Data Recovery Labs - what is a good one at a low cost?

My external hard drive on a WinXP system is a Western Digital MyBook
Essential 500 GB, model WD5000C032. The hd is not recognized at all.
It was hard drive 'I'. When it's first turned on, it makes 6 clicking
sounds, followed by a 20- or 30-second pause, then makes two more
clicks, followed by another similar pause, then two more clicks. After
that, no more noises, but still not recognized. It is completely full
(except for less than 3GB free space).

A couple of data recovery labs have quoted me (not including new
replacement hard drive):

1) Cyber Electronics = $1200
2) Gillware Inc. = $1300

However, there is a site advertising a much lower price - about $500 -
Nationwide Data Recovery (http://www.nationwidedatarecovery.com/p2/).

Has anyone had any experience, either positive or negative, with any
of those three companies?

Can anyone recommend the best lab for the least cost? Thanks.

DataRecovery <data@recovery.com> wrote in
news:b7s37410573pq49nm2ack71sauu2vdfjcl@4ax.com:

> My external hard drive on a WinXP system is a Western Digital MyBook
> Essential 500 GB, model WD5000C032. The hd is not recognized at all.
> It was hard drive 'I'. When it's first turned on, it makes 6 clicking
> sounds, followed by a 20- or 30-second pause, then makes two more
> clicks, followed by another similar pause, then two more clicks. After
> that, no more noises, but still not recognized. It is completely full
> (except for less than 3GB free space).
>
> A couple of data recovery labs have quoted me (not including new
> replacement hard drive):
>
> 1) Cyber Electronics = $1200
> 2) Gillware Inc. = $1300
>
> However, there is a site advertising a much lower price - about $500 -
> Nationwide Data Recovery (http://www.nationwidedatarecovery.com/p2/).
>
> Has anyone had any experience, either positive or negative, with any
> of those three companies?
>
> Can anyone recommend the best lab for the least cost? Thanks.
>

Before anything else, have you checked power and usb connection?
Disconnecting everything and connecting it back again?

DataRecovery wrote:
> My external hard drive on a WinXP system is a Western Digital MyBook
> Essential 500 GB, model WD5000C032. The hd is not recognized at all.
> It was hard drive 'I'. When it's first turned on, it makes 6 clicking
> sounds, followed by a 20- or 30-second pause, then makes two more
> clicks, followed by another similar pause, then two more clicks. After
> that, no more noises, but still not recognized. It is completely full
> (except for less than 3GB free space).
>
> A couple of data recovery labs have quoted me (not including new
> replacement hard drive):
>
> 1) Cyber Electronics = $1200
> 2) Gillware Inc. = $1300
>
> However, there is a site advertising a much lower price - about $500 -
> Nationwide Data Recovery (http://www.nationwidedatarecovery.com/p2/).
>
> Has anyone had any experience, either positive or negative, with any
> of those three companies?
>
> Can anyone recommend the best lab for the least cost? Thanks.

For some of the data recovery companies, the price is not fixed. It
is a function of the amount of effort required. The price is lower,
if the HDA doesn't have to be opened. For example, on some drives, it
is a failure of the motor IC on the controller board. (Swapping a logic
board brings it back.) On another, a firmware failure to do the right
things - perhaps reloading a different firmware is the fix. But if a
repair to a head assembly is required, and the HDA opened up, hopefully
they do that in a clean room, and the recovery will take more time.
And in the case of a smaller company, maybe they sub-contract the
tough stuff. I mean, it is really hard to tell, over the Internet,
what kind of company you are dealing with.

So when I do a reverse lookup on the above web site, I get a Yahoo
store. On one page, this is the street address offered. I tried this
in Google Earth, but it substituted an address and I cannot be sure
I'm looking at the address in question.

124 N.E. 31 Ave Homestead FL 33033

Next, I tried the BBB in Florida.

http://www.seflorida.bbb.org/BBBWeb/...a+recovery&sm=

This is the address given by the BBB in Florida. Now, maybe this
is not the business address, but the owners address. The BBB lists
only one complaint in the last 36 months, which is good. When I
Google Earth this address, it is off the street grid.

15075 SW 137th Street, # 1 Miami

So much for science.

Maybe you could try here, click the Chat button, and see what kind
of quote you get for a clicking drive.

https://services.seagate.com/index.aspx

Paul