There are multiple ways in which a drive can fail so "crashed disk" doesn't really tell what the problem is. IFF the disk still spins, there are a number of programs that claim to be able to recover files that have been "corrupted" on the disk, or if the system just doesn't recognize the drive. I haven't found any of these that were useful in my own experience, but that may be mostly a matter of the kinds of failures I've seen. It is probably a lot easier to "promise results" than to "produce results." IFF the disk doesn't spin at all, there are places where they can look for component failures in the on-board circuitry and sometimes can make repairs, or who can disassemble the drive and mount the platters in proprietary machines to spin the individual disks and read the magnetic "bits" for recovery. The last time I had occasion to look at any of these, the fee for "looking at the drive to see what could be done" was in the $100 (US) range. Results, according to reviews, are very good, but "turn around time" to get the recovered files runs more to months than days. (Claims are that some of them got most of the files off of drives with bullet holes in them, but a shaker full of salt rather than a few grains is suggested when assessing those.) Recovering deleted files is pretty trivial, and there are lots of utilities for that; but "crashed disk" does imply something more is wrong, in which case those may not be useful options. A more complete descriptions of the "crash" might elicit advice here, if the failure is a simple one; but a seach for "data recovery" or something similar on the web will probably be a quicker way to see what your real options are, given that you know more about what the problem really is likely to be. John
|