When removing the hard drive, ground yourself. Touch the power supply of the computer while it’s plugged in to remove any static charge you might have. Hard drives are extremely sensitive to static shock, and a single jolt can make your recovery a lot more costly. Be careful not to jar the hard drive at all, and unplug the power to the computer before unplugging the drive itself. After removing it, put the drive in a static-free bag.
If you send the drive away to a recovery service, use at least two to three inches of packing material. You don’t want the drive to get damaged by the shipping companies. Most data recovery companies recommend static free bubble wrap, but if you’ve got a static free bag on the drive already, normal bubble wrap can be okay. Make sure that the drive isn’t going to move around at all inside the box.
Finally, make sure your data recovery company is respected in the field. If the company offers a flat rate for its service, avoid it. These companies treat logical problems on the drive and typically aren’t prepared to deal with crashes. Some of them can ruin your hard drive by running programs on it while the heads are in contact with the platters, physically grinding the data away. Make sure the company you choose has plenty of experience with physical damage. A good data recovery company should also have a clean room, which is a place where the drive can be disassembled without potentially being damaged by dust or other airborne particles.
Down But Not Out
Losing data can be tough, and it always seems to happen at an inopportune time. With a little bit of forethought, you can avoid data loss by backing up your important files regularly using CDs, DVDs, external hard drives, or even internet backup services.
If you do experience a crash, all is not lost. If you’re prepared to pay from $700-1500 for your data, chances are good that it can be recovered, provided you think things through and don’t act irrationally. The important thing is to take a step back and breathe; curling into the fetal position, however, is usually unnecessary.