Thinking about doing local data recovery - suggestions?

[Allen Crist]

I am thinking about doing data recovery locally. The start up costs seem pretty significant. Would taking Scott's class and just buying a DS4 to start out with be worth it?

Or am I really going to need the PC-3000 as well?

[Tim Homer]

If you are only just starting out, I would recommend a DDI v4, R-Studio, Scotts class a reputable data recovery company to work with for those difficult jobs (clean room etc). I joined this industry a year ago and knew nothing about data recovery (but had an IT background). With those four tools you will have a good grounding. Forget about flash drives and SSD’s for the time being. Immerse yourself in hard drive data recovery.

 

The principle of a very large and highly thought of data recovery company once said to me, before you start thinking about a PC-3000 and clean room work, you need to become a ‘logical data recovery ninja’. I now agree with him. The PC 3000 is becoming less important as firmware problems with hard drives are now less common. Probably 30% of drives had firmware issues a couple of years ago, now it’s probably between 15-20% at best. And the PC-3000 is a very complex piece of kit to master.

Tim Homer
Desert Data Recovery, LLC.
T: 602 686 2622
t...@desertdatarecovery.com
www.desertdatarecovery.com

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[SkyDog]

I have a DDI, albiet a little older than v4, but that, Rstudio, a dedicated recovery laptop/desktop (or two) and some misc. hardware and you can do some decent recoveries. First get really good at tweaking the settings for the DDI and if you haven't taken Scott's course, do it asap. My suggestion? Go out to dinner every night with everyone, and then buy a six pack and sit on the front porch of the hotel and have a beer with him and pick his brain further. I have never met a guy that is more full of it than Scott… Well, information, I mean. The class is like taking a sip from a firehose, so get sleep at night, and don't miss a minute. 

I did some high importance recoveries for Vanderbilt University while I worked there, and saved them a ton of money in re-creating a lot of research and video work. I did all of it with a DDI and R-Studio. 

One thing you will need is patience, and a penchant for fiddling with things. Sometimes it works like a charm, sometimes you have to listen to the drive, and have a feel for what it's doing and how you need to tweak the DDI. I kept buying small pieces to add to my rig, and did recoveries on the 1st Gen Mac Air, and a sony camcorder that used a particular Zif or Lif socket connection. Scott's class will tell you what works, what to buy, and what to avoid. He only spends big money on something that he knows is worth it, and typically spends money on the lower end equipment that can be used efficiently to do a myriad of tasks.

If you go for it, welcome to the world of Data Recovery. It's hell sometimes, but it can be a lot of fun and very rewarding.

Cheers!

-Sky

[Allen Crist]

Does Scott's class cover how to use the DD4?

On Friday, March 28, 2014 3:35:31 PM UTC-6, SkyDog wrote:

I have a DDI, albiet a little older than v4, but that, Rstudio, a dedicated recovery laptop/desktop (or two) and some misc. hardware and you can do some decent recoveries. First get really good at tweaking the settings for the DDI and if you haven't taken Scott's course, do it asap. My suggestion? Go out to dinner every night with everyone, and then buy a six pack and sit on the front porch of the hotel and have a beer with him and pick his brain further. I have never met a guy that is more full of it than Scott… Well, information, I mean. The class is like taking a sip from a firehose, so get sleep at night, and don't miss a minute. 

I did some high importance recoveries for Vanderbilt University while I worked there, and saved them a ton of money in re-creating a lot of research and video work. I did all of it with a DDI and R-Studio. 

One thing you will need is patience, and a penchant for fiddling with things. Sometimes it works like a charm, sometimes you have to listen to the drive, and have a feel for what it's doing and how you need to tweak the DDI. I kept buying small pieces to add to my rig, and did recoveries on the 1st Gen Mac Air, and a sony camcorder that used a particular Zif or Lif socket connection. Scott's class will tell you what works, what to buy, and what to avoid. He only spends big money on something that he knows is worth it, and typically spends money on the lower end equipment that can be used efficiently to do a myriad of tasks.

If you go for it, welcome to the world of Data Recovery. It's hell sometimes, but it can be a lot of fun and very rewarding.

Cheers!

-Sky

On Mar 28, 2014, at 4:14 PM, "Tim Homer" <t...@desertdatarecovery.com> wrote:

If you are only just starting out, I would recommend a DDI v4, R-Studio, Scotts class a reputable data recovery company to work with for those difficult jobs (clean room etc). I joined this industry a year ago and knew nothing about data recovery (but had an IT background). With those four tools you will have a good grounding. Forget about flash drives and SSD’s for the time being. Immerse yourself in hard drive data recovery.

