Has anybody ever had to use one of these services? I always preach saving and backing up files and I'm religiuos about it at work. But, I wasn't as diligent as I should be at home and now have lost about a year and a half worth of stuff (LOOSER sign on forehead). Had some software attempts to get the data off but no luck. Havent got a quote for the service but I know its extremeley expensive. Anybody have experience with theses folks?

Most hard drive "crashes" aren't actually crashes but is corruption of boot files. Have you tried just hooking the drive up as a "slave" drive and seeing if you can navigate to files? You may simply be able to see them and copy them to a different drive (like the external drive you should have been backing up to ).

If the drive is truly crashed with an internal hardware issue, there are some crazy things that MAY be able to save you. One is throwing the drive into the freezer for a couple of hours and then putting it back in the computer. Sounds like BS but it has saved more than one hard drive.

I wish you luck. It sucks losing files.

Its definatley a mechanical failure with the lovely noises it comes with. I just talked to one of the services and they said it needs to be taken apart and rebuilt. Quoted me $900 to $1500. Freem diagnostics and no data no charge policy. Now I have to put a price on that stuff. I'm sure I would get by just fine without it but I wonder if 20 years from now I'm gonna be kicking myself in the arse for not getting it.

BB will only do that if your old computer is in working order... when hard drives crash, the computer wont even start, because the drive isnt recognized... the only way to get the files of a broken drive, is to take it to a specialized place, and they wont even guarentee they can do it... plus it will cost you an arm and your retirement fund to do so...

I have used one of those services based in San Fran, sent my drive in due to a mechanical failure, and they were able to recover 90%+ of the data, burned it all on DVD, and sent it to me on several DVD's. It was worth it in the end as the drive broke in my work laptop and I HAD to recover it. The company paid for it..it cost around $1400 a couple years back.. Question is, is what you are attempting to recover worth the price or not? If it is a bunch of pictures, that's a tougher call to make versus if the loss was a lot of business documents you need to retain. If it is just pictures I would be less likely to pay...

Michael Parker is a miracle worker with data retrieval, or can give you some leads on who to send it to........we sent one out a couple of years ago and got everything back.

If it were me I'd still attempt the slave idea. If it's a laptop HD then buy or borrow a USB external enclosure. You may still be able to copy over some personal files.