Recovery of data
from a computer hard drive or
storage tape can be critical after a fire, flood or
explosion. Many of the techniques used to
recover data from damaged or seemingly
destroyed data is similar to data recovery from
failed hard drives and tapes in less severe
conditions.
The value of the data can be immense. In many
cases companies and other entities who
experience a disaster are faced with a double or
more failure. Even those companies who back up
their data on a regular basis are at risk unless
they store the backup data in a remote location.
Rebuilding customer files, financial records,
inventory records, can be impossible. Many
companies and other entities face going out of
business when experiencing a flood, fire or
explosion.
There is considerable value to insurance
companies who provide Business Interruption
Insurance. Data contained on damaged drives
can be critical in supporting or denying business
interruptions claims.
Fire Damage
Data can be recovered from many drives even if
all plastic components are melted, and otherwise
the hard drive looks like a blackened mess.
The architecture of a hard drive has two main
components - the electronic board and the head
assembly. The head assembly houses the
rotating platters which contain the data along
with read/write heads that do just that -- read and
write data to the rotating platters.
There is a small hole in the head assembly (pin
size) whose purpose is to compensate for
atmospheric changes (if the head assembly was
completely sealed the head assembly would
need to be much stronger to accommodate
atmospheric changes). The amount of air that
enters this pin hole is negligible over time.
The second risk is water used by fire fighters
entering the small hole. In this case, speed is of
the essence. If the platters are accessed before
the water dries, then there is still a chance of
recovering the critical data on the drive. If the
water does dry, it leaves behind minerals, dirt
and other foreign materials throughout the drive,
most importantly, the head assemble and
platter(s). The chances of recovery at this point
are less.
Another risk to the head assembly is that the heat
was so intense that the platters experienced
melting. In this case there is no hope of
recovering data.
Our experience is, however, that even blackened
drives have undamaged head assemblies. The
challenge in recovering data is to rebuild the
electronics to access the data.
Water Damage
If the hard drive has been under water for only a
short time, the probability is that the head
assembly has not been penetrated by the water.
While the data recovery remains difficult, it can
be done.
If water has penetrated the head assembly, it is
important that the drive be kept wet. In
requesting data recovery it is important to seal
the drive, as well as other media, in a container
with a minimum of a damp sponge. We have
been successful in recovering data when we
have received drive shipped (delivered) in
distilled water.
A standard technique used by companies
specializing in restoring damaged computer
equipment is to bake components for a time to
dry them out. This technique has worked quite
well for computer boards, but can be disastrous
for computer hard drives.
Let us use our experience in recovering data for
over 5,000 companies and insurance adjusters
work for you, and with you.
