Note:- This blog post is in my drafts folder for a while. Today, I finally got to post it. So the events are not current. They happened in the month of July 2012.
If you are a person with external hard disk (where you store your collection of movies, songs and of course personal stuff), this post is for you. In fact, it is also applicable to those who store that kind of data on CDs, DVDs, Blu-Rays, etc.
I had a Seagate Go Flex 2 TB External Hard disk. It was almost filled to the brim. It was like I can't even remove one file to place an another.
One day, a friend asked it for some data. I handed it to him as I always do when somebody asks me. In the night on the same day, he called and said that he tripped over the power cable which eventually caused the hard disk to fall from his computer table. It isn't working now. I was shocked to the core. I was angry, skeptic and didn't know what to do. I asked him to hand over the hard disk to me next day, so that I can check it myself. Next day, I checked it. No Hope. Every time I connect the power source, it was making 11 beep sounds and then dead (no more sounds or disk movement). It's like a robot making the final attempts to breathe and then flat-lined. Checked for a solution for this kind issue, all over the Internet. Found forums where users mentioned the same problem. Solution I found in most of them is "Get it replaced". Easy to say but I will lose all that content "Just like that". Well, it is still under warranty.
So I thought of data recovery before getting it replaced/repaired under warranty. Seagate service center is located in Nehru place. Nehru place is the famous marketplace for digital equipment in Delhi. I wanted to check with service centre if I can get the data recovered without voiding the warranty. Me & my friend went to the service centre. To my surprise, the service center was comparatively big and there were 3-4 counters where people were submitting their grievances. There were chairs for people so that they can wait if they are due to receive their hard disk on that day.
Over-The-Counter of service centre:-
"I want to get my data recovered before applying for replacement."
"You need to send an email to india_cso@accelfrontline.in asking for approval. After approval, you can go to any 3rd party vendor for data recovery. After getting the data recovered, get a letter from them about the same and attach it with your application. That should suffice."
I sent an email seeking approval from an internet-cafe beside the service centre. I got the approval mail after 2 hours. The email is as follows:-
WTH. Now spend 6-7k on the new hard disk and also give this fellow 12k to recover the data. That too, it is just hit and trial. And I assumed we were technologically advanced.
Started assessing if data is really worth 12k. Most of the content can be gathered again, but still it will take lot of time. Even with high speed internet connection, it will take months. Also the main issue is I don't have file list of the hard disk to know which files I had. But still paying 12k is not worth it. Also, there is some personal stuff. But I don't exactly remember the contents. Pictures are the only one that came to mind. But I normally don't delete pictures from SD card once I transfer them from digital camera to hard disk. So I might have a copy of them in the digital camera. Also, I generally send the pictures to friends who came with me on tours. So they may also have a copy.
Finally, I dropped the idea of data recovery.
I collected the letter from the data recovery vendor and went to service centre. Submitted the disk along with the letter & print-out of the approval mail. After more than a month long wait, I finally got the hard disk. To my surprise, it is not a new one. A refurbished one. If you don't know what that means ... they just take somebody's faulty drive, repair it and then give it back to you. Not so cool. Still that is what their warranty says. I checked.
Moral of the story - Don't buy external hard drive with weak build. People tend to buy cheaper hard disk because they get to store more data at a lower price. They also should keep in mind that those hard disks should be handled with care and also shouldn't trust their drives in other's hands. It is highly recommended to have backup drive with a good protection and build. After this mishap, I bought Transcend StoreJet 25H3P. Better to get hard disk like this, to store crucial data. This will ensure that you are not screwed.
You can also store data with small size like documents in the cloud. Dropbox, Skydrive, Google Drive provide you with almost 10 GB of free space collectively. But it is good to have your data by your side always.
If you are a person with external hard disk (where you store your collection of movies, songs and of course personal stuff), this post is for you. In fact, it is also applicable to those who store that kind of data on CDs, DVDs, Blu-Rays, etc.
I had a Seagate Go Flex 2 TB External Hard disk. It was almost filled to the brim. It was like I can't even remove one file to place an another.
One day, a friend asked it for some data. I handed it to him as I always do when somebody asks me. In the night on the same day, he called and said that he tripped over the power cable which eventually caused the hard disk to fall from his computer table. It isn't working now. I was shocked to the core. I was angry, skeptic and didn't know what to do. I asked him to hand over the hard disk to me next day, so that I can check it myself. Next day, I checked it. No Hope. Every time I connect the power source, it was making 11 beep sounds and then dead (no more sounds or disk movement). It's like a robot making the final attempts to breathe and then flat-lined. Checked for a solution for this kind issue, all over the Internet. Found forums where users mentioned the same problem. Solution I found in most of them is "Get it replaced". Easy to say but I will lose all that content "Just like that". Well, it is still under warranty.