 

The principle of a very large and highly thought of data recovery company once said to me, before you start thinking about a PC-3000 and clean room work, you need to become a ‘logical data recovery ninja’. I now agree with him. The PC 3000 is becoming less important as firmware problems with hard drives are now less common. Probably 30% of drives had firmware issues a couple of years ago, now it’s probably between 15-20% at best. And the PC-3000 is a very complex piece of kit to master.

Tim Homer
Desert Data Recovery, LLC.
T: 602 686 2622
t...@desertdatarecovery.com
www.desertdatarecovery.com

From: datarecovery...@googlegroups.com [mailto:datarecoverycertificati...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Allen Crist
Sent: Friday, March 28, 2014 1:55 PM
To: datarecovery...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Thinking about doing local data recovery - suggestions?

 

I am thinking about doing data recovery locally. The start up costs seem pretty significant. Would taking Scott's class and just buying a DS4 to start out with be worth it?

 

Or am I really going to need the PC-3000 as well?

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[Desert Data Recovery]

Yes it does. I would advise you to get the manual first, so at least you know the basics before the class.

--- al...@ccwtech.com wrote:

From: Allen Crist <al...@ccwtech.com>
To: datarecovery...@googlegroups.com
Cc: sky...@outerz0ne.org
Subject: Re: Thinking about doing local data recovery - suggestions?
Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2014 18:33:56 -0700 (PDT)

Does Scott's class cover how to use the DD4?

On Friday, March 28, 2014 3:35:31 PM UTC-6, SkyDog wrote:

I have a DDI, albiet a little older than v4, but that, Rstudio, a dedicated recovery laptop/desktop (or two) and some misc. hardware and you can do some decent recoveries. First get really good at tweaking the settings for the DDI and if you haven't taken Scott's course, do it asap. My suggestion? Go out to dinner every night with everyone, and then buy a six pack and sit on the front porch of the hotel and have a beer with him and pick his brain further. I have never met a guy that is more full of it than Scott… Well, information, I mean. The class is like taking a sip from a firehose, so get sleep at night, and don't miss a minute. 

I did some high importance recoveries for Vanderbilt University while I worked there, and saved them a ton of money in re-creating a lot of research and video work. I did all of it with a DDI and R-Studio. 

One thing you will need is patience, and a penchant for fiddling with things. Sometimes it works like a charm, sometimes you have to listen to the drive, and have a feel for what it's doing and how you need to tweak the DDI. I kept buying small pieces to add to my rig, and did recoveries on the 1st Gen Mac Air, and a sony camcorder that used a particular Zif or Lif socket connection. Scott's class will tell you what works, what to buy, and what to avoid. He only spends big money on something that he knows is worth it, and typically spends money on the lower end equipment that can be used efficiently to do a myriad of tasks.

If you go for it, welcome to the world of Data Recovery. It's hell sometimes, but it can be a lot of fun and very rewarding.

Cheers!

-Sky

On Mar 28, 2014, at 4:14 PM, "Tim Homer" <t...@desertdatarecovery.com> wrote:

If you are only just starting out, I would recommend a DDI v4, R-Studio, Scotts class a reputable data recovery company to work with for those difficult jobs (clean room etc). I joined this industry a year ago and knew nothing about data recovery (but had an IT background). With those four tools you will have a good grounding. Forget about flash drives and SSD’s for the time being. Immerse yourself in hard drive data recovery.

 

The principle of a very large and highly thought of data recovery company once said to me, before you start thinking about a PC-3000 and clean room work, you need to become a ‘logical data recovery ninja’. I now agree with him. The PC 3000 is becoming less important as firmware problems with hard drives are now less common. Probably 30% of drives had firmware issues a couple of years ago, now it’s probably between 15-20% at best. And the PC-3000 is a very complex piece of kit to master.

Tim Homer
Desert Data Recovery, LLC.
T: 602 686 2622
t...@desertdatarecovery.com
www.desertdatarecovery.com

From: datarecovery...@googlegroups.com [mailto:datarecovery...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Allen Crist
Sent: Friday, March 28, 2014 1:55 PM
To: datarecovery...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Thinking about doing local data recovery - suggestions?

 

I am thinking about doing data recovery locally. The start up costs seem pretty significant. Would taking Scott's class and just buying a DS4 to start out with be worth it?

