Kidsy wrote:
> Ive been using my external hardrive to back up all my stuff, however i
> recently dropped it and ever since then it has been making a weird
> sound. My laptop will pick it up anymore and it making a whining
> sounds ever 30 seconds or so.
> Can anyone tell me whats happening, is it broken or will i be able to
> get the data from it or will have to put it to the comp shop to get a
> drive recovery.
It definitely sounds as though you broke the hard drive. The "whining
sound" indicates a physical problem. You can bring it to a competent
local computer shop (not a BigComputerStore/GeekSquad type of place) for
a hands-on diagnosis, but most probably the only way to get data off the
drive is to send it to a professional data recovery company such as
Drive Savers. Software data recovery methods (the only data recovery
method available to local shops) can do nothing when the drive is
physically damaged.
General prices for professional data recovery run from $500USD on up.
Drive Savers recovered all the data on a failed laptop drive for one of
my clients and it cost $2,700. He thought it was worth the money; only
you know what your data is worth. I understand that some insurance
companies are now covering data recovery charges so check with yours.
Drive Savers -
http://www.drivesavers.com
This is why it is wise to 1) be careful with your external drives; 2)
regularly back up data onto DVD-Rs, too.
Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User