Hello there all of you Mac people out there, I have something very
important to ask.

You know that voice in the back of your head that whispers, 'You should
really back up your data right about now?' every once in a while. Well,
I didn't. And I dropped it. And the head crashed. And the other half
of my brain with it.

I took it to a local Macintosh repairman; he analyzed the drive and
basically said the head crashed - @#$(! - and, bottom line is, he sent
it to a company called Drive Specialists out in a galaxy far, far away
who told me the data is 100% recoverable, but it will cost me $2250.

:| (that's the numbness of disbelief)

I don't have that kind of money. My current net worth is less than that
(unless you want to discuss futures). But my life is on that computer, my
mind, my memories, precious things I will never be able to get back unless
the drive is fixed. My heart is breaking.

I know it was stupid of me to let it go for so long without backing it up.
I just bought a DVD drive. I just...things happen, you know? Backing up
data wasn't on my mind, though it should have been - it really should have.

But this is where I draw the line.

So I'm wondering if anyone here knew of someone who could retrieve data
from an Apple drive for a more reasonable price than this 'Drive
Specialists' company in California are asking for. I don't know these 'Drive
Specialists'. Does anyone else around here Are they the best? Or just the
most expensive?

Could anyone recommend a less expensive but equally expert hardcore data
retrieval company? Is anyone here very knowledgeable in crashed drive
data recovery?

Anyone know a company of experienced, perfectionist hackers who have nothing
to do but rescue a damsel in distress at a discount? Or am I going to have
to take out a loan?

Thank you,
Merc

In article <BF271330.3%gnobody@invalid-address.com>,
Miu <gnobody@invalid-address.com> wrote:

> I took it to a local Macintosh repairman; he analyzed the drive and
> basically said the head crashed - @#$(! - and, bottom line is, he sent
> it to a company called Drive Specialists out in a galaxy far, far away
> who told me the data is 100% recoverable, but it will cost me $2250.

Sure it wasn't Drive Savers? They're a reputable group who seem to be
able to recover more or less anything, but are not cheap. Drive
Specialists I've never heard of, and can't find through Google.

--
Tom "Tom" Harrington
Macaroni, Automated System Maintenance for Mac OS X.
Version 2.0: Delocalize, Repair Permissions, lots more.
See http://www.atomicbird.com/

In article <BF271330.3%gnobody@invalid-address.com>,
Miu <gnobody@invalid-address.com> wrote:

> I took it to a local Macintosh repairman; he analyzed the drive and
> basically said the head crashed - @#$(! - and, bottom line is, he sent
> it to a company called Drive Specialists out in a galaxy far, far away
> who told me the data is 100% recoverable, but it will cost me $2250.

Sure it wasn't Drive Savers? They're a reputable group who seem to be
able to recover more or less anything, but are not cheap. Drive
Specialists I've never heard of, and can't find through Google.

--
Tom "Tom" Harrington
Macaroni, Automated System Maintenance for Mac OS X.
Version 2.0: Delocalize, Repair Permissions, lots more.
See http://www.atomicbird.com/

In article <BF271330.3%gnobody@invalid-address.com>,
Miu <gnobody@invalid-address.com> wrote:
>
> Anyone know a company of experienced, perfectionist hackers who have nothing
> to do but rescue a damsel in distress at a discount? Or am I going to have
> to take out a loan?

A company called Drive Savers might be able to help you out. Their web
site is http://www.drivesavers.com/

I have no idea how much they charge for their data recovery service, but
it can't hurt to call them to ask for an estimate.

In article <BF271330.3%gnobody@invalid-address.com>,
Miu <gnobody@invalid-address.com> wrote:
>
> Anyone know a company of experienced, perfectionist hackers who have nothing
> to do but rescue a damsel in distress at a discount? Or am I going to have
> to take out a loan?

