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Seagate unveils 500GB Ultra Mobile hard drive for Android tablets
Seagate's 5mm hard drives already have a home in slender laptops; today, they're coming to to Android tablets through the company's new Ultra Mobile HDD. The 500GB disk augments the existing 5mm design with a speedy 8GB flash cache, a tougher enclosure and firmware that improves both the energy consumption and shock tolerance. In theory, the Ultra Mobile HDD gives Android slates the capacity of a laptop drive without giving up the speed or resilience of flash storage. It will be a while before anyone can verify those claims, as Seagate hasn't mentioned any customers or ship dates. The company does have something to tide us over, though -- it's previewing a Rescue and Replace service that will offer both data recovery and drive replacements later this year, starting at $30 for two years. Check out details of both the Ultra Mobile HDD and the recovery service in the press releases after the break.
Disk Drill file recovery app moves to 2.0 release
We first looked at Disk Drill from Clever Files back in 2011. Now in its 2.0 release, this app continues to help prevent data loss by enabling you to recover lost files that you've already deleted. The app goes beyond searching your garbage pail. This is meant for users who have already emptied their trash, and need to access that data from the file system. If you haven't used some sort of data-shredding app, chances are good that the deleted files are still recoverable. Available in Basic (free), Pro (US$89), Expert ($169) and Enterprise ($299), Disk Drill offers a range of products that ramps up in ability from simple scanning (without file recovery), all the way up to a full site license with forensic data investigation. Disk Drill scans your drive, offers a list of recoverable files and lets you preview and retrieve them. A company spokesperson told me that, "if recovery is done fast and right, data recovered is between 70-100 percent of the lost amounts." The app uses a variety of retrieval methods that range from simple scanning to "Deep Scan." A new HFS+ catalog option, new to Disk Drill 2.0, can also recover the structure of a partition that was lost to hardware or system drive error. To learn more about updated features, check out the 2.0 release notes.
Scientists scan damaged audio discs, resurrect fresh beats
Digitizing your analog archives? Vinyl to CD / MP3 / iPod turntables might do well enough for your old 45s, but the folks at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory prefer to listen to their old beats by taking pictures of them. More specifically, restoration specialists are using a system called IRENE/3D to snap high resolution images of damaged media. The cracked discs -- often made of wax on brass or composition board -- are then repaired digitally, letting researchers play the digitized discs with an emulated stylus. So far, the team has recovered a handful of 125 year old recordings from a team in Alexander Graham Bell's Volta laboratory. The all digital system gives researchers a hands-off way to recover audio from relic recordings without running the risk of damaging them in the process -- and no, they probably won't let you use it to listen to that beat up copy of the White Album you've had in your closet since eighth grade. Hit the source link to hear what they've recovered.
Macworld 2011: DriveSavers talks about SSD recovery
I spoke with Chris Bross of DriveSavers about recovery of data from SSD (solid-state drive) storage at their booth. Currently, SSDs are in their third generation with reliability improving all the time. An SSD is comprised of two parts -- the NAND memory and the controller. The NAND is more or less a commodity, so the real work is done by the controller. Controllers are made by a handful of companies, and according to Chris, controllers have to get smarter. The MacBook Air uses Toshiba SSDs, which are considered in the market to be middle of the road -- consistent for Apple storage. A main difference between SSDs and hard drives are that before data can be written to an SSD, the block of NAND memory is erased, making data recovery of what was written before impossible. This is different from a hard drive where nothing gets erased if there is free space. Companies that use TRIM technology (like the SandForce driven Other World Computing SSDs) advance erase blocks, which makes them faster than others that do this just before they are written. The biggest challenge in recovering data from an SSD is encryption. Although all hard drive companies offer encryption, it's used by a minority of users, but SSDs are almost always encrypted. Outside of security issues, encryption helps SSDs balance data distribution. DriveSavers can recover data from SSDs due to physical failure, trauma or firmware corruption, but that's only half the problem. If they can't get past the encryption, there's little they can do to help. Fortunately, controller manufacturers are working in conjunction with DriveSavers on failure analysis engineering since it's in everyone's best interest to make data recovery feasible. DriveSavers has already been recovering data from SSDs for three years, and although they don't state success rates, they have recovered quite a bit of data. Chris tells me that SSDs have only achieved market saturation of two percent to date, but he expects that to increase to fifteen percent by 2015 as more computer manufacturers offer them and as prices continue to drop. When disaster occurs, DriveSavers is there to help, with pricing based on capacity. But according to Chris, and everyone else for that matter, the best advice is to back up. It's always better to be proactive than to need to rely on a reactive service like DriveSavers.
