Hard Disk Reconstruction

[cynicoren]

Hello,

My 500GB WD CAVIAR BLUE has died, and I've taken it to someone that can get the data out of it. He said that the disk itself is OK and the data is retreivable, but the writing/reading heads are broken, and he should fix it in a lab.

How much do you think it should cost ?

 

[hang-the-9]

It will cost a lot. It really depends on the vendor and exactly how much work needs to be done. If the platters are fine, that is good, will be cheapter. I'd be suprised if it's under $500 to fix though. Equipment and labor involved is not cheap. If you had other damage, you will be wll over 1,000.

 

[cynicoren]

Hi,

The said that the disk itself was ok. But they wanted 1500$. It just seems too expensive.

 

[gtvr]

Is it 1500 to recover the data, or 1500 to fix the drive?

Data recovery should cost less than that, but it's expensive. Considering you can buy a new drive that hasn't broken before, or been taken apart, or "fixed" for under 100, the answer should be pretty clear on that one.

 

[mavroxur]

Data recovery isn't cheap at all. I've seen OnTrack quotes anywhere from $800 up to over $3500 depending on the condition of the drive,how much time they have to invest to get your data back, and how much data there is.

 

[cynicoren]

They need to recover the data.
I don't care much for the drive itself.

 

[hang-the-9]

That's about an average price for a drive recovery where the drive had physical issues. Luckily for you the issue is not with the platters, if that were the case you are looking at possibly 2-3 times the cost. Two drive failures I knew about cost us $2,200 per 500 gig drive to fix.

Look around for another quote, there are several companies that do this stuff.

 

[hang-the-9]

Is it 1500 to recover the data, or 1500 to fix the drive?

Data recovery should cost less than that, but it's expensive. Considering you can buy a new drive that hasn't broken before, or been taken apart, or "fixed" for under 100, the answer should be pretty clear on that one.

The reason the new drives are so cheap is that they don't need to dissasemble them after putting them together, the equipment they use is much more expensive but makes for large volume production, and they sell millions of the things.

Look at it another way, a new car you can get for 15,000, then go to a mechanic and see if he will take apart and re-build the car for that.

 

[fzabkar]

I suggest you obtain a second quote.

BTW, what was the symptom? Does the drive spin up, and is it recognised in BIOS with its correct model number and full capacity?