A company called Drive Savers might be able to help you out. Their web
site is http://www.drivesavers.com/

I have no idea how much they charge for their data recovery service, but
it can't hurt to call them to ask for an estimate.

In article <BF271330.3%gnobody@invalid-address.com>,
Miu <gnobody@invalid-address.com> wrote:

> Anyone know a company of experienced, perfectionist hackers who have nothing
> to do but rescue a damsel in distress at a discount? Or am I going to have
> to take out a loan?

Do you want the data back or not? If you can recreate it, do so.
Otherwise, you're asking the wrong question. This isn't something you
can do with software alone. It requires high priced hardware and
special environment.

Next time, make backups.

--
May we live together in peace.

In article <BF271330.3%gnobody@invalid-address.com>,
Miu <gnobody@invalid-address.com> wrote:

> Anyone know a company of experienced, perfectionist hackers who have nothing
> to do but rescue a damsel in distress at a discount? Or am I going to have
> to take out a loan?

Do you want the data back or not? If you can recreate it, do so.
Otherwise, you're asking the wrong question. This isn't something you
can do with software alone. It requires high priced hardware and
special environment.

Next time, make backups.

--
May we live together in peace.

In article <BF271330.3%gnobody@invalid-address.com>,
Miu <gnobody@invalid-address.com> wrote:


> I took it to a local Macintosh repairman; he analyzed the drive and
> basically said the head crashed - @#$(! - and, bottom line is, he sent
> it to a company called Drive Specialists out in a galaxy far, far away
> who told me the data is 100% recoverable, but it will cost me $2250.


>
> Could anyone recommend a less expensive but equally expert hardcore data
> retrieval company? Is anyone here very knowledgeable in crashed drive
> data recovery?


depending on what shape the drive was in, i.e. what it was
doing and not doing before you took it in, you may be
able to do the rescue yourself - the fact that they said
it was 100% recoverable would seem to be a good sign

assuming you can have it sent back to you, and you have access to
another mac (or even your own with a new/functioning hard disk
in it) running at least OS 9.2.2, you might try hooking the dead drive
up via a firewire enclosure, or one of the firewire drivedocks sold by
wiebetech, to see if it shows up on your desktop

if it does, chances are you'll be able to suck some or all of your own
data out of it for the cost of the enclosure or the drivedock and the
appropriate cable - a whole lot less than two grand

fwiw, i ended up using the firewire notebook drivedock to rescue
data from a small (6 gig) 2.5" drive about two yrs ago - could'nt
have been happier


cp

In article <BF271330.3%gnobody@invalid-address.com>,
Miu <gnobody@invalid-address.com> wrote:


> I took it to a local Macintosh repairman; he analyzed the drive and
> basically said the head crashed - @#$(! - and, bottom line is, he sent
> it to a company called Drive Specialists out in a galaxy far, far away
> who told me the data is 100% recoverable, but it will cost me $2250.


>
> Could anyone recommend a less expensive but equally expert hardcore data
> retrieval company? Is anyone here very knowledgeable in crashed drive
> data recovery?


depending on what shape the drive was in, i.e. what it was
doing and not doing before you took it in, you may be
able to do the rescue yourself - the fact that they said
it was 100% recoverable would seem to be a good sign

assuming you can have it sent back to you, and you have access to
another mac (or even your own with a new/functioning hard disk
in it) running at least OS 9.2.2, you might try hooking the dead drive
up via a firewire enclosure, or one of the firewire drivedocks sold by
wiebetech, to see if it shows up on your desktop

if it does, chances are you'll be able to suck some or all of your own
data out of it for the cost of the enclosure or the drivedock and the
appropriate cable - a whole lot less than two grand

fwiw, i ended up using the firewire notebook drivedock to rescue
data from a small (6 gig) 2.5" drive about two yrs ago - could'nt
have been happier


