Sending a hard drive for repair

[vvl]

My laptop hard drive has failed and I need to send it for repair/troubleshooting.

However, my hard drive contains "private" photos and videos
thus I'm afraid that the repairman may come across these files and may do something bad with them.

My question is will it be secure to send the hard drive for repair? And if the hard drive is dead, will they still be able to access those files contained in the hard drive?

 

[Brink]

Hello vvl, and welcome to Seven Forums.

If the hard drive is not completely dead, then they will have full access to whatever is on the hard drive.

The real question is how professional will they be about your "private" photos and videos, and how much you trust them.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Hello and welcome vvl in a nutshell yes as Brink says

 

[vvl]

Hello vvl, and welcome to Seven Forums.

If the hard drive is not completely dead, then they will have full access to whatever is on the hard drive.

The real question is how professional will they be about your "private" photos and videos, and how much you trust them.

Thanks for the insight mate.

I have no idea regarding their professionalism nor do I trust them as it is the first time I'm going to that particular shop. However, the shop was recommended by a friend and they do have a good reputation in high quality workmanship and efficiency.

Btw, is there any way for me to delete those files before I send the laptop for repair? Or fully confirm that the hard drive is indeed dead before sending it for repair?

 

[VistaKing]

Hi vvl,

Do you have a desktop so you could connect the hard drive as a 2nd hard drive ? Or take it to your friend's house and try it on their computer ? The SATA ports ( if its a SATA drive will be the same size for desktop and laptop ) Just plug in the SATA POWER and SATA cable to the hard drive and see if the computer sees your drive. If you turn on the computer and hear ticking noises . Its highly possible that the repair shop won't be able to get data off it as well. You would have to take it to a place that specializes in removing things like that. In the states its like around 15k to do that cause they take the drive to a dust free room .

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Yep whack it in another machine vv if it works it ain't dead and the machine may be at fault.

The only way I know of "deleting" those files is wiping (over writing) them but that is going to take the rest of the gear with those files - but first confirm if the drive is dead first.

If it is then it is up to you what you do with repairs depends on how personal those files are.

 

[vvl]

Hi vvl,

Do you have a desktop so you could connect the hard drive as a 2nd hard drive ? Or take it to your friend's house and try it on their computer ? The SATA ports ( if its a SATA drive will be the same size for desktop and laptop ) Just plug in the SATA POWER and SATA cable to the hard drive and see if the computer sees your drive. If you turn on the computer and hear ticking noises . Its highly possible that the repair shop won't be able to get data off it as well. You would have to take it to a place that specializes in removing things like that. In the states its like around 15k to do that cause they take the drive to a dust free room .

Hey VistaKing,

Thank you very much for the advice. I do not have a desktop at home so I'll probably head over to a friend's place to try it out.

I've came up with an idea. What if I take out my hard drive and just head to the shop and buy a new replacement hard drive from them? Not sure whether it's gonna work though.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Yep you can do that - Vista you take point

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

...Its highly possible that the repair shop won't be able to get data off it as well. You would have to take it to a place that specializes in removing things like that. In the states its like around 15k to do that cause they take the drive to a dust free room .

It depends on what has to be done to get to the data. It can run from $200 to something obscene like you mentioned.

@ OP. Unless it's just a foul up with your OS, it's highly unlikely the drive is repairable. If you don't have your data already backed up and you don't want a shop to see what's on the drive, you can try seeing if a friend's computer can read the drive, allowing you to retrieve it. Otherwise, you will have to get a new drive and write off your data.

If you have something illegal on the drive and if a shop is able to see it, they most likely will alert the police. If the photos and videos are just personally embarrassing, it would depend on the integrity of the shop as to whether they would be used inappropriately or not. The only safe thing to do would be replace the drive and, if you aren't doing do, start keeping backups.

 

[vvl]

...Its highly possible that the repair shop won't be able to get data off it as well. You would have to take it to a place that specializes in removing things like that. In the states its like around 15k to do that cause they take the drive to a dust free room .

It depends on what has to be done to get to the data. It can run from $200 to something obscene.

I wouldn't mind deleting whatever is in the hard drive as long as those particular files are deleted

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

...Its highly possible that the repair shop won't be able to get data off it as well. You would have to take it to a place that specializes in removing things like that. In the states its like around 15k to do that cause they take the drive to a dust free room .

It depends on what has to be done to get to the data. It can run from $200 to something obscene.

I wouldn't mind deleting whatever is in the hard drive as long as those particular files are deleted

If you don't mind losing all the data on the drive, you could try reformatting the drive to see if it is still usable or not. If it is still usable, then just keep it and use it. Keep in mind, the data is still there until overwritten and could be recovered until it's overwritten by either new data or by writing zeros over it. If it is not usable, take a big hammer to it, making sure the platters are destroyed. That way, even the FBI is unlikely to get at what's on it.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Hum just thought maybe if you get it onto the friends machine try this How to See if Your Hard Drive is Dying follow the Crystaldisk info.

 

[Troll Hunter]

Hi vvl; If & when you find out that your HD is toast & it is impossible to get it working..Also if you want to kill everything on it, I would suggest that a very strong magnet should insure everything is wiped clean before you trash it.."Just to be sure"(Aliens)..

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Hi vvl; If & when you find out that your HD is toast & it is impossible to get it working..Also if you want to kill everything on it, I would suggest that a very strong magnet should insure everything is wiped clean before you trash it.."Just to be sure"(Aliens)..

I would take a stonger magnet than most people have to ensure the data is wiped. Smashing it with a hammer is more effective (and fun?).

 

[Troll Hunter]

LOL, I was gonna suggest a big rock..(same, but different)

 

[VistaKing]

Vvl,

You could go that route of buying a new hard drive and installing Windows on it . You will know if the computer could see the drive cause you will about a boot screen showing that you have two versions of Windows 7 installed. Make sure the DESKTOP hard drive is the one you want to boot to . If your friend doesn't have an empty SATA port on his PC. You could purchase a SATA to USB adapter and that should work as well. But what about the drive you have files for. If your friend's computer sees the drive then you know its something in your laptop that went bad. Could be the Sata cable that is attached to the motherboard . But reinstalling an OS to a maybe faulty hard drive is not recommended and a waste of time.

 

[Brink]

vvl,

If it turns out that the HDD is dead and not readable on your friends PC, then if you like, you could use the tutorial below to help reinstall and activate your Windows 7 on your laptop with a new HDD.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219487-clean-reinstall-factory-oem-windows-7-a.html

 

[vvl]

Thanks for the answers guys. Some were pretty hilarious.

So I have decided to just get a replacement hard drive and DIY.

I have a question though. Where do I get the drivers for the hardware? Or do they somehow stay in the computer even if I've replaced the hard drive?

 

[Brink]

vvl,

You should be able to download them at you PC manufacturer's support download page for your specific model.

If you like, post back with what brand and model your PC is, and we'll see if we may be able to find it's driver download page.

 

[richnrockville]

I have successfully recovered a hard drive using the expensive ($89) Spinrite by Gibson Research. It worked wonders and was well worth the money spent.

GRC | Hard drive data recovery software  

Rich