Data-Recovery and Drive-Recovery Services

Data-recovery services or drive-recovery services (although it’s usually not the drive you get back) are usually performed by companies that specialize in this kind of work. You ship your drive to them, and they try to extract the data from it and ship it back to you, usually on CD or DVD or tape cartridge, along with the drive.

Data recovery in such situations is a clinical process. Many companies perform it in a clean room because controlling dust particles is important in this kind of work. These companies use advanced hardware and software tools, and they often create their own software as part of the work. If you know anything about forensic science, where technicians pore over minute particles looking for evidence, understand that data recovery is considered something of a forensic science itself.

A good data-recovery technician is part hardware guru, part archaeologist, and part detective, and likely possesses a great deal of patience along with some special training.

Some local repair shops or PC technicians may offer data recovery as one of their services, but I’d think carefully before going this route. There are many single-person PC repair shops that do a remarkable job, but don’t take your hard drive to anyone other than a qualified data-recovery specialist. Personally and professionally, I’d take my chances with data-recovery software before I’d trust it to an unqualified person. In fact, several technicians who advertise these services rely on products like SpinRite or Norton Disk Doctor.

Serious data recovery isn’t a routine procedure, and not everyone can do it with the same level of precision and success. Since you now know that every time you access a damaged drive, you reduce your chance of recovering data from it, you really want to have the right people do it from the start.

In larger metropolitan areas, you may be able to locate data-recovery specialists in your telephone yellow pages. However, you can also find a number of them online with web sites that describe their services.

Some of the Services Available

Let me give you some examples of online data-recovery services so that you can get more information before you contact them or get a free online cost estimate. But before I list them, here’s a tip: Many of these web sites offer invaluable information about drive errors, types of drive damage, and data recovery. They can be worth a visit to learn more even if you don’t decide to go the professional recovery route.

Disaster Recovery Group (www.disasterrecoverygroup.com); 1-909-509-7754 or e-mail at [e-mail]  The Disaster Recovery Group offers an online quote tool and a free drive evaluation before they begin work.

DriveSavers Data Recovery (www.drivesavers.com); 1-800-440-1904 or e-mail at [e-mail]  Claiming a 90% success rate and a great story about recovering information from Sean Connery’s computer, DriveSavers (see Figure 17.2) offers a complete line of professional data recovery services and a great informational site as well. Check out the pictures of hard drives that look as if they’ve been driven over by a Hummer or dropped from a plane flying at 35,000 feet.

Figure 17.2: Drivesavers.com is one of the recovery specialists offering a free estimate.

Ontrack (www.ontrack.com); 1-800-872-2599  You’ve probably encountered Ontrack’s name before, since they write drive installation and management software for many hard drive manufacturers. But many consumers don’t realize they also offer data-recovery software (including Ontrack EasyRecovery) and a complete roster of professional data-recovery services. Their web site offers a wizard-driven recovery assessment program that analyzes the recovery job needed and gives you an online service quote. They can also attempt to recover your data remotely through a high-speed Internet connection without your needing to physically ship the drive to them.

Total Recall (www.recallusa.com); 1-800-743-0594  Total Recall boasts 15 years of experience, an online recovery quote system, and some software solutions for letting you try to recover the data yourself.

Note 

You can find more data-recovery specialists by using a web search engine and searching on “drive recovery services” or “data recovery services.”

The Cost of Data-Recovery Services

The costs of professional data-recovery services vary widely and change based on a number of factors, including the overall condition of the drive you send them, how much data needs to be recovered, and how much work they have to put into the job. As you might expect, this can be labor-intensive work that’s usually performed by highly trained people.

Some groups offer basic recovery services beginning at around $250; you should normally expect to pay between $400 and several thousand dollars.

Check the recommendations in the next section for more information.

What to Determine

Because you’re a single individual or a small businessperson, you may find it easier if you limit your search for drive-recovery services to those who can

• Give you an estimate in writing up front (e-mail is fine).

• Don’t charge you for data that can’t be recovered, although you’ll still have to pay a basic charge for their effort.

If you do decide to contract with an individual or company, make sure you determine up front

• the firm’s level of experience and their success rate

• all anticipated costs, including any special fees

• what your charge will be if nothing can be recovered

• when you can expect to get back the recovered files (if any) and in what format

• their privacy policy (You don’t want your private records being seen by anyone else.)

A Cautionary Tale: Don’t Assume You Have Protection

Let me relate a short but scary story from someone who used to work for a “discount” investigative agency that was situated next to a large PC sales and repair store that specialized in upgrading computers with better components like larger and faster hard drives.

One day, one of the co-owners of the investigative agency happened to be standing out in the alley having a cigarette when he noticed how many hard drives were getting tossed into the dumpster. Business hadn’t been great at the agency lately, and all that discarded data gave him an idea for generating some new accounts.

The investigator approached the owner of the PC shop, asking him if he was willing go in together on an innovative proposition: the owner or one of his technicians would pull information like e-mails and private documents from the discarded drives and pass them to the detective, who would sell this private data to others. The investigator figured he could make a small mint selling incriminating information to other parties in divorce cases, for example, and he’d be helped along by having the upgraded PC customer’s name.

Thankfully, the PC shop owner was horrified at the idea and refused. When he later found the investigator in the dumpster, diving in to retrieve some of those drives himself, the police were called. Local authorities were none too amused.

Still, there are firms that do drive forensics for the express purpose of uncovering deleted, confidential material for divorcing spouses and employers trying to make a case against someone.

The moral of this story: Watch what you put in a dumpster and watch who you do business with.