Macworld 2010: Get an education with the DriveSavers Hard Drive Disk-aster Simulator
DriveSavers has been the go-to company for data recovery since 1985, when I used to read about them in Apple ][ magazines. They have saved the bacon (and jobs) of many people over the ensuing years. When all else fails, DriveSavers can be counted on to retrieve your data -- whether it's on a hard drive, memory card, iPod, iPhone, or just about any type of storage media. It seems that their heart is in the right place; although seemingly not great for their business, they created the wonderful free DriveSavers Hard Drive Disk-aster Simulator app for the iPhone or iPod touch. The app teaches, in interactive fashion, how a hard disk works, and all the things that can crash a drive. It shows the inside of a hard disk where you can tap around to read descriptions of all the components. Next, using interactive animation, sound and vibration, you'll learn all the things that can crash a drive. You'll learn what happens during a clicker failure, seized motor, problems with spinning up and down, solid state drive failures (yes, they can fail too), contamination and head crashes. It's both entertaining and educational. There is also a section relating to protection strategies, which covers best practices, backup strategies, securing your data, and how serious a problem must be before you call DriveSavers. Knowledge is power, and I consider this critical information for any computer user. Another section shows you pictures of the clean room where all the data recovery gets done. DriveSavers employs the most advanced certified IS 5 (class 100) clean rooms in the industry and is authorized by all hard drive manufacturers to work on hard drives without voiding a warranty. If you don't have an iPhone or iPod touch, you can still learn everything in the app via a web-based Flash video. %Gallery-85751% We conducted an interview with Chris Bross from DriveSavers from the show floor. Chris talks about the philosophy behind DriveSavers. I found it interesting that there is a suicide prevention professional on staff to take call from clients on the verge of a nervous breakdown -- which is not an uncommon occurrence. Click on the Read More link to see the interview.
ioSafe Solo hard drive places a 2TB bet on all kinds of disasters
It's Friday the 13th, and ioSafe couldn't have chosen a better time to update their Solo fireproof and waterproof hard drive line with a 2TB model. Sure, it'll cost you $399 for a USB 2.0 connection instead of eSATA, FireWire 800 or USB 3.0, but you'll never know when your yacht sinks or burns down, sending that precious Kenny G collection to oblivion. Don't go thinking you can just get the $149 500GB model and upgrade it yourself either -- you'll have to destroy the waterproof seal to get to the hard drive, as demonstrated before. Yeah, life's tough.
T-Mobile posts Sidekick contact recovery instructions
That Microsoft / T-Mobile tag team has been doing a pretty decent job of cleaning up the disaster area left by the Sidekick data loss, and now the first item on the recovery menu is ready for collection. Sidekick users can hit up the My T-Mobile webpage to download their contacts and then restore them either to their Sidekick or whatever device they've replaced it with. Extensive how-to instructions are available at the read link, which also furnishes us with the reassurance that "Microsoft/Danger continues its efforts to recover pictures, calendar entries and to-do lists, which may be available in the future."[Thanks, Abe G.]
Microsoft to restore remaining Sidekick contacts this week, other stuff 'shortly thereafter'
Sidekick users tend to be an active, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants bunch, so it's gotta hurt like the dickens when they don't have access to their schedules and little black books -- but hey, at least it's still recoverable, right? Microsoft has just posted a quick update to keep everyone abreast on the progress of its Sidekick data recovery, and it sounds like they'll be able to have remaining missing contacts back in action this week with the rest of the data -- to-dos, notes, photos, and the like -- following on "shortly thereafter." Anyone who didn't lose information in the debacle should be unaffected by the recovery process, but for those who did, these backup tapes couldn't possibly load into Danger's feisty data center fast enough.
Microsoft recovers 'most, if not all' Sidekick customer data
Steve Ballmer must have busted out his secret stash of magic dust, as Microsoft has just come out with the announcement that it has recovered "most, if not all, customer data" that was lost during the recent Sidekick debacle. Following the wildly embarassing fiasco attributed to a "system failure that created data loss in the core database and the back-up," T-Mobile and Redmond have "rebuilt the system component by component" and now promise to restore data to affected users in the most expedient fashion possible. Guess that means you won't be getting $100 from T-Mobile for losing your Tetris high scores after all. [Thanks, Abe G.]
