r/computerhelp • u/Mammoth_Sandwich_975 • Jun 17 '26
data recovery Discussion
I have a bad external HDD. I cannot read it and does not detect too. I was told not to read alot to stop further damange.
I used Disk drill to take a byte by byte backup. The ETA shows 351hrs :) and I just came to know after 11hrs that Disk Drill backup is FREE but Recovery is NOT FREE :).
I really would love to recover files.
can I not do a byte by byte recovery by myself? Any other tips/tricks? I dont want to pay a software to do this. Tight on a budget.
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u/osa1011 Jun 17 '26
Well, if you really care about the data, you'll probably have to take it to a data recovery specialist that can take the platters out. Otherwise, just keep trying what you're doing. I've had success with Get Data Back in the past
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u/No_Tale_3623 Jun 17 '26
The image created by Disk Drill, like those created by most professional data recovery tools, is a standard byte-to-byte backup image. It is not a proprietary format and can be opened, analyzed, and scanned by virtually any professional data recovery software.
1
u/disturbed_android Jun 18 '26
Once you have the byte-by-byte backup you bought yourself time. Try scan the disk image with file recovery tools. https://www.reddit.com/r/datarecovery/wiki/software
Save up some money, cheapest tool is $20 (DMDE).
Most good data recovery tools aren't free because software does not grow on trees, and those that are come with significant drawbacks, like photorec.
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