External Hard drive: I recently had an external hard drive die and of course it had a zillion pictures on it, from way back in 1999, Any suggestions on how to retrieve these pictures...

impressme

I recently had an external hard drive die and of course it had a zillion pictures on it, from way back in 1999, Any suggestions on how to retrieve these pictures, or who to contact about retrieval. Most of them are on Shutterfly but not all.
Any help will be appreciated.

whitewolfowner

impressme wrote:

I recently had an external hard drive die and of course it had a zillion pictures on it, from way back in 1999, Any suggestions on how to retrieve these pictures, or who to contact about retrieval. Most of them are on Shutterfly but not all.
Any help will be appreciated.

Take it to a computer shop and see if they can retrieve them for you. Sometimes it can be done, sometimes not. Will probably cost a lot. First rule of computing is to always back up everything. It's NOT WILL a hard drive fail, but WHEN WILL a hard drive fail. I have my photos triple backed up.

impressme

I figured it will be costly. Learned my lesson. Glad most of them are available on shutterfly but not the same as having them on the computer where you can do more with them. Thanks for your reply

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

There are HD recovery services our there, Google for sources. Be prepared to spend a lot, but it depends on how valuable the zillion pictures are. We all, eventually, will have a storage device horror story to tell. There's a great article in this month's Popular Photography that illustrates different solutions.

impressme

Thanks, I will check out the article.

whitewolfowner

impressme wrote:

Thanks, I will check out the article.

To be ultimately protected, have it backed up at least once on premise, and one away in case of fire. That can be a cloud service or DVD's or another hard drive at a friend's or family members house. You have to keep updating though.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

I have the same problem that you do, but on a smaller scale. My Dell computer essentially died (graphics card shot), with some photos that I had not yet backed up to my backup drive. Now I'm going to have to take the old Dell in to Frye's and see if they can temporarily install a mother board so I can retrieve my photos.

Since I only have one backup hard drive that I back up to manually, I'm going to take my son's advice and get another MyBook that will attach to the modem and record any new photos or files continuously, and use my other backup drive as my second backup.

whitewolfowner

SteveR wrote:

I have the same problem that you do, but on a smal... (show quote)

You don't have to do that. The hard drive is still good. Do you know how to remove the hard drive from the bad computer? If so, all you need is either an external case to put it into or you get the voyager unit that you plug the drive into and hook it up to another computer as an external drive and retrieve the photos that way. The voyager can be bought at B & H at the link below. With this unit, you can have several hard drives on the side on a shelf storing data and use the voyager to see the contents when you want. With todays huge photo files, this is the most versatile piece of equipment one can have for their computer. Just handle the hard drives so they are protected form static electricity and store them appropriately.

(58)
NewerTech Voyager S3 USB 3.0 Dock for 2.5"/3.5" SATA I/II/III HDD

B&H # NENWTU3S3HD MFR # NWTU3S3HD

They have one that fits Sata I and II also for $67.00.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

whitewolfowner wrote:

You don't have to do that. The hard drive is stil... (show quote)

Can I know that that would be the right dock for me to use?

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

SteveR wrote:

I have the same problem that you do, but on a smal... (show quote)

Are you certain that the graphics card is bad versus the display? (often with Dells, the fluorescent backlight for the display has failed). If you have an external monitor, plug it into the VGA port (and press the appropriate function key to enable the external monitor) and check the output. If the graphic adapter is indeed bad, then removing the hard drive and installing in an external case as has been suggested previously is a good solution to recover the data.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

Unless your system is over 10 years old, chances are you have a SATA drive. Cases are easily available. If its a Dell laptop, goto the Dell site, enter your service ID # and look for the service manual. Detailed instructions on how to remove the HD are there.

whitewolfowner

SteveR wrote:

Can I know that that would be the right dock for me to use?

The hard drive in your computer should be a SATA III if it is not more than 6-8 years old or even older. You should be able to find out by calling the manufacturer. If it is an older drive, you'll need the voyager that sells for more. Do you have anyone that lives near you that can assist you? If you are not tech savy, you may need assistance.

Don L G

whitewolfowner wrote:

You don't have to do that.

(58)
NewerTech Voyager S3 USB 3.0 Dock for 2.5"/3.5" SATA I/II/III HDD

B&H # NENWTU3S3HD MFR # NWTU3S3HD

They have one that fits Sata I and II also for $67.00.

Thanks for the info my old backup is 3 years old. I am going to order one of this I hive a new 2 TB hard drive

Don ve

10MPlayer Loc: California

impressme wrote:

I recently had an external hard drive die and of course it had a zillion pictures on it, from way back in 1999, Any suggestions on how to retrieve these pictures, or who to contact about retrieval. Most of them are on Shutterfly but not all.
Any help will be appreciated.

https://www.securedatarecovery.com/ pricey but they will get the job done if anyone can.

10MPlayer Loc: California

https://www.securedatarecovery.com/

They are pricey but they will get the job done if it can be done.