Ask TUAW: Recovering video files, moving from an old Mac to a new one, MobileMe Sync and more
Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly Mac troubleshooting Q&A column. This week we've got questions about recovering video files from a corrupt SDHC card, transferring files from an old Mac to a new one, MobileMe sync, virtual machines and more. As always, your suggestions and questions are welcome. Questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine you're running and which version of Mac OS X (we'll assume you're running Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions. Matt asks: I recently shot video with a camera that records it to an SDHC card. Unfortunately, that card is now corrupted and when I try to download the video to my computer, it doesn't show up. How can I recover the video from the card? I know how you feel because this exact thing happened to me recently. We shot a bunch of great video interviews for another site I work with, and one of the SDHC cards became corrupt. Fortunately, all was not lost but recovering the video, at least for me, was a two step process. This is the method that worked for me, even though there are probably other tools available; I was under a deadline and needed to get this worked out fast so looking for the best free apps or the best deal wasn't an option. However, it did work and all the video was recovered with no loss.
Ask TUAW: iTunes libraries, Mac data recovery, Snow Leopard on older Macs and more
We're back with another edition of Ask TUAW. This time around we've answering questions about iTunes libraries, Mac data recovery, Snow Leopard on older Macs and more. As always, your suggestions and questions are welcome. Questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine you're running and which version of Mac OS X (we'll assume you're running Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions.Daneel asks:I'm running OS X 10.5.7 and Windows Vista (via Bootcamp) on my iMac 24". I was wondering if there was any way in which I could make the iTunes apps in both Windows and Mac use the same iTunes library. File access is not a problem as I've got the ntfs-3g driver on the mac side and mac drive on the PC side.I have my iTunes library on an external hard drive. To make iTunes use this particular folder, I create an alias of the folder on the external drive and replace my iTunes folder located in Users> "User Name" > Music with the alias. iTunes has no problem with this setup.You should be able to do the same thing in both the Mac and Windows versions of iTunes. Just set an alias of the iTunes folder you want to use in Windows pointing to your Mac iTunes library and you should be good to go.
Data recovery: The option of last resort (Part 3 of 3)
Back to Part I: losing all the data on a hard disk, and Part II: the trials and tribulations of paying to get it back. Now we find out what happened, and what you can expect from a data recovery specialist. Greg, the technician from Iomega Data Recovery, sent back two documents two days later: One was a Word document containing a list of files that were recovered from the disk. The document had most of my files in it, but some were missing. Many of the files were grouped by file type in an "orphans" folder, meaning that the files were on the disk, but their place in the disk's directory structure was lost. Some files were only named according to their file type, such as "m4p-00195.m4p" and "InDesignCS-00003.indd" because their filenames were gone. I would find out later that some files were copied several times (sometimes as many as six times): once as part of the directory structure, and again in the "orphans" folder. Still: many copies are better than no copies. They offered to return the data on a new hard disk, but the cost of it is not included in the recovery fee. The second attachment to the tech's email was a price list. I chose the cheapest bare hard disk at the necessary capacity, since I had an enclosure to put it in. They offered (more expensive) USB and FireWire hard disks as options for return as well. So add another $55 to the total price. Greg also asked for a list of the 20 most critical files that could be used as a test for successful recovery. I emailed him a list of mostly files for work I had in progress during the failure, a brochure for a client of mine that manufactures propellers. He called the next day, walking me through the contents of the InDesign document and its support files. "This one appears to be a picture of a propeller blade. This one has a big headline that says 'simply the best.'" Relief. I was satisfied that everything was recovered, approved the recovery, and thanked Greg. The next part was the hardest: Paying the invoice. The grand total wasn't as bad as I thought: I was prepared to pay tax on all $1,500, but (in California at least) services aren't taxable. So the only tax I had to pay was $4.54 on the replacement hard disk. The grand total was $1,559.54. I'm writing that off my taxes this year. Once my payment was processed, which took a day, two drives were overnighted to me: the original (failed) drive, and the new replacement drive. I popped the replacement went into my enclosure, and -- tah dah! -- there were my files. The most significant casualty of the data recovery, however, was the loss of 10 years of painstakingly collected Mystery Science Theater 3000 videos. Many were videos I had recorded originally on VHS, some had been, uh, acquired by other means -- as youthful indiscretions, shall we say. Thankfully, all my project data and purchased music was safe and sound. Everything that was lost could be replaced. Files on the replacement disk were painfully disorganized, though, which gave me an idea of just how logically corrupted the volume was. Files that were added to the drive after it had been connected via the AirPort Base Station were mostly in the Orphans folder, apparently scattered hither and yon across the disk's platters. I spent the better part of a day copying files, reorganizing everything, and preparing my new backup strategy that included a brand-new, 1.5TB external disk to use with Time Machine. I learned my lesson the hard way. I had a good experience, but paid dearly for it. If this story saves anyone any amount of money for data recovery, then it's done its job. Please: Back up your data. The money you spend on a hard disk for backup is far less than what you'd spend on data recovery.
