Die Steve Jobs. You too Michael Dell. I am serious...

I really am.

So the story is this, but in case you want to find out the answer first, here is it: my lovely DELL XPS M1710 is without a HDD after a mechanical defection of it sent it directly to the repair man.

Continuing, die Apple and your software division. iTunes just erased my entire collection on my iPod because it couldnt find it on the computer, and because of this stupidity, I hit my computer (I know, i'm a big idiot...I admit :shame: ) but exactly over the HDD. It wasn't hit with great power, but based on what I heard from the repair guy I drew the following conclusion:

The HDD on a very expensive laptop had a mechanical problem and the hit triggered the failure. :shocked2: :no:

That has to be the stupidest thing ever in my life. And second, guess what? 80GB of data, including my Fall of Constantinople - almost completely edited - I added 10000 words and 15 pages!!! - ARE LOST FOREVER.

I'm speechless.

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Die Steve Jobs. You too Michael Dell. I am serious...

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-evil voice- Good, gooood. Let it flow through you, the anger. Summon your anger to increase your power, then destroy them. One swift stroke!

Yup, unless you have a 3rd-party utility, the iPod will sync to whatever it thinks is on your PC. That's why backing data up on an iPod can be risky.

I'm sorry for your loss, edzy.

edyz's post summarized:

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I P.O.-D

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Originally Posted by Gregoshi

edyz's post summarized:

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I want to be a part of whatever mailing list you're on! :angry:

Well, not everything is lost. I sent the disk to the service so they can save my data, hopefully. What are the chances of saving my data?

Gregoshi, i needed that pun. Especially when writing from a digital iPod keyboard!!

If you're willing to pay the price -- and it can be high -- HDD recovery is very good. Expect to have all of your files back.

An advice for the future: backups

Some modding communities are quite big on that but if you don't have tons of big files, maybe just back them up to some USB stick or so just in case, otherwise you can use DVDs for example.

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Originally Posted by edyzmedieval

Well, not everything is lost. I sent the disk to the service so they can save my data, hopefully. What are the chances of saving my data?

Gregoshi, i needed that pun. Especially when writing from a digital iPod keyboard!!

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HDD recovery is very expensive for mechanical failures.

@Husar

Yeah, I took a step toward that by buying an external hard drive and an 8GB memory stick to store my small stuff like my book and my Flight Simulator logbook.

@Lemur and Evil Maniac

I'm really desperate. Never in my 10 year computer life I experienced mechanical failure of a component, never ever. Not even a problem with the power or something. NOTHING. So I think I will pay, because I want my data. It's not about like you can do it again and stuff. I can, but the massive amount spent on that book (yeah, I do believe I can do something with it) and more than 2 days spent on perfecting my Flight Simulator skills because I want to take my PPL...Even those things matter to me.

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Originally Posted by edyzmedieval

@Lemur and Evil Maniac

I'm really desperate. Never in my 10 year computer life I experienced mechanical failure of a component, never ever. Not even a problem with the power or something. NOTHING. So I think I will pay, because I want my data. It's not about like you can do it again and stuff. I can, but the massive amount spent on that book (yeah, I do believe I can do something with it) and more than 2 days spent on perfecting my Flight Simulator skills because I want to take my PPL...Even those things matter to me.

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My quoted bill was about seven hundred Euro, AND I tried to bargain down. It got me to about five hundred, and that was if I put my HD on last priority and chose the slowest shipping. Just thought you might want to know.

I can understand the book recovery, and if you've had the data on the HD for a long time. Mine was relatively new (a month or so, I just got one from a bad batch), so I could recreate most data within the next few weeks. It's obviously very different for you, and I hope you can get the money.

Remember, even if you pay, they won't always be able to recover everything. Usually they'll do the recovery, and if they don't get what you want, you don't pay. But some companies may work differently, so always read their policies.

Oh my god...Seven hundred euros for data recovery!!! Yours was quite early, mine neared 5 months of work and creation. Plus, I have lots and lots of photos from home and other stuff related to home which are quite necessary when you are 2000kms away.

