Calamity & a Request for Reviews

[prosicated]

So I got up this morning, and my beloved 2 year old Powerbook was making rather an odd noise. I shut it off, let it sit about 15 minutes and then tried to restart it. It hung & wouldn't boot, so I turned it off again & went about my day, checking my email and such on Ry's machine.
By 9am (1.5 hours later), I was anxious about my computer and woke Ry so that we could head to the Genius bar. We killed time until my appointment by looking at cell phones, as mine is dead. Sadly, not only my cell phone is dead.
Along comes my appointment, where we discovered that my laptop is dead. Well, to be exact, the poor genius was forced to decalre "your hard drive is eating itself," which made me picture some horrible apocalyptic ouroborous of sinewy computer pieces slowly circling itself, devouring itself as it dances.

Ensue freakout.

Anyway, they recommended 3 different places to get one's data (precious school files! Not backed up for lo these many moons (like, a year, I am SO going to hell!)), and Ry & I got it down to 2: OnTrack & Drive Savers that I might use. I have a quote from Drive Savers (up to $3500 depending on success level!) and am awaiting one from OnTrack.

So, my Mac-friendly friends, which one of these data recovery companies have you been happiest with, OnTrack or Drive Savers? Any recommendations? (Other than, you know, not being a dolt & backing up my files more than once a year?)

This HAD to happen right before finals, right before I go away for a week, and right after a month where I didn't email anyone any of my work because I was being too depressed about it. This HAD to happen this year, losing my precious draft reading list for comps, my draft dissertation proposals, my research for a few final papers, and everything else I've been working on. I'd cry over losing my bookmarks, I can't imagine losing my documents.

Comments

[wisdom-seeker.livejournal.com]

Oh, Sweetie. I've got no advice on which company to help you with your data, but I still wanted to reply with heartfelt sympathy and support. I will be sending the best data recovery vibes out into the universe for you. *hug*

[krues8dr.livejournal.com]

I wish I had good advice for you, but alas, data recovery has always been too expensive for me to consider. After the fourth catastrophic failure, I've gotten very zen about the whole thing though. I'm sorry to hear that you're going through this though. :(

[decemberthirty.livejournal.com]

Oh no, what an upsetting thing to have to deal with! Sadly, I can't offer advice, but I do want to offer my sympathy and my confidence that you will overcome this.

[macthud]

(pointed here by bbbsg, brother of wisdom_seeker, Mac user since 1985)

Sorry to hear about this calamity -- I've been there... and lost the data.

I have no personal experience with either recovery shop.

Drive Savers has a damn good reputation. They also have a Cadillac price tag, as you've seen.

I've never heard of OnTrack before this post.

[oh-chris.livejournal.com]

not that you're ever down here, but i've been told tekserve on 23d does good work.

[rainbow-spork.livejournal.com]

Oh no! that sucks so hard! *hugs*

[marchharetay.livejournal.com]

So much sympathy. I never had a computer die before law school, and then had it happen with alarming regularity before 2 sets of finals and once again for my final semestser. First year I had to have my hard drive replaced and only saved any of my notes or outlines by virtue of a fluke 20 minute window where it turned on right before I packed it to send off for repair. Second year, I took finals on a rental costing so much that I should have just bought a new computer. It crashed again and permanently my final semester when I had no money. Grad school even makes the computer sickly.

[greyhoundliz.livejournal.com]

no experience with either...just a great big hug and kiss and a virtual cup of tea.

[bluewillowtree.livejournal.com]

Oh, that sucks. I'm sorry i have no useful advice, just lots of hugs and hopes that whichever data recovery place you pick will do a great job.

[oceanic.livejournal.com]

Jesus!!
I take it that data recovery is not the sort of thing one can do at home with IT people from Ry's work? I've never had my own hard drive die on me before, and my laptop is so senile that I keep all the important things backed up on my thumb drive.

What a total colossal pain in the ass, I'm so sorry! And god, why they gotta charge 3.5K just to recover data?? What are they doing, risking life and limb to go nano-tech themselves and hack through your vile cannibalistic hard drive in search of the precious Ark of the Data Covenant? Man. Feel free to call me if you need to vent, babe. That, not to put too fine a point on it, sucks.

[iggee.livejournal.com]

yay!

[shayde.livejournal.com]

I've personally worked with DriveSavers before. very professional, very fast service, they can recover things that no one else can (they have some amazing pictures on their website. Or did, when I used them years ago - like the laptop that got run over by a car).

HOWEVER.

Be warned - they are -expensive-. They're used to working with corporations where some CEO has just had their laptop dropped in the jacuzzi. The recovery process may cost as much as your laptop.

Contact them, get a quite, but be prepared for sticker shock.

Good luck!

[prosicated.livejournal.com]

It was great meeting you, as well! yay for friending!
See your email for the rest?

[regyt.livejournal.com]

Don't see any email from you yet, but sure, no worries. ^^

[(Anonymous)]

herrumph. Sent it to your LJ account, it was a list of opt-in filters, I have quite a few, you see. Fortunately, if you're putting me on the ones you mentioned, I can infer that you won't mind the ones I have, so I'll just add you & then you can opt out if you like.

what flavor of dead is the drive?

[wrisz.livejournal.com]

It might be as possible to recover some data simply if the drive is only mostly dead.

true love is not a factor in this however.