Data recovery: The option of last resort (Part 2 of 3)
Back to Part I of Robert's tale of data recovery. It's a typical geek story: Boy gets data, boy loses data, boy tries to get data back. Because of my former employer's professional relationship with Iomega, I had sent a disk for recovery to Iomega Data Recovery before, and was confident they'd be able to recover the data. I went to their website, and started a quote. It's worth mentioning that there are many other services besides Iomega Data Recovery that do excellent work. DriveSavers, for example, had a booth at Macworld where people could walk up, physically damage a disk by scratching it, and -- behold! -- they still could recover the data before your eyes. Other services are available from Total Access, as well as from local technicians who can come to your location. Starting the quote began with asking for my contact information, along with details about the drive. I tried to be as explicit as possible about how the drive was connected, to see if they would be able to isolate the logical failure that happened on the disk, and recover the data accordingly. They also had an area where you could specify specific files or file types to target for recovery. Submitting the quote generates a document to print include in the box when you send it to them, and tips for packing the drive securely. I wrapped the drive in foam, put it in a snug-fitting box, and sent it to their lab in Santa Clara, California. Then, the waiting started. A technician, the supremely helpful and consummate professional Greg Sabanis, emailed me five days later (there was a weekend in there, if I recall correctly) with an analysis of the damaged drive. He said: The drive has read errors affecting structures and possibly data files. Based upon this evaluation, we feel that a recovery may be possible. We will have to attempt to manually rebuild the corrupted / invalid file system components, mount the recovered volume(s) and finally determine if some / all of the data you require is intact. That was something of a relief. Then came the sticker shock: The recovery would cost $1,500, plus tax. The good news (I suppose) was that I didn't have to pay it now: I could see the results of their recovery first, and then determine if it was worth it to spend the money for what they recovered. If Greg couldn't recover any data off the disk, there would be no charge. Speaking with friends, it's clear that Iomega Data Recovery is average in terms of cost for the size of the disk I sent them. Lower-capacity disks, flash media and removable storage costs less. One thing's for sure: they have you by the huevos, and they're gonna charge you for it. With client work on that drive, the nascent reputation of my freelance business was on the line. I had no choice but to spend the money. So, I signed their evaluation, faxed it back, and hoped for the best. Part III: The thrilling conclusion.
Data recovery: The option of last resort
There is no shortage of stories here on TUAW (and elsewhere) that extol the benefits of backing up your data. Apple even makes it ridiculously easy to do so -- with Mac OS X 10.5, Time Machine, a blank drive, and some spare time, you're set. Nevertheless, despite your best efforts, there are unforeseen circumstances where you might need to utter those dreaded words: "I need to send this for data recovery." Perhaps your airplane landed in the Hudson river, and your waterlogged laptop was stuck with your luggage. Perhaps an external disk is suffering from a manufacturing defect. Perhaps your backup disk is the disk that failed. Unfortunately, there is no way to sugar-coat this: Data recovery is a painful, patience-trying, and absurdly expensive process. But if it's the only way to recover mission-critical data, it could be your only option. It was for me.
ioSafe announces Solo, the external, submersible, fire-proof HDD enclosure
The last time we heard from ioSafe they were taking 2.5-inch HDDs, wrapping them in armor, then stuffing them into 3.5-inch enclosures -- adding fire and water protection in a standard form factor. Now they've given up on the internal route and have gone for something a little larger and more durable, fitting Western Digital or Seagate disks into hardened external USB 2.0 cases capable of being submersed in ten feet of water for three days or surviving a raging inferno for 30 minutes. $199 gets you a 500GB model, but, since you'd probably have a hard time upgrading the drive in there without a jackhammer, we'd recommend going straight for the $349 1.5TB model -- early adopters get a tidy $50 off!Update: Jason commented to let us know they also use Seagate drives.