 

Or am I really going to need the PC-3000 as well?

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[Allen Crist]

How often are there used DDI4's for sale? (do you see them a lot or rarely?)

On Friday, March 28, 2014 3:14:54 PM UTC-6, Tim Homer wrote:

If you are only just starting out, I would recommend a DDI v4, R-Studio, Scotts class a reputable data recovery company to work with for those difficult jobs (clean room etc). I joined this industry a year ago and knew nothing about data recovery (but had an IT background). With those four tools you will have a good grounding. Forget about flash drives and SSD’s for the time being. Immerse yourself in hard drive data recovery.

 

The principle of a very large and highly thought of data recovery company once said to me, before you start thinking about a PC-3000 and clean room work, you need to become a ‘logical data recovery ninja’. I now agree with him. The PC 3000 is becoming less important as firmware problems with hard drives are now less common. Probably 30% of drives had firmware issues a couple of years ago, now it’s probably between 15-20% at best. And the PC-3000 is a very complex piece of kit to master.

Tim Homer
Desert Data Recovery, LLC.
T: 602 686 2622
t...@desertdatarecovery.com
www.desertdatarecovery.com

From: datarecovery...@googlegroups.com [mailto:datarecoverycertificati...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Allen Crist
Sent: Friday, March 28, 2014 1:55 PM
To: datarecovery...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Thinking about doing local data recovery - suggestions?

 

I am thinking about doing data recovery locally. The start up costs seem pretty significant. Would taking Scott's class and just buying a DS4 to start out with be worth it?

 

Or am I really going to need the PC-3000 as well?

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[Tim Homer]

The only ddi4 you will see for sake us a new one. Unless you are VERY lucky. 

Tim Homer - Lead Engineer

Desert Data Recovery

2711 E Indian School Rd, Suite 206

Phoenix AZ 85016

Tel: 602 686 2622

ser...@desertdatarecovery.com

www.desertdatarecovery.com

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[Peter O'Neill]

Covers use of ddi, whether or not he has 4's - ask him....but regardless, you'll know how to use it

Pete

sent from my android

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[Allen Crist]

Great. Thanks for the help!

[Allen Crist]

One more question. Does R-Studio come with either Scott's class (Distance learning kit) or with the DDI4? or is it extra?

Allen Crist, Owner A+ | Network+ | Security+ | MCITP/MCSA: Windows Server CCW Technology Computer Repair Serving Home & Small Business Customers since 2008 (801)410-0203 http://www.ccwtech.com http://www.facebook.com/CCWTechnology

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[Tim Homer]

R-S does come with the distance learning kit. Don't think it does if you attend the class. It doesn't come with the DDI either. 

Tim Homer - Lead Engineer

Desert Data Recovery

2711 E Indian School Rd, Suite 206

Phoenix AZ 85016

Tel: 602 686 2622

ser...@desertdatarecovery.com

www.desertdatarecovery.com

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[Allen Crist]

Ok, just found the contents page. It also says to run Windows XP... Is that still true? Not even sure if I have a copy anywhere.

Allen Crist, Owner A+ | Network+ | Security+ | MCITP/MCSA: Windows Server CCW Technology Computer Repair Serving Home & Small Business Customers since 2008 (801)410-0203 http://www.ccwtech.com http://www.facebook.com/CCWTechnology

[Tim Homer]

Not sure if you mean the DDI or R-Studio, but they worker with pretty much the new OS. But definitely Windows 7. 

Tim Homer - Lead Engineer

Desert Data Recovery

2711 E Indian School Rd, Suite 206

Phoenix AZ 85016

Tel: 602 686 2622

ser...@desertdatarecovery.com

www.desertdatarecovery.com

[Allen Crist]

Ok, thanks!

Allen Crist, Owner A+ | Network+ | Security+ | MCITP/MCSA: Windows Server CCW Technology Computer Repair Serving Home & Small Business Customers since 2008 (801)410-0203 http://www.ccwtech.com http://www.facebook.com/CCWTechnology

[Joe]

Since we're on the topic, I'm a new startup and new to the entire field. I recently took Scott's class and I'm still debating whether to start with the DDI4 or the the new Atola Insight that's they're about to release. What advice can you guys give me?

Thank you,

Ok, thanks!

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[IT LAND]

Personally for data recovery purpose i would start with DDIv4 or other similar imager and start grow your business when you have enough jobs get a proper fw tools.

I don't own Atola but heard they have good products although in this price range i would choose PC3K+DE which is the complete suite.

