Expert Guidelines & suggestions in Data recovery process

Immediately shut down PC & do not power it again when disk/data related issue is detected. ( Pls. note a single reboot may make recovery impossible)

Using full antistatic precautions carefully remove hard disk. Refer download section for handling and storing hard disks. Do not bump hard disk as it is extremely precision device. Do not touch electronic components and don’t wrap disk using /plastic /paper cloths etc.

Professional approach in any mission critical recoveries is not to work on crashed disks directly but to Make a forensic image of entire disk sectors first (LBA 0 till last sector). This ensures following-

a) Disk drive being extremely sensitive & fragile device is handled as per manufacturer specifications
b) Original media is write protected & not a single byte is altered.
c) Cloned copy of original disk is available in case original disk is to be sent for warranty replacements or is not available.
d) Multiple technicians can work on same project.
e) Date stamp & other metadata is not altered.
f) In case of unstable failing disks , cloning ensures that all sectors are copied with least stress on source.

Do not run any types of disk utilities including CHKDSK.

Do not try any recovery attempt which may cause further damage.

Do not change hard disk pcb even by drive with same model and firmware , this may cause irreversible damage to SA.

Do not touch drives electronics and connectors.

Do not keep hard disk in freezer as it may cause further damage.

Do not open hard disks upper cover , this will permanently damage drives internal components and may make recovery impossible.

In case of Raid – mark disk nos. & sequence (location) of each disk before removing. Do not try to rebuild Raid all by yourself as irreversible changes may occur in its config ( degradation of Raid level or overwriting of parity disk)

Recent Case Example

We received a Toshiba laptop hard disk for analysis from one of the top Research institute student having important Phd thesis papers. One of the So called Data Recovery company from pune who makes regular advertisement concluded that the issue is with drives motor. Not satisfied fellow student was referred to us , considering criticality of data , we took job on high priority basis. We quickly identified issue with drives firmware ( defect list was over) , Using advanced manufacturer level technology Data was recovered in flat 15 minutes , customer was relieved as she got research papers back. This shows how spurious companies can play with your data & may ruin it due to there ignorance.

Hard Disk  Support & Warranty Checking:

Seagate Warranty Check:
http://support.seagate.com/customer/en-US/warranty_validation.jsp?form=0

Online Warranty Management System for Seagate & Samsung Disk:
Register Here -- http://myservice.accelwms.in/

Seagate India Support: 1800-425-4535 ,/000-800-440-1392
Western Digital India  nos:  1800 200 5789 / 18004195591
Toshiba Customer Care:   18002008674/1800118674
Hitachi India Support:   1800-103-1357

WD India Warranty & RMA Services:

http://support.wdc.com/country/country.asp?c=india

 Hitachi India Warranty Services :
http://www.hgst.com/portal/site/en/support/warranty/