DiskWarrior 4.1 update adds Leopard compatibility
DiskWarrior, my personal favorite disk repair utility (especially if the problem drive is the startup disk) has just been updated to Version 4.1. The new version is now fully compatible with Leopard (there were some issues with repairing disk permissions on a Leopard startup volume), so if you rely on DiskWarrior as an essential part of your Mac Toolkit arsenal (as I do), you can rest easy.Alsoft has also introduced some additional Leopard specific repair features in DiskWarrior 4.1. What has me the most excited is the ability to repair directory hard links. Hard-linking is a key part of how Time Machine creates back-ups. How the process works is complicated (although this article does a very good job of trying to explain the whole process), but it is a vital part of Apple's back-up system. The ability to repair directory hard links means that DiskWarrior 4.1 should be able to at least attempt to repair a Time Machine volume. That has actually been my only concern about Time Machine -- what happens if that volume become corrupted or wonky? I hope I don't find out first-hand, but I'm glad some options exist.Current users will soon be able to download an update CD directly from Alsoft's website that will create a new DiskWarrior startup disc (in the event that the drive needing repair is the startup volume and you don't have access to another Mac). However, please note that the update will only startup the same set of Macs as your current CD. So if your current CD will only boot up to June 2007 MacBook Pros, the update CD will not allow that disc to be used with a November 2007 MacBook.One other caveat, if you want to run DiskWarrior 4.1 from a version of OS X other than Leopard (say, Tiger), two features will not work. You will not be able to repair permissions of a OS X 10.5 startup disk and you will not be able to rebuild a FileVault created under OS X 10.5. So if you need to repair a Leopard volume, it is best to either run the startup CD or access the drive from a computer that is also running Leopard.[via MacTech]
Ontrack reveals RAID data recovery secrets
Kroll Ontrack, purveyors of data recovery, give a glimmer of hope to those with wrecked RAIDs in Tom's Hardware Guide's 7-page explanation detailing their step-by-step process, including preventative measures, proper handling tips, different types and levels of damage, and an overview of various Ontrack recovery methods.They stress the obvious solution to make a habit of defragging and backing up your data, however if it weren't for the irresponsible / lazy demographic, Ontrack would be counting their food stamps. They also encourage potential data-loss victims to stay calm, as freak-out sessions oftentimes yield impulsive and regretful decisions for data that might be recoverable. "In 2005, Kroll Ontrack processed 50,000 recovery cases. Ontrack was able to complete 40% of incoming orders successfully right away. The remaining 60% had to be taken to the clean room, where 75% of data recoveries were successful." The stats sound promising if you're in need of a serious data resurrection, and as long as you're willing to cough up a good chunk of your savings. [Via Slashdot]
Fujitsu's Mag EraSURE P2V degausser wipes sensitive data
It's getting harder and harder to commit a successful white-collar crime these days, thanks to the ability of crafty law enforcement officials to recover all that incriminating data you supposedly wiped from your drives. Well Fujitsu feels your pain, and has just released a semi-affordable degausser called the Mag EraSURE P2V that lets you cover your digital tracks by exposing your drives to a powerful, bit-killing magnet. Actually this $13.000 version of the company's high-end EraSURE P2E is meant not for aiding criminal geniuses, but for enabling security-conscious firms to permanently remove data from hard drives, backup tapes, floppy disks, and the like. Plus, since Fujitsu only promises protection against commercial recovery methods, its probably still best to destroy drives used for illegal activities the old-fashioned way, by tossing them into a wood chipper.
A Digital Photographer's Worst Nightmare
Mark Newhouse offers up a problem and a solution today at LowEnd DSLR: A Digital Photographer's Worst Nightmare. What do you do if you've just shot 150 digital photos and your flash card appears to have corrupted the data on it. He reviews several of the solutions that exist for Mac users and, happily, finds a software program that successfully recovered the RAW files from his flash card.
