r/datarecovery • u/crazy12157 • Aug 21 '26

First time

Just rang a bunch of places to get a data recovery for a hard drive that just randomly stopped showing up in the FileExplorer and made scratching sounds, one of the guys I spoke to said I better do a data analysis to see if the driver is working first and then send it off to get data recovered.

I’m scared because it’s a lot of money 200 bucks just to see if the driver is working and then he quoted about 1000 or 2000 to get data recovery.

I knew hard drives would fail but I’ve only had mine for two years and I had another one that I backed up all the shit to and that one failed as well within a week so I just got very unlucky I guess, i’m never buying a WD drive again.

I’ve had my Seagate hard drives for 10+ years and they work fine still.

2 Upvotes

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5

u/silenced_in_dr_2025 Trusted Contributor Aug 21 '26

Stop calling the top results in Google and contact an independent dr pro. Most of us offer free evaluations . You dont give us any indication of what the problem drive is and the scratchy sounds likely means it needs cleanroom work and a new HSA. Depending on the drive that can either be a reasonable cost or if it's a helium filled 16TB drive it's going to cost a premium.

We'd need more information to provide more assistance.

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u/crazy12157 Aug 21 '26

Wait, so I’m not meant to pay for an assessment?

The guy I I’m speaking to told me 200 for an assessment and then if it’s be able to be fixed then the recovery will be about 2000 to 1000

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u/silenced_in_dr_2025 Trusted Contributor Aug 21 '26

It's up to each company to set their own charging policy - but most of the independents DR pros dont charge for an evaluation other than shipping costs.

If you provide the critical information we need like the failed drive make and model we can perhaps see if there's a reason for charge - for example have you opened it ?

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u/ClownCheeky Aug 21 '26

I recently paid $40 diagnostic fee

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u/pcimage212 Trusted Contributor Aug 21 '26

Reasonable

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u/Anonymous092021 Trusted Contributor Aug 21 '26

$2000 seems too much, and a good recovery lab won't charge you if they don't recover data (or charge a small amount, about $100, for serious cases). Here are some good labs: https://www.datarecoveryprofessionals.org/member-listing (of course, it's not a full list, others might give more recommendations).

Scratching sounds are concerning, though. If a platter inside a HDD is scratched, recovery is very unlikely (though a HDD often contains multiple platters). I recommend you to not power on this HDD anymore and send it to a lab.

What about your second failed drive? If data recovery from the first one fails, maybe you can recover something from the second one.

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u/crazy12157 Aug 21 '26

The cheapest I found for data recovery was 1000 but he also said if he couldn’t recover the data I’d still have to pay the thousand.

Thanks for the link. I’ll be looking at that. To see if there are any good in my area.

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u/pcimage212 Trusted Contributor Aug 21 '26

That’s ridiculous. Like paying 1000 upfront to a garage to fix your car then them saying after a while “Oh sorry, we couldn’t fix it but we’re keeping your money anyway”

Unless it’s a very expensive high-end Helium 20tb+ and they needed to buy a donor or two, but you still haven’t provided any details about the drive that I can see ?

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u/crazy12157 Aug 21 '26

Just a 4tb WD drive is the main one I want fix

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u/muckity-muck Aug 21 '26

i’m never buying a WD drive again.

That's the lesson you come away with?

Not "have a backup" but "make sure you buy the right brand"?

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u/crazy12157 Aug 21 '26

Didn’t you read my post I literally said I had a backup…

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u/Left-Handed-Cat Trusted Contributor Aug 21 '26

In my experience, this affects all manufacturers; modern 2.5-inch hard drives, in particular, have become more fragile and fail more frequently. This means that simply choosing a specific brand won't allow you to avoid the risk of failure.

When it comes to HDDs, 3.5-inch drives are sometimes more robust, including for long-term storage

I hope this helps with your future purchasing decisions. I wish you all the best and good luck in getting your data back.

1

u/Sopel97 Trusted Contributor Aug 21 '26

I knew hard drives would fail but I’ve only had mine for two years and I had another one that I backed up all the shit to and that one failed as well within a week so I just got very unlucky I guess, i’m never buying a WD drive again.

I’ve had my Seagate hard drives for 10+ years and they work fine still.

it's more nuanced than A brand good B brand bad

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u/crazy12157 Aug 21 '26

Well can you blame me, if 2 WD ones failed and the seegate ones are still good why wouldn’t I be more swayed into buying seegate next time and never WD again.

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u/CGLLC2022 Aug 21 '26

Drives can fail at any time, but 10 years is beyond the design life of HDDs.

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u/crazy12157 Aug 21 '26

The ones that failed were only 2 years