[IT LAND]

just one more note, everyone would have want a one click button like atola advertise but in reality it never happens.

You will learn from experience how to deal with the variety of different cases.  

[YB]

I was thinking that the Atola could save me time on guessing what the problem is. Is it not so?

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[Peter O'Neill]

You don't really need anything to "start" beyond Scott's class, but if you feel the need, DDI

sent from my android

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[IT LAND]

Hi Joe, in theory and in marketing they claim that they can identify the problem, i am very skeptic about any tool having this ability that is why ACE will never claim such things.

If there is a ROM corruption for example they won't be able to know that or maybe they can assume that but since the drive won't start they won't be able to know if the heads are also gone or not or any other issues - they couldn't know if the platters are scratched or not etc.

As i mentioned, it is all experience and you need to start from the beginning learning it and gaining that experience - there is no one click solution in this field and that is the hard truth - just start here with scott's course as a beginning and keep on learning as much as you can, start with logical recoveries and DDI or other imagers and keep on progressing with time and experience.

 

Ok, thanks!

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[Alandata Recovery]

Joe - I looked over the atola marketing material after your comment.

I dont have atola.

Their auto-firmware corruption repair feature only works on pre-marvell wd's, and 2 others like (samsung and fuji).

for me that would be a rare occurence.

Most drives for recovery are wd-marvel and seagate - its not auto for either of those..

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"Cleanroom Data Recovery of RAID, VMware, NAS, Linux, Tape, Disk, Forensics"

www.AlanData.com   www.AlanDataRecovery.com

[Joseph Pint]

I will chime in here (sorry had a busy weekend)... We started out with Scotts class first. Learned the tools, methodologies, principles, and "others" experiences. What drew us to data recovery was a few facts - 1. how challenging and rewarding it is while getting paid a great income for the service of providing people with their media they have thought they have lost forever and 2. we find it thrilling when someone brings us a media device and claims the guys down street says its impossible to recover the data and in 3 mins its imaging on the DDI although we love a vigorous challenge and mechanical repairs is prob what drives (at least me) the most. 

After we got back from class - we got certified and made our first order for a DDI4 (they ship out every 2 weeks so you will have to call them for their next shipment date). Bought R-Studio network tech, a ISO 5 workflow bench, built a DR website and invested in some website optimization tactics, some head comb tools (beware of the crap out there) and a few other logical programs (you can never have enough lol). 

Now (in a year and a half) we have 4 DDI's, 1 USB Add-on, forensics add-ons, and network add-ons, all the logical software you can imagine, and we just recently purchased a PC3K a month ago and loving every inch of its amazing abilities. Correct me if I am wrong, maybe its different for us than others or visa-verse, but you will notice that this type of business takes care of its self if you manage it correctly. The more you get in DR work the more you will be able to re-invest into the business. We handle our share of DR jobs but what was successful for us in the beginning is that we reached out to all the local PC repair shops within a 60 miles radius. I live upstate NY so in an hours car ride I have Rochester, Buff, Syracuse, Ithaca, Binghamton, and other towns with a lot of PC repair shops. We offer no eval, 20% referral fee on our Tier DR program and free pick-up and drop-off delivery service. 

I wish you a lot of luck and a lot of success. This is a great job and I would never do anything else. Hopefully you find some ideas with what I have shared. Their is a lot of great advice in here - this forum has been nothing but helpful and the people in it are a wealth of knowledge and experience in this field.

Joseph E. Pint

Sr. Data Recovery Technician

Experienced DeepSpar Technician
Experienced PC3K Technician
Certified Data Recovery Professional
Certified Data Recovery Expert
SAP BI Certified

ID-Dr - Information Delivery & Data Recovery Services, LLC.
164 E. 14th Street

Elmira Heights, NY 14903

Lab/Office - (607) 733-2902

Cell - (607) 259-3722

E Josep...@ID-Dr.com

W: http://www.ID-Dr.com

[Allen Crist]

Thanks Joseph. I'm glad things are going well for you. I appreciate the insight.

Allen Crist, Owner A+ | Network+ | Security+ | MCITP/MCSA: Windows Server CCW Technology Computer Repair Serving Home & Small Business Customers since 2008 (801)410-0203 http://www.ccwtech.com http://www.facebook.com/CCWTechnology

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[Vadon Willis]

I remember those front porch discussions SkyDog!  Good times!

Best Regards, 

Vadon Willis

vad...@gmail.com