3.5″ form factor, they actually have 2.5″ disk platters. These smaller disks create less drag, and therefore can spin faster without stability problems.

Inside a ST373454LC Hard Drive

These drives are not alone in mixing up the form factors. The popular WD Raptor drives also use a similar design.

Downside?

Of course the biggest downside to using smaller disks is the lower storage capacity. Typically SCSI hard drives are much lower capacity than their SATA counterparts, so this trade-off is acceptable for the speed and reliability increases. The relatively low capacity is further mitigated when the drives are used in RAID arrays.

This is a video of a functional Toshiba laptop drive. Using a macro lens, we are able to see what happens when you read or write data to or from a hard drive. You can also see how the hard drive parks the heads off the disks when the power is shut off. This is to protect the hard drive from shocks during transportation.

It’s my first one of these videos so you can see my reflection in a couple of places, when I lean over to send different commands to the drive.

This hard drive was opened in our clean room for internal rework. In the process we found that the rubber crash stops attached to the VCM magnet were perished.  They were oozing sticky rubber solution contaminating the drive internally. A word of warning to anyone who may still have one of these hard drives with critical data. I would recommend back up and replacement. This particular hard drive was out of a synthesiser that had stopped working.

Data Recovery Software - Do Not Erase!

I recently read a brilliant article about the guy that wrote the original Prince of Persia game for the Apple II in the 80′s. He had long since lost the original source code, until an old box of floppy disks was uncovered in his father’s apartment.

Sensibly, he enlisted some experts to help with the data extraction, and after a day of collaboration was able to release the source code online.

This got me thinking. Although I am meticulous with my backups of current data, I still have boxes of old software on floppy disks, which are happily degrading as we speak. John even found an old 212.6MB hard drive with some vintage data recovery software on it. Now this stuff isn’t always useful, but occasionally a really old drive comes down to us, and it is only this old software that can do the job.

As a result, John and I have started a project to get all of our old data recovery software from floppy disks and hard drives, and back it up to our file server. The 212.6 MB hard drive in the picture had 128MB of old DOS recovery software, which would easily fit on my mobile phone. Who knows when we might need it, but we now have it available when the need arises.

We have just received an 8GB USB pen with a broken connector. The customer started phoning around and was shocked by the costs he was given. He then called us and was pleased to hear that we only charged £90.00 if the rework was successful. This rework includes dismantling and repair of the USB Pen even when to the customer it looks as if all is lost.

The recovery was 100% successful.

At some point, maybe around the time Know How replaced The Tech Guys for their support, things seem to have changed. Users are now left wondering where to go, and who to trust to recover their precious data.

This could be a blessing in disguise for users, as they can now choose any data recovery service, potentially saving some money.

Some tips for choosing a good data recovery lab:

1. Give them a call and ask some questions. If you don’t like the answers then go with your instinct and try somewhere else. Data recovery takes care and attention to be carried out successfully, but don’t let somebody baffle you with jargon.
2. Look out for additional costs. If you see adverts for £99 or less then be wary of costly hidden extras. Get all costs up-front. Note that you will probably need to add the cost of a new drive to the final bill, unless you supply one.
3. The most you should pay without getting any data back is a small diagnosis fee. Unless you need urgent out of hours work, you shouldn’t pay hundreds without first seeing a file list, or being talked through the data by phone.
4. Until the data has been recovered, then it is impossible to say that it can or can’t be done. Don’t rely on promises or estimates.

If you need data recovery then give us a call, or use the form on the right to contact us. We have services to suit home users and businesses, and have been in the industry for over ten years.

I love Bang Goes The Theory. I loved the alcohol powered motorbikes last week and find it a good doorway into ideas, which are presented in a fun and interesting way. I was extra excited when I started watching episode 3, and relised they would be featuring data recovery. A perfect opportunity to dispel some common myths, and dish out a bit of advice in the process.

Deletion

The data recovery guy Rob, made a good analogy when he described deleting data as ripping out a page from the table of contents. That is pretty much how it works, and really simple to understand.

Data Recovery Experts

Yes they are the world leaders. I’m not going to dispute that, but I’m also not going to name them. They don’t exactly need the extra publicity. It’s worth noting that any decent recovery firm would have reached the same results from the batch of damaged drives.

Getting Physical

I do have a couple of problems with the way some of the drives were “destroyed.”

1. Sledgehammer. This would have been a good way to destroy a drive, but only if it had been removed from the PC first. Effectively the metal PC case acted like armour, thus protecting the drive from the brunt of the impact.
2. Tractor. Same as above. If the drive was bare, and on solid ground, then maybe the tractor would have done more damage. Instead, the PC case protected it sufficiently and all the data was recoverable.
3. Golf Swing. This was great in the example shown, but is a bit unreliable. If you only hit the edge, or if the disk didn’t have glass platters then it may have been recoverable. Maybe take it apart first, then you can see if it’s damaged.
4. Tea Damaged USB Pen. This was a good one. Solid state storage should survive liquid damage, as long as it is powered off at the time. When dried out, there is a good chance of getting the data back. The worst thing you could do is plug in a wet drive, as this would cause an electrical short, and potentially damage the electronics of the device, and even the computer you plugged it into.
5. Big Magnet. This was a good one, and surprisingly effective. Only problems are the fact that most people don’t have a giant magnet, and unless you test it afterwards, you wouldn’t know if it had worked.
6. Toaster. This is an interesting one for me. Of course the toaster damaged the PCB (circuit board) of this hard drive. These drives were quite old, so that was no major problem. If however these were more modern drives the story could have been quite different. A lot of newer drives encrypt the data using keys stored on the PCB. If you melt that PCB, then you have a very difficult job on your hands.
7. Torched. 100% successful. If you can see the drive destroyed, then that’s perfect.

Optical Discs

Liz later made some good points about the reliability of CD / DVD storage. I agree that although the quoted life spans of DVDs are enormous, in reality DVDs often only last for a couple of years. We have had discs in for recovery that have been stored in temperature-controlled server rooms that have still failed well short of their estimated lifespans.

Hard Disks

Hard disks can last for ages. We have some here that are well over 15 years old and still going strong. The problem is that they can fail without any warning. It is sound advice to backup one drive with another, and then another. This is the only surefire way to avoid being stung by a failed drive. Dallas made a good point of moving one of the backups off site, which is also a good idea.

Scrambling Software

I didn’t like the scrambling advice given near the end. There are problems with the way hard drives are designed, which can prevent the software from accessing bad sectors, and hidden parts of the disk. Although only small parts of the disk, you could leave enough data there to be targeted by fraudsters or whoever.

I advise a two pronged approach. First erase / scramble the data, then physically destroy the drive. This makes it far less likely that your data could end up in the wrong hands.

Summary

It is good to see this sort of thing on mainstream TV, and the advice given was a good starting point for most people. Despite my points above, it was basically a good show: Interesting and informative, with a decent amount of good info.

Many people have little or no knowledge of the way their data is stored, so any way to bring this to their attention is good in my books.

We have just received one in for data recovery with the same fail symptom. With our past experience we have been able to overcome the problem without having to open up the drive .