I posted last week about my computer (15" pbook g4 1.33 GHz) crashing. I called Mac outfitters today to see how the repairs/stauts was on my machine. They said that the hard drive needs replaced as well as the optical drive (I just had a new optical drive installed 6 months ago!). They said they tried a few ways to get the data off but that they need to try several other things, too. Apparently there hasn't been any data retrieved thus far. As you can imagine I’m really nervous/upset/worried about this. I have heard through several people that there is always a way to get the data off and that sometimes you have to send it away to a company that specializes in this. I guess my question is: do these places really work? I really don't care what the price is...I just need all of my lost data. Any thoughts or recommendations of a place to send my hard drive if Mac outfitters cannot successfully mine my data?

Most of the time those places will work but of course there angle is usually money. Unless the hard drive is completely dead then there always is a way to get RAW data off a drive. The only problem is I only know how to do it with Windows machines.

I have never personally delt with Mac outfitters. But if they try and pull the old "We were unable to recover anything", when the drive at least still runs then I would have a serious discussion with the manager if they try to make you pay to the extreme. Since they really never achieved the goal you set out for them.

I'm going to try and research how the Mac recovery process works and see what approach there is to recovering data. Hopefully they will be able to retrieve some of it though.

Yes, these places really work. They use techniques which can include the disassembly of the drive and direct examination of the drive surface. Depending on just what is necessary (it is unlikely that your drive requires anything that extreme, but hard drives that have been through fires often do), it could be several thousand dollars. I most certainly hope more conventional methods of data recovery will prove effective. There are many companies doing data recovery services. Try Salvage Recovery Lab. I contacted them once and I got my problem solved. They got 90% of my data back. I was extremely happy to get my data back. You can call them at 1 203-973-0242. I think you will have to send the drive physically.

Thanks for the info. I certainly hope your problem is solved by this other company. Keep us posted if anything changes. :)

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