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Originally Posted by edyzmedieval

Oh my god...Seven hundred euros for data recovery!!! Yours was quite early, mine neared 5 months of work and creation. Plus, I have lots and lots of photos from home and other stuff related to home which are quite necessary when you are 2000kms away.

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Maybe you'll be able to find someone who can do it cheaper. It really comes down to what exactly is wrong, but for complete physical failure, it's going to be high.

It was in the thousands a couple of years ago for mechanical recovery.

When we have finished with server HD's we pass a gauss wand over them and then throw them from the ground at about desk height. Impact is a pretty good way to destroy a HD. So you did the correct thing if you wish to wipe out your data. :cry:

Take it as an (expensive) learning experience and create backups in the future. Better still with the photo's burn them to disk or save them to a USB key. Check the data and then either send them back to your parents or keep them in a safety deposit box. Essentially all the unique data should have a backup and if it is really important keep it offsite.

I did read somewhere a while ago (see here) that placing a dead hard drive in a freezer (in something to protect it from moisture) may allow it to work just long enough for you to extract the data. It won't work on failed heads though, only on dodgy bearings.

I've never tried it myself though, and those cheap DIY computer tricks aren't very reliable, and often conclude in making things worse than they already were.

Sorry about your data loss BTW ~:)

Pape, have you ever tried putting one into a microwave oven?
Not that I have, I just think it could be fun. ~D

Putting a heavily scratched DVD game disc in the freezer, put it in the drive, and it worked. :laugh4:

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Originally Posted by Omanes Alexandrapolites

I did read somewhere a while ago (see here) that placing a dead hard drive in a freezer (in something to protect it from moisture) may allow it to work just long enough for you to extract the data. It won't work on failed heads though, only on dodgy bearings.

I've never tried it myself though, and those cheap DIY computer tricks aren't very reliable, and often conclude in making things worse than they already were.

Sorry about your data loss BTW ~:)

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You were probably reading about overheating drives such as the old IBM Deskstars there was a massive thread somewhere about those in which that bit of advice became infamous. For other types of failures the freezer method won't help. I've never heard of that method working for dodgy bearings either.

Tomorrow I'll get some news about my data recovery, hopefully it's good.

Pape, I take it as a experience, a stingy experience. I hope from now on I don't have to face these problems again, or at least face them, but have my data safe.

Professionals backup like crazy.

Computers break, there is a whole economy that comes from Information Technolgoy Support.

Yeah, I backup all the time. Don't want the effort done go to waste.

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Originally Posted by pevergreen

Putting a heavily scratched DVD game disc in the freezer, put it in the drive, and it worked. :laugh4:

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I'm calling shenanigans here, that won't work at all for DVDs. It SOMETIMES works for HDDs, but rarely.

If you have a heavily scratched DVD, use some car polish and a non-linting rag, or one of those cd/dvd scratch remover tools. There are professional services that'll do this too.

How often can external hard drives break down on me?

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Originally Posted by edyzmedieval

How often can external hard drives break down on me?

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Depends on the drive, really, but the chances of having an external and internal drive break down at the same time are almost nil.

So, I got a report. They can't recover anything from my hard disk drive. I don't believe any word of it. So I'm sending it back home to some real specialists (I have real doubts that the school IT guys are specialists... I had some interesting experiences with them). Let's hope it works this time.

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Originally Posted by edyzmedieval

So, I got a report. They can't recover anything from my hard disk drive. I don't believe any word of it. So I'm sending it back home to some real specialists (I have real doubts that the school IT guys are specialists... I had some interesting experiences with them). Let's hope it works this time.

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Good luck - I think you're right in saying that the school IT guys wouldn't have any particular aptitude for data recovery, so with a bit of luck you can still get some stuff back...

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Originally Posted by sapi

Good luck - I think you're right in saying that the school IT guys wouldn't have any particular aptitude for data recovery, so with a bit of luck you can still get some stuff back...

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Yes, very true. Send it back to the company you got it from if they offer a data recovery service, like Seagate.

For future reference, you can avoid iTunes auto-syncing altogether through options. I don't use iTunes because I hate the software (and the player) but it is certainly possible to prevent songs being added/removed without your permission.

