tempestuously | (no subject)

Wow, when I have bad luck, I have BAD LUCK. Geek Squad says my hard drive is too damaged for them to back it up. The only option I have left is sending it in for Data Recovery, which will cost $60 just to ship. I'm already out $30 just for having the Geek Squad ATTEMPT to recovery my hard drive. Once I sent it out, the Data Recovery Group will get back to me with an estimate within 5 days. They warned it can be between $250 and $1,700.

I think I have pretty much lost my hard drive because while I could absorb $100 to back it up, I don't think I can absorb $250 or higher.

This means I have lost EVERYTHING: icons, fanart, video files (all my sound files/picture dramas), personal writing, pictures. EVERYTHING.

I bought my new GPS for $139, but I might spend the rest of my time after baseball with Tom letting it sink in that my data is not coming back.

I just don't know what to do. Please advise if anyone has suggestions. What I don't want right now is sympathy. I want advice on whether I should take my loss and be screwed or go through with the ridiculously expensive recovery process. :(

In the meantime, I will be... punching things. A lot.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I think it... pretty much all depends on your own priorities/finances. If you think it's definitely worth it to send it to Data Recovery in spite of all the crazy expenses I say go for it. Otherwise you might just end up regretting it and wondering "BUT WHAT IF THEY HAD BEEN ABLE TO RECOVER XXXX?". It's all about how much you value your information, I guess. :(

ETA: wow i r good at typing

Edited 2010-10-02 21:34 (UTC)

I just don't know. I am a pack rat by nature, but some of that stuff is completely irreplaceable since it's photos and writing. I just... I already spent so much money this weekend when I'm trying to save up again, I'm not sure.

Mm, makes sense, it's just sucky no matter how you look at it. Though I second the person below, re: shopping around, looking for alternatives. If there's any way you can save in shipping and maybe even the recovery itself, that would be great.

I'm going to try to see if there's any local place around here. I have to pick up my computer tomorrow, and then I'm going to try to have one of my computer-savvy friends remove the hard drive so I can take it to places.

From looking around a little on-line, it looks like a professional data recovery is your only option. I did find this, which has some tests you could try.

http://www.asklaptopfreak.com/laptop-notebook-help/2008/02/06/laptop-was-dropped-i-cannot-access-hard-drive/

Oh, I pretty much know professional data recovery is my only option. I'm trying to decide how much I can actually afford. :(

It wouldn't hurt to call one and find out if it's an all or nothing proposition. I know it's probably not, but I'd hate to hear you lost your fiction.

Yeah, I am extremely pissed about the potential loss of my fiction. I knew I should have put more stuff on the Net.

I would shop around. I know some sites do free price quotes (I looked into data recovery myself when my hard drive got fried) and you might luck out and find a place that does on-site recovery which would obviously save you the shipping costs. Maybe check out these guys (http://www.adrdatarecovery.com/). That's my advice, because it's hard to give anything better when there's such a range in cost.

$250 might be a generous estimate though, I'd expect high and hope for low.

Also, if the Data Recovery thing you're talking about is through Best Buy, I'd actually recommend you... not do that at all! Mostly because my brow's a little raised at the new computer thing -- was it their suggestion that you buy one, and did they confirm that you couldn't have just replaced your HD?

Actually, the Geek Squad guy was perfectly honest about my options. He told me it might just need the hard drive replaced. But he said the speed at which it was loading could indicate motherboard issues as well. He estimated at least $250 to start with, for the backup and the hard drive replacement, plus diagnostics. I said the computer was from 2008. He said if I was considering getting a new computer, which I was, he could transfer my data to the new one. This was before we realized the hard drive was too damaged for them to do so. This is my first time having a problem with Geek Squad so I'm really surprised. But yeah, buying the new computer was mostly my decision since I don't like that whole "I dropped it" fact.

I am going to try to check out the Data Recovery place you suggested and shop around to see if I can find a reasonable price. I don't know how much I can set as my limit though. I am really really attached to my data, especially my writing.

I am still bitter at BestBuy, but if you have good people then I'll shut up. Really do shop around though, and/or see if you can find out who your BestBuy uses, since you might be able to save some money by going to them directly. If the quotes are too high, you can always hold on to the drive until you have more money-padding.

I understand. I've heard horror stories about Best Buy before. I also think my Best Buy back near my father is the better one than the one closest to me now. But I have researched a few Data Recovery places like the one you linked and am going to be making quite a few calls tomorrow. At least I have a GPS so I can drive to the places now. :|b

Definitely shop around. When my hard drive died, I was absolutely desperate to get my pictures back. I found a local place that did charge for an estimate, but if you went ahead and did the recovery, they would put that estimate towards the recovery cost. I know not every place does that, but I can tell you that pretty much every major city has at least one data recovery companies.

Good luck! ;A;

Thank you.

Do you have any idea around how much the data recovery costs?

The price range they gave you sounds about right, but it all depends on whether it is a software or hardware problem. Mine was a particularly nasty software problem so it was $400. The big prices come up if the head has dropped and damaged the hard drive disk. Then they have to open it up in a clean room and start piecing things together. Those start at $600 and go to the $1,000+ if it's seriously jacked up.

If you haven't heard any screaching or scratching noises, it could just be the weird software problem like mine, but the fact that it was dropped recently makes me a bit worried that somethings come lose and they'll have to open it up.

Is it something you have to decide right now? My suggestion would be to sit on it for a bit and see how much you can get back and just how desperately you miss everything. Take your time to just absorb your losses and look around for the best options.

Probably not. I'm just panicking because I get that way about my writing and I admit it my fanart that I spent three years collecting. Those and my personal pictures are things I *know* I can't get back because the first comes from my own mind and the second involves many now defunct sites. Obviously, personal pictures come from my save disks, most of which I write over with new pictures as soon as I upload to my computer. Things like video files, icons, logs, brushes and such suck to lose, but I can live without. Those other things... mrrrr.