cp

Miu wrote:
> Hello there all of you Mac people out there, I have something very
> important to ask.
>
> You know that voice in the back of your head that whispers, 'You should
> really back up your data right about now?' every once in a while. Well,
> I didn't. And I dropped it. And the head crashed. And the other half
> of my brain with it.
>
> I took it to a local Macintosh repairman; he analyzed the drive and
> basically said the head crashed - @#$(! - and, bottom line is, he sent
> it to a company called Drive Specialists out in a galaxy far, far away
> who told me the data is 100% recoverable, but it will cost me $2250.
>
> :| (that's the numbness of disbelief)
>
> I don't have that kind of money. My current net worth is less than that
> (unless you want to discuss futures). But my life is on that computer, my
> mind, my memories, precious things I will never be able to get back unless
> the drive is fixed. My heart is breaking.
>
> I know it was stupid of me to let it go for so long without backing it up.
> I just bought a DVD drive. I just...things happen, you know? Backing up
> data wasn't on my mind, though it should have been - it really should have.
>
> But this is where I draw the line.
>
> So I'm wondering if anyone here knew of someone who could retrieve data
> from an Apple drive for a more reasonable price than this 'Drive
> Specialists' company in California are asking for. I don't know these 'Drive
> Specialists'. Does anyone else around here Are they the best? Or just the
> most expensive?
>
> Could anyone recommend a less expensive but equally expert hardcore data
> retrieval company? Is anyone here very knowledgeable in crashed drive
> data recovery?
>
> Anyone know a company of experienced, perfectionist hackers who have nothing
> to do but rescue a damsel in distress at a discount? Or am I going to have
> to take out a loan?
>
> Thank you,
> Merc
>

Definitely worth trying DataRescueX from http://prosoftengineering.com -
rescued many a trashed drive with this puppy.

=:~)

--
chuenginsberg at mac dot com

Miu wrote:
> Hello there all of you Mac people out there, I have something very
> important to ask.
>
> You know that voice in the back of your head that whispers, 'You should
> really back up your data right about now?' every once in a while. Well,
> I didn't. And I dropped it. And the head crashed. And the other half
> of my brain with it.
>
> I took it to a local Macintosh repairman; he analyzed the drive and
> basically said the head crashed - @#$(! - and, bottom line is, he sent
> it to a company called Drive Specialists out in a galaxy far, far away
> who told me the data is 100% recoverable, but it will cost me $2250.
>
> :| (that's the numbness of disbelief)
>
> I don't have that kind of money. My current net worth is less than that
> (unless you want to discuss futures). But my life is on that computer, my
> mind, my memories, precious things I will never be able to get back unless
> the drive is fixed. My heart is breaking.
>
> I know it was stupid of me to let it go for so long without backing it up.
> I just bought a DVD drive. I just...things happen, you know? Backing up
> data wasn't on my mind, though it should have been - it really should have.
>
> But this is where I draw the line.
>
> So I'm wondering if anyone here knew of someone who could retrieve data
> from an Apple drive for a more reasonable price than this 'Drive
> Specialists' company in California are asking for. I don't know these 'Drive
> Specialists'. Does anyone else around here Are they the best? Or just the
> most expensive?
>
> Could anyone recommend a less expensive but equally expert hardcore data
> retrieval company? Is anyone here very knowledgeable in crashed drive
> data recovery?
>
> Anyone know a company of experienced, perfectionist hackers who have nothing
> to do but rescue a damsel in distress at a discount? Or am I going to have
> to take out a loan?
>
> Thank you,
> Merc
>

Definitely worth trying DataRescueX from http://prosoftengineering.com -
rescued many a trashed drive with this puppy.

