Computer harddisk

[phlamp]

Hi all,

I am interested in the data stored on a harddisk which is out of an aircraft accident. The harddisk was highly damaged during the accident. The r/w-heads crashed on the disks and caused severe damage to the disks in that area. However, the remaining area of the disks seem to be fairly intact. I talked to a company which specializes in recovery of harddisk data and they basically say that they can only recover data as long they can still rotate the disk under a head. Is anyone aware of other methods where it is possible to only read some areas on the disk? Just curious.

Thanks,
Phil

 

[unclesyd]

There was at one time a company that could recover data by remounting the disk in a different drive if there wasn't too much damage to the disk proper.

I don't recall anything about the process other than it was applicable only for certain types of drives and was extremely expensive. I got the lead through the Computer Shopper Magazine.

I inquired about about this for a 10 meg drive that crashed. The drive made no sound when powered up and evidently wasn't spinning so the inquiry. This was when a 10 meg drive cost around $250.00. The drive was brought back to life by raising it 18" off a wooden bench and dropping it.


Googling "data recovery" it looks like there a quite a few companies that may be able to get at your data.

 

[IRstuff]

If the platter is no longer flat or smooth, then the standard read head will also crash. The flying height of a typical read head is less than the thickness of a human hair.

There are more expensive alternatives, particularly those used in magnetic bubble memories to determine the orientation of magnetic domains. As this is a slow and labor intensive process, its cost is commensurate.

TTFN

 

[dik]

IR's on the right track if damage is severe... and it is very costly...you're likely talking 1000's and not guaranteed...

Dik