True. I think I have iTunes set to manual, which means it doesn't add or erase stuff on its own.

Also: backup! If there is anything at all of even the slightest value of your harddisk, make sure you have a backup solution. A second harddisk for backup (note: raid-1 is not a backup!) is a decent precaution against this kind of harddisk failure, but keep in mind that laptops can also be stolen, and then even the most expensive data recovery service won't save your data. In other words: make sure you also have a external backup.

How far you want to go is up to you: if you want protection against fires and meteor strikes, you need off-site backup. Preferably is a safe location in a diifferent city. (Note that this will only protect your data; your house is still gone.)

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Originally Posted by edyzmedieval

So, I got a report. They can't recover anything from my hard disk drive. I don't believe any word of it. So I'm sending it back home to some real specialists (I have real doubts that the school IT guys are specialists... I had some interesting experiences with them). Let's hope it works this time.

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Considering data recovery is a specialist field, I doubt a school IT guy is going to be qualified in that area. School IT guys are generally at the start of their career or worse as high as they ever get they are generally 1st level desktop techs. Data recovery is probably more equivalent to Tier 2 server/platform engineers.

Lemur, what do I choose from the iPod Hacks? I want a utility which is quite the same as iTunes that can sync my music, photos, videos from my computer without erasing any existent data.

Hey edzy, it's been a while since I used an iPod hack, but the key thing was that you continue to use iTunes, but the hack short-circuits the auto-formatting that happens when you plug in an iPod. The program I used to use was called Escape Pod, and I don't know if it's still out, or whether it works on Windows.

You have the link. You have Google. I have faith you can make an informed choice.

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Originally Posted by Papewaio

School IT guys are generally at the start of their career or worse as high as they ever get they are generally 1st level desktop techs. Data recovery is probably more equivalent to Tier 2 server/platform engineers.

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Ugh, tell me about it. They are cranky and unreliable on top of that, and know they can get away with it because they know that students are either not tech-savvy enough, rich enough, or both.

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Originally Posted by Lehesu

For future reference, you can avoid iTunes auto-syncing altogether through options. I don't use iTunes because I hate the software (and the player) but it is certainly possible to prevent songs being added/removed without your permission.

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Same here, it's pretty much a neccesity on my ancient, 40GB HDD. You can imagine my dismay when I lost my first batch of albums through the sync function. It assumes that everyone has a gigantic HDD. :shame:

When I tried it, Itunes on the PC was one of the nastiest, least flexible. buggiest pieces of outright malware I've ever encountered. Anyone would think that the people that wrote it were trying to make PCs look bad.

Oh hang on...

For those that despise iTunes, there's is an alternative - Songbird with the iPod Device Support Add-on. It's still in the early BETA stages (although is quite stable) and isn't really particularly beautiful (although it is skinable), but otherwise it works like a dream.

~:)

That Songbird is what so-called "revolutionary" Qtrax uses.

I feel like I've been waiting for Songbird for years. Oh, that's because I have been. It was announced in '06 and it sounded muy bueno then. I'd be so very happy if they could just hurry up and get it to .8 or .9 before the year is out.

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Originally Posted by Whacker

I'm calling shenanigans here, that won't work at all for DVDs. It SOMETIMES works for HDDs, but rarely.

If you have a heavily scratched DVD, use some car polish and a non-linting rag, or one of those cd/dvd scratch remover tools. There are professional services that'll do this too.

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Nope, I didnt believe the owner of the disc either. I put it in the freezer for 20 minutes, it had a nice layer of cold over it, threw it in the dvd drive and it installed perfectly (UT2004)

I laughed.

I usually upload anything of importance onto Box.net, just incase.

I tried Songbird once, it's very nice, but all my song data didn't seem to carry over from iTunes, and I couldn't be bothered writing that stuff out again.

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Originally Posted by pevergreen

Nope, I didnt believe the owner of the disc either. I put it in the freezer for 20 minutes, it had a nice layer of cold over it, threw it in the dvd drive and it installed perfectly (UT2004)

I laughed.

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The layer of dew will smooth out cracks and cuts and increase transparency. This is essentially what the polish will do.