=:~)

--
chuenginsberg at mac dot com

On Tue, 16 Aug 2005 04:02:43 -0400, Miu wrote
(in article <BF271330.3%gnobody@invalid-address.com>):

> Hello there all of you Mac people out there, I have something very
> important to ask.
>
> You know that voice in the back of your head that whispers, 'You should
> really back up your data right about now?' every once in a while. Well,
> I didn't. And I dropped it. And the head crashed. And the other half
> of my brain with it.
>
> I took it to a local Macintosh repairman; he analyzed the drive and
> basically said the head crashed - @#$(! - and, bottom line is, he sent
> it to a company called Drive Specialists out in a galaxy far, far away
> who told me the data is 100% recoverable, but it will cost me $2250.

That's cheap, especially if it includes the cost of a replacement drive. I
once sent a client's drive to Drive Savers and they charged just short of
$3000 to get the data off. They got 99.99% of the data, and the stuff they
couldn't get could be redone. The client paid up, that disk contained the
only copy of a major ad campaign. ("Backup? What's a backup?") Given the
prices the charge they still made a profit on that ad campaign.

>
>>> (that's the numbness of disbelief)
>
> I don't have that kind of money. My current net worth is less than that
> (unless you want to discuss futures). But my life is on that computer, my
> mind, my memories, precious things I will never be able to get back unless
> the drive is fixed. My heart is breaking.
>
> I know it was stupid of me to let it go for so long without backing it up.
> I just bought a DVD drive. I just...things happen, you know? Backing up
> data wasn't on my mind, though it should have been - it really should have.
>
> But this is where I draw the line.
>
> So I'm wondering if anyone here knew of someone who could retrieve data
> from an Apple drive for a more reasonable price than this 'Drive
> Specialists' company in California are asking for. I don't know these 'Drive
> Specialists'. Does anyone else around here Are they the best? Or just the
> most expensive?

Drive Savers, which sounds like the guys you're talking about, are about the
best. You _could_ dig up Data Rescue from Prosoft and see if it will see your
drive and recover data from it; I've had it recover data from drives which
everything else said were totally trashed. But it didn't get everything every
time, and you'll need to not only buy it but to buy another drive for it to
recover data to. It's not as expensive as Drive Savers, but it ain't cheap
either.

>
> Could anyone recommend a less expensive but equally expert hardcore data
> retrieval company? Is anyone here very knowledgeable in crashed drive
> data recovery?
>
> Anyone know a company of experienced, perfectionist hackers who have nothing
> to do but rescue a damsel in distress at a discount? Or am I going to have
> to take out a loan?

Sorry, but I think that you're going to have to spend at least a few hundred
dollars on Data Rescue and a drive, and if that doesn't work decide whether
you're going to spend the money Drive Savers wants or live without whatever
data Data Rescue couldn't recover.

>
> Thank you,
> Merc
>



--
We are Microsoft of Borg. You will be assimilated. Stability is irrelevant.
Where _you_ want to go to today is irrelevant. We will add your currency to
our own. Bend over right now. Resistance is futile.

On Tue, 16 Aug 2005 04:02:43 -0400, Miu wrote
(in article <BF271330.3%gnobody@invalid-address.com>):

> Hello there all of you Mac people out there, I have something very
> important to ask.
>
> You know that voice in the back of your head that whispers, 'You should
> really back up your data right about now?' every once in a while. Well,
> I didn't. And I dropped it. And the head crashed. And the other half
> of my brain with it.
>
> I took it to a local Macintosh repairman; he analyzed the drive and
> basically said the head crashed - @#$(! - and, bottom line is, he sent
> it to a company called Drive Specialists out in a galaxy far, far away
> who told me the data is 100% recoverable, but it will cost me $2250.

That's cheap, especially if it includes the cost of a replacement drive. I
once sent a client's drive to Drive Savers and they charged just short of
$3000 to get the data off. They got 99.99% of the data, and the stuff they
couldn't get could be redone. The client paid up, that disk contained the
only copy of a major ad campaign. ("Backup? What's a backup?") Given the
prices the charge they still made a profit on that ad campaign.