So I thought of data recovery before getting it replaced/repaired under warranty. Seagate service center is located in Nehru place. Nehru place is the famous marketplace for digital equipment in Delhi. I wanted to check with service centre if I can get the data recovered without voiding the warranty. Me & my friend went to the service centre. To my surprise, the service center was comparatively big and there were 3-4 counters where people were submitting their grievances. There were chairs for people so that they can wait if they are due to receive their hard disk on that day.
Over-The-Counter of service centre:-
"I want to get my data recovered before applying for replacement."
"You need to send an email to india_cso@accelfrontline.in asking for approval. After approval, you can go to any 3rd party vendor for data recovery. After getting the data recovered, get a letter from them about the same and attach it with your application. That should suffice."
I sent an email seeking approval from an internet-cafe beside the service centre. I got the approval mail after 2 hours. The email is as follows:-
Dear Customer,As soon as I got the mail, we started surfing through shops looking for a vendor. Finally, got one in the same vicinity. He said he needs to open the hard disk and then only he could give a price estimate for the recovery. This due diligence itself will cost 300/-. He also said that he will provide me with the letter stating that hard disk is opened only for the data recovery purposes. I had no other choice as needed to know if data can be recovered. Asked him to start right away. He asked us to come back in an hour. After roaming here and there for an hour, we went back to him.
Since your drive with S/N : ######## is within warranty up to Oct 13, 2013 you can go ahead with Data recovery. You need to follow the below procedure:
1) You need to approach the data recovery company for data recovery, who will then have to provide a letter (on company letterhead) to specify that they have performed data recovery on this drive. It should clearly mention Customer name, Model Number & Serial Number of the drive and brief write up of Procedure done (as in if they opened the drive or not and why).
We do not authorize or recommend any of these companies. You will have to find these guys in local IT market or search on the Internet.
Please note that Data recovery is at your own expense.
2) Once data recovery is done, you can approach the Seacare center with the printout of this approval email and also letter from the data recovery company.
Please note that the drive should be returned with all parts intact and this all should happen within the warranty period of the drive. Please note that the drive shouldn't have any external signs of handling damage like bent/broken pins, Burned/damaged PCBA components. If it has, then seagate cannot honour the warranty and hence this approval will not remain valid in that case.
Please let us know if you need any further assistance.
"Can retrieve the data. Data-reading 'Head' is damaged. If you can get me another new piece of this hard disk (exactly same model), I'll use the 'Head' from the new hard-disk to retrieve data from the old one. And again place it back in the new hard disk. It will cost you 12k for the data recovery. Also there is no guarantee that all of this will work out."
WTH. Now spend 6-7k on the new hard disk and also give this fellow 12k to recover the data. That too, it is just hit and trial. And I assumed we were technologically advanced.
Started assessing if data is really worth 12k. Most of the content can be gathered again, but still it will take lot of time. Even with high speed internet connection, it will take months. Also the main issue is I don't have file list of the hard disk to know which files I had. But still paying 12k is not worth it. Also, there is some personal stuff. But I don't exactly remember the contents. Pictures are the only one that came to mind. But I normally don't delete pictures from SD card once I transfer them from digital camera to hard disk. So I might have a copy of them in the digital camera. Also, I generally send the pictures to friends who came with me on tours. So they may also have a copy.
Finally, I dropped the idea of data recovery.
I collected the letter from the data recovery vendor and went to service centre. Submitted the disk along with the letter & print-out of the approval mail. After more than a month long wait, I finally got the hard disk. To my surprise, it is not a new one. A refurbished one. If you don't know what that means ... they just take somebody's faulty drive, repair it and then give it back to you. Not so cool. Still that is what their warranty says. I checked.
Moral of the story - Don't buy external hard drive with weak build. People tend to buy cheaper hard disk because they get to store more data at a lower price. They also should keep in mind that those hard disks should be handled with care and also shouldn't trust their drives in other's hands. It is highly recommended to have backup drive with a good protection and build. After this mishap, I bought Transcend StoreJet 25H3P. Better to get hard disk like this, to store crucial data. This will ensure that you are not screwed.
You can also store data with small size like documents in the cloud. Dropbox, Skydrive, Google Drive provide you with almost 10 GB of free space collectively. But it is good to have your data by your side always.
Comments
Post a Comment
Do drop your comment/opnion here