>
>>> (that's the numbness of disbelief)
>
> I don't have that kind of money. My current net worth is less than that
> (unless you want to discuss futures). But my life is on that computer, my
> mind, my memories, precious things I will never be able to get back unless
> the drive is fixed. My heart is breaking.
>
> I know it was stupid of me to let it go for so long without backing it up.
> I just bought a DVD drive. I just...things happen, you know? Backing up
> data wasn't on my mind, though it should have been - it really should have.
>
> But this is where I draw the line.
>
> So I'm wondering if anyone here knew of someone who could retrieve data
> from an Apple drive for a more reasonable price than this 'Drive
> Specialists' company in California are asking for. I don't know these 'Drive
> Specialists'. Does anyone else around here Are they the best? Or just the
> most expensive?

Drive Savers, which sounds like the guys you're talking about, are about the
best. You _could_ dig up Data Rescue from Prosoft and see if it will see your
drive and recover data from it; I've had it recover data from drives which
everything else said were totally trashed. But it didn't get everything every
time, and you'll need to not only buy it but to buy another drive for it to
recover data to. It's not as expensive as Drive Savers, but it ain't cheap
either.

>
> Could anyone recommend a less expensive but equally expert hardcore data
> retrieval company? Is anyone here very knowledgeable in crashed drive
> data recovery?
>
> Anyone know a company of experienced, perfectionist hackers who have nothing
> to do but rescue a damsel in distress at a discount? Or am I going to have
> to take out a loan?

Sorry, but I think that you're going to have to spend at least a few hundred
dollars on Data Rescue and a drive, and if that doesn't work decide whether
you're going to spend the money Drive Savers wants or live without whatever
data Data Rescue couldn't recover.

>
> Thank you,
> Merc
>



--
We are Microsoft of Borg. You will be assimilated. Stability is irrelevant.
Where _you_ want to go to today is irrelevant. We will add your currency to
our own. Bend over right now. Resistance is futile.

On Tue, 16 Aug 2005 12:41:53 -0400, Shawn Hirn wrote
(in article <srhi-747848.12415316082005@news.giganews.com>):

> In article <BF271330.3%gnobody@invalid-address.com>,
> Miu <gnobody@invalid-address.com> wrote:
>>
>> Anyone know a company of experienced, perfectionist hackers who have nothing
>> to do but rescue a damsel in distress at a discount? Or am I going to have
>> to take out a loan?
>
> A company called Drive Savers might be able to help you out. Their web
> site is http://www.drivesavers.com/
>
> I have no idea how much they charge for their data recovery service, but
> it can't hurt to call them to ask for an estimate.

Drive Savers starts at $300-500, depending on the size of the drive, and
escalates rapidly into the thousands depending on what's wrong with it. The
worse off the drive is, the more expensive recovery is.

--
We are Microsoft of Borg. You will be assimilated. Stability is irrelevant.
Where _you_ want to go to today is irrelevant. We will add your currency to
our own. Bend over right now. Resistance is futile.

On Tue, 16 Aug 2005 12:41:53 -0400, Shawn Hirn wrote
(in article <srhi-747848.12415316082005@news.giganews.com>):

> In article <BF271330.3%gnobody@invalid-address.com>,
> Miu <gnobody@invalid-address.com> wrote:
>>
>> Anyone know a company of experienced, perfectionist hackers who have nothing
>> to do but rescue a damsel in distress at a discount? Or am I going to have
>> to take out a loan?
>
> A company called Drive Savers might be able to help you out. Their web
> site is http://www.drivesavers.com/
>
> I have no idea how much they charge for their data recovery service, but
> it can't hurt to call them to ask for an estimate.

Drive Savers starts at $300-500, depending on the size of the drive, and
escalates rapidly into the thousands depending on what's wrong with it. The
worse off the drive is, the more expensive recovery is.

--
We are Microsoft of Borg. You will be assimilated. Stability is irrelevant.
Where _you_ want to go to today is irrelevant. We will add your currency to
our own. Bend over right now. Resistance is futile.